Reviews

TW : Slavery

If I had to describe my relationship with [b:The Bone Season|17199504|The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1)|Samantha Shannon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516752880l/17199504._SY75_.jpg|19248070] in one gif :

① The narrative is choppy and bounces constantly between different subjects without transition. The author is young and it shows : the information about the world is shared rather clumsily through infodump and awkward flashbacks when it suits the author to do so. I didn't complain in the beginning, because I was interested in knowing more about the world. When it went on during the whole book, though? TOO MUCH. I can't endure that, especially because it wasn't well incorporated into the story. Also, I ceased to care.

② Stripped of its fancy words**, the world is nothing special really : think PNR blended with Dystopian YA (there's even an attempt at Resistance - I CANNOT STAND RESISTANCE PLOTS ANYMORE. There. I said it). Granted, the magical system is complex and interesting, but it's barely exploited! We have all these different kinds of clairvoyants and for what?? Do their powers count in the end? Barely. Only Paige's counts, because come on, she's the heroine, duh.

**About the fancy words : I used to think that reading in a language that isn't mine made dealing with slang more difficult. Actually, I realised that it might be the opposite. See, coming across a word that I don't instantly understand doesn't bother me as much as it would if I read in French. Context is generally enough, and if not there's always Google.

③ The writing is on the simplistic side, and we get the impression to be taken for morons or children at times. The awkward way Paige constantly justifies her actions felt as if the author was writing out of a textbook to not piss the reader off : LOOK! I know I'm not supposed to trust him! But I have REASONS! LOOK AT THEM! WOULD YOU JUST LOOK AT THEM! So tiring.

④ Lectures. LOADS of lectures. Every time the author needs us to know something. Hence it doesn't flow and for me it's the mark of a bad writing, sorry, especially in the action scenes - There's this huge danger lurking and the characters are so... calm... so teacher like.

DON'T INTERUPT ME WHILE I'M TEACHING YOU SOMETHING! BAD PUPIL! ~ every character in [b:The Bone Season|17199504|The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1)|Samantha Shannon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516752880l/17199504._SY75_.jpg|19248070] ever.

⑤ The story suffers from an uneven pacing. Some parts drag so badly and then others are so rushed that we struggle to understand what is going on?!

Oh, look at this official wallpaper!!!

YOU DON'T SAY!! It was just so LONG to get there!

⑥ I really have nothing to say about Paige. None of her "emotions" touched me because everything felt so fake and so damn FLAT.

Watch me forgetting her.

Starting NOW.

⑦ Warden! I held hope for Warden! And the bastard crushed it! Actually, bastard is not the right word. He's just... transparent. Tasteless. Uninteresting. Another teacher in the making.

Really, what is it with these characters and their dispassionate lectures? What is IT?

⑧ The secondary characters are one-dimensional and the relationships feel so damn forced. I don't care about any of them. Why should I, really? I don't know them. And I might be a bitch, but I wondered why Paige was helping them from the get-go. No. Really. They don't show any kind of connection so why?! I'll tell you why : to manufacture some kind of martyr strike in Paige, because apparently it's a must-have for any spechul female-lead out there.

*GASP* Or she would be a selfish Mary Sue!

We can't have that.

(Except Mare. We do have Mare, ugh)

⑨ Because I may haven't been clear enough about the secondary characters : every one of them could have died without arousing any emotion in me.

⑩ It's also true of the main characters, actually.

⑪ The romance tries so hard to be a slow burn. Too bad it isn't. More like nothing happens, there's not an ounce of chemistry, and suddenly they can't take their hands off each others.

Are. You. Kidding. Me.

Where the fuck does that come from???

Not to mention that it revolves around a trope I cannot stand, a master/slave relationship. This is where I say STOP. THIS. FUCKING. DAMAGING. NARRATIVE. PLEASE. She's branded, marked, and she develops romantic feelings? I DON'T THINK SO. And again, he's 200 years old. PLEASE.

► Unoriginal, boring and so very forgettable.

For more of my reviews, please visit:

pigalle's review against another edition

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3.75

cool mais ps banger comme je le pensais

reddaeg's review against another edition

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3.0

After I got over the incredible learning curve of the clairvoyant/steampunk vocabulary, I really enjoyed this book. Typical love story wedged in, of course, but otherwise very entertaining.

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