Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Sofi and the Bone Song

Sofi and the Bone Song is a beautifully written tale of love, magic, and music (not necessarily in that order).

Before I begin this review, I will now describe the plot. I don't really consider it a spoiler, given that most of the information can be found in the official blurb. But if you don't want to know anything about the plot at all, I've highlighted in bold where the plot summary begins and ends, so feel free to skip those parts if you wish.

PLOT SUMMARY

In the fantasy kingdom of Aell, the use of magic has run wild, with people using it for just about everything from composing poetry to styling their hair. Only one thing remains sacred and untouched - music. To ensure it remains so, the only people allowed to play music publicly are the five individuals who have been elected to the Guild of Musiks, and the Apprentices of their choosing.

Sixteen-year-old Sofi is the daughter of Frederik Ollenholt, one of Aell's most revered Musiks, and like her father, Sofi is a skilled lutenist. She has been raised by her father to believe that to be anything less than technically perfect is unacceptable.

When it comes time for the Musiks to choose their respective Apprentices, Sofi has no doubt that her father will choose her - so it comes as a terrible shock when after a round of auditions in which Sofi performs flawlessly, her father chooses another. Laravelle "Lara" Hollis is well-connected, beautiful, and charming, and offers up a compelling audition - despite having never played an instrument in her life.

Sofi is outraged at the decision, believing all her years of training were for naught. But worse is to come - the very next day, her father is found dead

by his own hand

. Lara must now take up his position as Musik, despite having none of the training required. Outwardly, Sofi agrees to help her rival, while secretly planning to expose Lara as a fraud. But as Sofi gets to know the girl who stole her future, the more Sofi doubts everything she thought she knew - about herself, her father, and about music.

END OF PLOT SUMMARY

A love of music infuses every page of Sofi and the Bone Song, which makes sense, given that author Adrienne Tooley is also an accomplished singer/songwriter of indie folk music - and has also majored in musical theatre! I loved how Tooley incorporated this love into the novel, via

Sofi's changing attitudes to music

. When we first meet Sofi, she believes that great music is only attained through suffering - an attitude honed and shaped by her demanding and manipulative father. How he did so is described in a series of flashbacks, which are literally skin-crawling. I almost couldn't read the part where he taught her that

when a musician plays their instrument, they must suppress any emotion whilst doing so

. If you are at all sensitive about emotional abuse and manipulation, read this novel with care.

But the more Sofi comes to know Lara (and begins to

fall for her

), the more she begins to doubt the lessons her father taught her. Far from being emotionless, Sofi learns, music is all about emotion. Fear, love, joy, sadness, and everything in between can be expressed in music - and the art of creating should be a joyous and inspiring experience. It should not be like working oneself to the bone (pun fully intended) in order to achieve a result.

My reading experience of Sofi and the Bone Song wasn't perfect. I kind of wish I hadn't left such long time gaps in my reading of it, as it affected my ability to follow the plot and character development. I did feel at points that Sofi

came to her conclusions too quickly

, but that may have been on me. There was an issue of pace towards the end, it kind of jarred a bit with me. One day, I will reread this novel more slowly and carefully, so I can better adjust to its rhythm (excuse the musical pun).

Anyway, despite my issues, I did very much enjoy this novel.

Content Warnings

rintare's review against another edition

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This felt like a book by a beginner writer who had never heard of "show, don't tell". The first few chapters are absolutely filled with clumsy exposition of facts that should ideally emerge organically during the course of the story. The Musiks and apprentices, the ban on magic, the papers, how much Sofi wants to be a Musik... everything was explained as though the author just didn't trust her readers to be able to figure anything out without having it spelled out explicitly. The characters were one-dimensional and completely lacked charm, at least at the point in the book where I decided to stop reading. All told, I'm pretty sure this is just not the book for me.

Content Warnings

cristina_margarita's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book made me think a lot about the myth of Orpheus. It’s probably the prominence of a lute.

This was a fluffy sapphic love story. I didn’t feel giddy or relate terribly to the characters but I liked it nevertheless. I can’t really find fault with it other than that I didn’t obsess over it

Content Warnings

asexualandriod's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I've never read a book that so accurately captures the experience of a classical music lover. The book resonated (pun intended) with me so much. I also really enjoyed the mystery aspect of this story. You get bits and clues about some big story elements, but the full context is still twisty enough to be very satisfying.

Content Warnings