miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Actually good, fun exciting, lots of characters soo low key hard to keep track sometimes
Paige why do you have such inappropriate taste in men???
Paige why do you have such inappropriate taste in men???
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, and Blood
nerdybookqueen's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
TW for holocaust mention, racism mention
The only reason I didn't DNF this is I had nothing else to read.
I remember mostly enjoying Priory, so I thought I would try the author's other series. I regret doing so.
There is something...very icky about a white woman writing a narrative of other white people becoming slaves/having segregation, combined with, as I saw one other reviewer point out, the fact their "masters" were POC. Gross. One of the rare times I wish I could say "no" to there being a diverse cast.
Combine that with the whole "striped of a name and replaced with a number that is branded into her, where she and others like her have to work to survive until they die or are killed?" That sounds an awful lot like a historical event that maybe shouldn't be copied as a plot point by a Christian (or at least raised Christian) author. (She mentions this in response to an anon on her tumblr)
Added to this mess is the fact that her two love interest options are a human man who was an adult when she was like 6, or the man who OWNS her, invades her mind and manipulates the shit out of her, so we have some stunning love interest options here. But clearly it's okay because he calls her by her name and feeds her. The bar is in hell. And maybe it was just because I was so skeeved out but the options, but the romance was also just suddenly there?
Beyond that, the plot was really not that exciting, the writing was a bit too dense, with a lot of info dumping and a lot of jumping back and forth in time without clear distinction which drives me nuts. I had trouble tracking what was going on, there were several times I had to reread parts and figure out what was happening.
I will not be reading the rest of the series, and I may need to reread and reassess Priory as well.
The only reason I didn't DNF this is I had nothing else to read.
I remember mostly enjoying Priory, so I thought I would try the author's other series. I regret doing so.
There is something...very icky about a white woman writing a narrative of other white people becoming slaves/having segregation, combined with, as I saw one other reviewer point out, the fact their "masters" were POC. Gross. One of the rare times I wish I could say "no" to there being a diverse cast.
Combine that with the whole "striped of a name and replaced with a number that is branded into her, where she and others like her have to work to survive until they die or are killed?" That sounds an awful lot like a historical event that maybe shouldn't be copied as a plot point by a Christian (or at least raised Christian) author. (She mentions this in response to an anon on her tumblr)
Added to this mess is the fact that her two love interest options are a human man who was an adult when she was like 6, or the man who OWNS her, invades her mind and manipulates the shit out of her, so we have some stunning love interest options here. But clearly it's okay because he calls her by her name and feeds her. The bar is in hell. And maybe it was just because I was so skeeved out but the options, but the romance was also just suddenly there?
Beyond that, the plot was really not that exciting, the writing was a bit too dense, with a lot of info dumping and a lot of jumping back and forth in time without clear distinction which drives me nuts. I had trouble tracking what was going on, there were several times I had to reread parts and figure out what was happening.
I will not be reading the rest of the series, and I may need to reread and reassess Priory as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Racism, Death, Murder, Confinement, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Violence, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Gaslighting, Blood, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, and Police brutality
katievallin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Violence, War, Physical abuse, Slavery, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Blood, Bullying, Drug use, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Medical content, and Trafficking
Minor: Vomit, Torture, Addiction, and Death of parent
barda's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
*This is a review of the 10th Anniversary Revised Edition*
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content, Kidnapping, Blood, Confinement, Murder, and Cursing
Minor: Racism and Drug use
readwithsophsx's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Alcohol, Slavery, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
lisa00's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, Violence, Murder, Torture, Eating disorder, Classism, Child death, Xenophobia, and Police brutality
Minor: Cannibalism
abbieahh's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Slavery, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
tlaynejones's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Trafficking, Torture, Slavery, Murder, Classism, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse
risaleel's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
ruthypoo2's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
I started this series by reading The Pale Dreamer, and because I'm not a big fantasy reader, I found it to be the ideal length and scope for my taste. I enjoyed the establishment of a futuristic London called Scion London or SciLo, where there existed the Seven Seals. In The Pale Dreamer the reader gets to know the SciLo world and all its inhabitants, especially the main protagonist, teenager Paige Mahoney. The story was a lot of fun, with dynamic and intriguing relationships developing between the main and peripheral characters. Now let's jump ahead to my thoughts on The Bone Season.
This story really thrusts the reader into a new world, or at least that's the way it felt for me since I read The Pale Dreamer (The Bone Season #0.5) first. So, I already understand that young Paige is a clairvoyant and her skills are considered illegal in Scion London where she lives. She has, however, found herself belonging to a gang of clairvoyants who track dangerous people and entities, like murderous poltergeists. In The Bone Season, Paige is kidnapped from SciLo and transported to an alternate world known as Netherworld. She's sentenced to a penal colony run by a population of exiled clairvoyants called the Rephaim. Their objective is to train the kidnapped clairvoyants to defend the inhabitants of SciLo from a vicious enemy called the Emim.
While I like the fiery attitude and frequent acts of compassion shown by Paige throughout this storyline, I also found myself annoyed by and disliking her character more often than naught. And somehow, everyone ends up deferring to her and she's shown favoritism by her Rephaim keeper, Arcturus, who I think fell in love with Paige. But they're so different in being that I couldn't really understand the pairing and it fell flat for me. Regardless, I'd say Arcturus ended up being my favorite and the most interesting character in this book.
This book is over 500 pages and the author provided a lot of supplemental information that ended up being very helpful, such as maps, a listing of the different order of clairvoyance, who belongs to the Seven Seals, and glossary to reference the many different words and phrases used throughout the story. If you pay attention to the details in the story, I think it will be a fun read for most who enjoy fantasy because the author does a great job creating a unique world, though I am anxious to get back to the more compelling world of SciLo.
This story really thrusts the reader into a new world, or at least that's the way it felt for me since I read The Pale Dreamer (The Bone Season #0.5) first. So, I already understand that young Paige is a clairvoyant and her skills are considered illegal in Scion London where she lives. She has, however, found herself belonging to a gang of clairvoyants who track dangerous people and entities, like murderous poltergeists. In The Bone Season, Paige is kidnapped from SciLo and transported to an alternate world known as Netherworld. She's sentenced to a penal colony run by a population of exiled clairvoyants called the Rephaim. Their objective is to train the kidnapped clairvoyants to defend the inhabitants of SciLo from a vicious enemy called the Emim.
While I like the fiery attitude and frequent acts of compassion shown by Paige throughout this storyline, I also found myself annoyed by and disliking her character more often than naught. And somehow, everyone ends up deferring to her and she's shown favoritism by her Rephaim keeper, Arcturus, who I think fell in love with Paige. But they're so different in being that I couldn't really understand the pairing and it fell flat for me. Regardless, I'd say Arcturus ended up being my favorite and the most interesting character in this book.
This book is over 500 pages and the author provided a lot of supplemental information that ended up being very helpful, such as maps, a listing of the different order of clairvoyance, who belongs to the Seven Seals, and glossary to reference the many different words and phrases used throughout the story. If you pay attention to the details in the story, I think it will be a fun read for most who enjoy fantasy because the author does a great job creating a unique world, though I am anxious to get back to the more compelling world of SciLo.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Physical abuse