barda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I already liked the first book, but the revisions fix many of the mis-steps in the book to elevate it to something even better.
The Bone Season came out of nowhere to become one of my favourite book series, and the first book sets it on very strong foundations. The "magic" system is very interesting, being based around using spirits and the dead as opposed to being traditional magic. The setting of a dystopian England is a bit more out-of-focus in this book compared to the future books, but still has a great set-up of a hellish dictatorship. The Rephs are fascinating villians/allies, and the characters are very likeable.
One particular highlight of the book is, of course, Paige and Arcturus. It takes what is usually a very cliche (and problematic) female main character imprisoned but slowly falling for her captor and makes it better than it has any right to be. Arcturus subverts basically every trope of the male love interest in modern New Adult fantasy novels (apart from being ridiculously tall, but in this case his species is all very tall!). Paige is also a stand-out as the main character, she has realistic emotions while being brave and kind (and her insults are absolutely hilarious). I have not had a ship I shipped this hard in a long time.
It's still not a perfect book - I think it's let down a bit by the lack of development of some of the minor characters, and there's a bit too much of a timeskip in the middle of it where a lot of interesting things happen off-screen. However, these don't detract by how much of a joy this book was to read and by how much I adore Paige and Arcturus as characters.
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Blood, Confinement, Murder, and Cursing
Minor: Racism and Drug use
risaleel's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Confinement, Torture, Kidnapping, Classism, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Violence, Death, Slavery, and Gore
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, and Trafficking
Minor: Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, and Physical abuse
nolalee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Death, Murder, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Gun violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Trafficking, Vomit, Drug use, and Medical content
martinatan's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I didn’t have too much interest in the plot setup in the first place, was mostly interested in how the world building would turn out. Evidently, worldbuilding still depends on interesting and complex character motivations to feel realistic and satisfying, and this story does not have such characters. I’m disappointed that the protagonist’s relationships with male characters could be so predictable and hollow.
The wrap-up of this book was a rushed mess. I found myself so uninterested in the final showdown because it felt breezed over, and had no satisfying emotional climaxes concerning the protagonist’s relationships with any others. The progressions of some of these relationships made very little sense and mainly seeking to fulfill tropes and set the stage for -dramatic and unnecessarily sarcastic dialogue.
The romantic subplots were on the whole lacking in depth and developed poorly, I feel like
Spoiler
the interspecies relationship could have been at least explored by acknowledging the taboo of it. Maybe it was left unsaid on purpose. Maybe this whole series was set up as a kink fulfillment for the author. Anyway it’s not the kind of fulfillment I was looking for.Graphic: Sexual content and Sexual violence
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, and Death
lauramcc7's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Confinement, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Slavery
Minor: Body horror
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon is the first book in the Bone Season series. This book was not quite what I expected it to be, but I enjoyed it quite a lot anyway. It was fascinating learning about all the different types of clarivoyants.
We follow Paige Mahoney, a dreamwalker in the London underground clarivoyant gang, the Seven Seals. In this world, London has been taken over by the Scion regime, which has outlawed being a clarivoyant and has forced those who are to be extremely marginalized. The only voyants that seem to be doing okay in this world are the ones who work for Scion and arrest and attack other voyants. When Paige is captured, she is taken to Sheol I, a penal city for voyants run by otherworldly beings known as the Rephaite. What Paige finds is slavery and inhumane living conditions and horrific abuses.
This was such an in depth and complicated book. The world building was just so much. Luckily it came with its own glossary so I didn't have to Google words every five minutes lol. The beginning was a little slow at first, but things picked up once we got to Sheol I and we start learning about the Rephaite and the Emim. There is just a lot of information packed into the beginning.
I loved Paige's growth as a dreamwalker and learning about the different types of clarivoyants and their abilities. The character growth between Paige and Warden was excellent and complex. There were themes of don't judge someone just for what they are, instead get to know them and not assume. Survival is more important than defiance. Although romance wasn't the main point of the book, I though Shannon did a great job of depicting unrequited love and the experience aspecs have of trying to have sex but not really wanting it. Paige is definitely on the ace spectrum somewhere.
You all know I love a good revolution story, and this is just the beginning of a big one! Definitely looking forward to the rest of the books.
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Slavery, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual content
bookishchef's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Up until about 60-70% of this book, I was ready to give it five stars.
I absolutely loved it.
But then it slowly but steadily started shitting the bed.
Spoiler
1. The gold cord plot point thing came out of nowhere and was never really explained. It just seemed like a convenient plot device that did not feel like it belonged in the grim world the author has created.2. The rebound turned SA scene was completely unnecessary, and seemed like a weird attempt to bestow the main character with more trauma than she already had (and make her be pitied by Warden and the reader).
3. Loss of virginity being described as "an uppercut to the stomach". I hate this trope so much. No, having sex for the first time does not feel like dying. It might hurt (for many people it does not even do that). But it won't feel like being torn in half god dammit.
The average period cramp feels way way way worse unless you have a medical condition like vaginismus.
4. The main character falling in love with her captor/slave master does not sit quite right with me. Even if he treated her nicely, that is still a weird power inbalance that should never lead to a relationship.
5. Teenagers falling for century old creatures just makes me roll my eyes at this point. It weirds me out a bit, and it has been done so so so many times at this point.
Maybe I could deal with it if both characters seemed to be at the same level mentally, but Warden is practically a deity compared to Paige. Not immortal, but infinitely more intelligent and quite obviously so so so much older (and not to forget, her literal owner). From the way he behaves, to the way he speaks: it has middle aged man dating teenager vibes.
So yeah. This was a fun but very mixed bag. I ordered book 2 when I was about 60% into the book because I was sure I would love it at that point. But now that love has become a begrudging like.
I enjoyed this book for the most part, but some things cannot be unseen once you see them.
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Classism, Cursing, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Police brutality, and Torture
cleo_wylde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Kidnapping, Police brutality, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual content
always_chloe's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content