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jbird_reads 's review for:
The Bone Shard Daughter
by Andrea Stewart
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed this book and will be reading the next one. However, I wish the world building went deeper and was more complex. For instance, the bone shard magic-which is like the whole main thing- didn't have enough explanation for me. They make it seem like it's a type of magic that only some have the ability to do, but it then it also seems like anyone can learn it. I also couldn't picture what was going on when Lin was reaching her hand through the flesh of a construct to get to the bone shards. Is it just a hole filled with shards, or does it imitate a skeleton? How can she reach her hand through flesh? It's very unclear.
The alanga could've been explained more as well, although it seems like it's going to be a much bigger thing in the later books.
Overall, the magic system and world are super interesting, but it also seems like anything can be created and happen without any rules or parameters, which leads to me not having a sense of the stakes being very high.I mean, Jovis just gets super strength and water bending magic out of nowhere and is way too chill about it. Plus, the memory machine- wtf?
Okay, onto my thoughts about the characters. At first, I was like this book has way too many POVs, but as the story progressed I found all the characters to be well written and I enjoyed all the POVs. I think I feel invested in Jovis's story the most and feel like Ranami and Phalues' characters need to be developed a little more. Anyway, I'm looking forward to starting the next one and am enjoying reading fantasy series again.
The alanga could've been explained more as well, although it seems like it's going to be a much bigger thing in the later books.
Overall, the magic system and world are super interesting, but it also seems like anything can be created and happen without any rules or parameters, which leads to me not having a sense of the stakes being very high.
Okay, onto my thoughts about the characters. At first, I was like this book has way too many POVs, but as the story progressed I found all the characters to be well written and I enjoyed all the POVs. I think I feel invested in Jovis's story the most and feel like Ranami and Phalues' characters need to be developed a little more. Anyway, I'm looking forward to starting the next one and am enjoying reading fantasy series again.