kesg2021's review against another edition
3.0
I really like a lot of things about this book. The characters, settings and the writing itself are great and interesting but I more often than not found it quite hard to follow what was actually happening and why.
I do like complex and mysterious plots but a lot of the chapters and character actions seemed very disconnected from each other to me and it made it quite confusing to read at times
There's also a whole lot not explained at all, sort of like the reader should just know what things are and go with it.
Like I said, I did like it for the most part and I do want to continue with the rest of the books but am reluctant. Especially since the second book is much longer
My biggest concern is will the other books flow better and does it get explained more clearly whats actually happening in scenes and why it's happening in the first place?
I know Scott is active here and might see this and obviously will be biased in an answer :) but I'm wondering should I continue based on my experience with this entry ? Will I enjoy the other books if I found this a bit disjointed ?
Going to read another book in the meantime while I think about continuing with this.
I do like complex and mysterious plots but a lot of the chapters and character actions seemed very disconnected from each other to me and it made it quite confusing to read at times
There's also a whole lot not explained at all, sort of like the reader should just know what things are and go with it.
Like I said, I did like it for the most part and I do want to continue with the rest of the books but am reluctant. Especially since the second book is much longer
My biggest concern is will the other books flow better and does it get explained more clearly whats actually happening in scenes and why it's happening in the first place?
I know Scott is active here and might see this and obviously will be biased in an answer :) but I'm wondering should I continue based on my experience with this entry ? Will I enjoy the other books if I found this a bit disjointed ?
Going to read another book in the meantime while I think about continuing with this.
jessaca_with_an_a's review
3.0
Breaking my heart to say this, but I DNF at 35%. Let me tell you a bit about The Bones of the Earth and why I would still give a 3 ⭐️ rating to a book I didn’t finish.
From what I read so far, The Bones of the Earth is like The Secret of Nim meets Mirrormask. It’s dark, it’s a little trippy, and it would likely make a great movie like the other titles listed!
So why didn’t this book have me hooked?
The Bones of the Earth follows Vrana as she completes these trials for her people, during which she accidentally provoked The Witch.
That’s about as much as I can confidently say about the plot because this book is told in a way that makes you feel like you’re reliving a nightmare through a foggy recollection. I felt as though the story was unraveling in scattered bits that didn’t quite line up but were unique and interesting enough to keep me reading. Every time I’d start to catch up with Vrana and think I understood what was happening in the story, I’d start to lose her again.
But I think that was intentional. The mechanisms in which the story is told are very reminiscent to the dreamscapes in the novel.
That being said, the plot became much easier to follow at 28% or so, but by then I sort of no longer cared. Too much of the start of the story was vague and confusing for me to really be interested in the characters once the story started moving forward. Even our MC, Vrana, was difficult to relate to by that point.
So why not 1-star this bad boy?
Because the writing is actually good! The author gives great descriptions and there were a couple scenes that hit me hard. And like I said earlier, I think the storytelling is intentional and would likely be adored by a lot of other readers!
But it was just a little too vague for me, especially when my shelf is overflowing with other potentially great books.
Maybe I’ll try this one again in the future though, just to give it another shot because I really do feel like it’s a book I should’ve enjoyed.
From what I read so far, The Bones of the Earth is like The Secret of Nim meets Mirrormask. It’s dark, it’s a little trippy, and it would likely make a great movie like the other titles listed!
So why didn’t this book have me hooked?
The Bones of the Earth follows Vrana as she completes these trials for her people, during which she accidentally provoked The Witch.
That’s about as much as I can confidently say about the plot because this book is told in a way that makes you feel like you’re reliving a nightmare through a foggy recollection. I felt as though the story was unraveling in scattered bits that didn’t quite line up but were unique and interesting enough to keep me reading. Every time I’d start to catch up with Vrana and think I understood what was happening in the story, I’d start to lose her again.
But I think that was intentional. The mechanisms in which the story is told are very reminiscent to the dreamscapes in the novel.
That being said, the plot became much easier to follow at 28% or so, but by then I sort of no longer cared. Too much of the start of the story was vague and confusing for me to really be interested in the characters once the story started moving forward. Even our MC, Vrana, was difficult to relate to by that point.
So why not 1-star this bad boy?
Because the writing is actually good! The author gives great descriptions and there were a couple scenes that hit me hard. And like I said earlier, I think the storytelling is intentional and would likely be adored by a lot of other readers!
But it was just a little too vague for me, especially when my shelf is overflowing with other potentially great books.
Maybe I’ll try this one again in the future though, just to give it another shot because I really do feel like it’s a book I should’ve enjoyed.
grilledcheesesamurai's review
4.0
A post-apocalyptic, Cthulhu style, fantasy, horror?
Or...something?
It's kind of hard to pigeon hole this one. Let's just let it be its own thing. Cuz you know what? I loved the shit outta whatever it was doing. It worked.
Scott Hale immediately blew me away with his words. The words were with intention. They had weight. It felt like taking my time reading the words was important. So often I just blow through books, they kinda just zip right through me and are done. Which is fine - I like a zippy story as much as the next person. But with The Bones Of The Earth I almost felt like I should be cautious with the words. To take my time with them and make sure I completely chewed before swallowing.
So I did. I took my time.
Not gonna lie, this is a fucking fucked up book. Yup. Double fucks. And I say that in a good way! Still, there's no getting around it. This book chewed me up and splatooed me all over its pages.
What?
What I'm trying to say is that sometimes the book was creepy as shit - then all of a sudden it would make me smirk and give one of those chuckles that aren't even a real chuckle but you do it cuz you know somewhere in there you are supposed to chuckle. And then all of a sudden there's battles and swords stabbing in guts and then...oh look!! Kissing!!
It really tuckered me out.
But by taking my time and letting Mr. Hales words slowly dissolve into me...well...it all made for a very surreal (and often grizzly) experience.
I was pretty much intent on giving this book a nice solid 3-star review. But as I sit here typing this out (I write all my reviews pants) and processing my journey, it has become pretty obvious that this is getting bumped up to 4-stars.
The book made me think. It tossed a few curve balls at me, and most importantly, it made me react.
Thanks for the story, Scott Hale! It was...an experience.
cathepsut's review
I received this copy for free from the author. Thank you very much!
My goodreads friends so far all loved this book. I don't know why, because I don't get it. I really wanted to like this book. It sounded great, the premise of the story sounded good and I liked the cover art. But the writing did not work for me. I found it to be slow, with a meandering plot and at times overly florid prose, weird dream sequences and confusing chapter beginnings. The things that I did not like are probably those, that make the book so great for my fellow readers.
I liked the characters and when they engaged in "normal" interactions, the story developed momentum and my interest sparked. But that only ever took me a few pages forward, until I got stuck again.
Would I get this book for a friend or recommend it to someone? Funnily enough, I probably would, if it is a friend with a quirky taste, who likes novels off the beaten path...
DNF at 35%, after eight days of not getting very far.
My goodreads friends so far all loved this book. I don't know why, because I don't get it. I really wanted to like this book. It sounded great, the premise of the story sounded good and I liked the cover art. But the writing did not work for me. I found it to be slow, with a meandering plot and at times overly florid prose, weird dream sequences and confusing chapter beginnings. The things that I did not like are probably those, that make the book so great for my fellow readers.
I liked the characters and when they engaged in "normal" interactions, the story developed momentum and my interest sparked. But that only ever took me a few pages forward, until I got stuck again.
Would I get this book for a friend or recommend it to someone? Funnily enough, I probably would, if it is a friend with a quirky taste, who likes novels off the beaten path...
DNF at 35%, after eight days of not getting very far.
rayene_ziadi's review against another edition
4.0
I give it a 4.5/5 stars.
I had to wait 2 days to write this review because all i could put on paper when i finished it was:
WOW...so it means that? ohh..oh my.. wow.....
The Story follows Vrana of the Raven, a fearless Badass 18 yo in a post apocalyptic world, along the story she meets R'lyeh and they develop a Katniss-and-rue kind of relation ship. In Caldera her village they take upon a mask and they become it, in Vrana's case it was one of the raven: " 'Maybe i am a raven after all ', she said to herself 'A raven follows Death and revels in its works and keeps the company of violence. A raven gathers secrets as a mage gathers trinkets. A raven is a shadow , a shade__ all those things we tell ourselves we could not ever do and then do anyway.
This book has some gory scenes so if you are softhearted this isn't the book for you.
At first reading this book i felt as if a load of new foreign words were catapulted on me but you catch up after a while .
One thing i didn't like bout this book was that in the first 30 pages there was too many descriptive metaphors, good ones but too many it felt as if the author was trying too hard, but then it all gives way to awesomeness and pure kickassery (is that word?)
It had a top notch villain that i had a rather frightening nightmare about the other day; "It is the darkest corners of the world that she calls home.It is from the deepest depths of the mind that she is inspired.None shall gaze upon her and think her fair or kind, for she is neither and has never known these words to be said of her.They are foreign to her, painful to conceive. There is no place for her or in the worlds beyond;she exists in the space between, where she pledges allegiance to neither God or Satan but only herself. Her acts of cruelty are beyond measure, for it is seldom realized that it was her hand that guided the knife to the back, the child to the cliff, the lover to the liar,he poison to the well. Of her sculptures of flesh, which merge life and death into one torturous state of being, little can be said by the pen which could rival the sight seen by her eyes. She is horror if horror should ever take upon a form.She is death and despair.She is the maiden of pain. "
And amazing pieces of lore here and there
"Echoes: the elders told Vrana and her peers in their youth that all actions were not without consequences, that all choices would be remembered and felt throughout time for time itself was alive; others said that when the earth slept it sometimes dreamed of what had been but no longer was. "
The book had it's own romantic story but it was more woven into it than the center of it , which gave way to more adventure and action packed scenes and battles between illusion and reality.
The best thing about this book was the Twists i was Ouh and Ah -ing all over it, by the hundredth page i was eating it up like a starving book worm!
I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes fast paced adventure and just a dash of mystery
I NEED THE NEXT BOOK RN!!!!!!!
I had to wait 2 days to write this review because all i could put on paper when i finished it was:
WOW...so it means that? ohh..oh my.. wow.....
The Story follows Vrana of the Raven, a fearless Badass 18 yo in a post apocalyptic world, along the story she meets R'lyeh and they develop a Katniss-and-rue kind of relation ship. In Caldera her village they take upon a mask and they become it, in Vrana's case it was one of the raven: " 'Maybe i am a raven after all ', she said to herself 'A raven follows Death and revels in its works and keeps the company of violence. A raven gathers secrets as a mage gathers trinkets. A raven is a shadow , a shade__ all those things we tell ourselves we could not ever do and then do anyway.
This book has some gory scenes so if you are softhearted this isn't the book for you.
At first reading this book i felt as if a load of new foreign words were catapulted on me but you catch up after a while .
One thing i didn't like bout this book was that in the first 30 pages there was too many descriptive metaphors, good ones but too many it felt as if the author was trying too hard, but then it all gives way to awesomeness and pure kickassery (is that word?)
It had a top notch villain that i had a rather frightening nightmare about the other day; "It is the darkest corners of the world that she calls home.It is from the deepest depths of the mind that she is inspired.None shall gaze upon her and think her fair or kind, for she is neither and has never known these words to be said of her.They are foreign to her, painful to conceive. There is no place for her or in the worlds beyond;she exists in the space between, where she pledges allegiance to neither God or Satan but only herself. Her acts of cruelty are beyond measure, for it is seldom realized that it was her hand that guided the knife to the back, the child to the cliff, the lover to the liar,he poison to the well. Of her sculptures of flesh, which merge life and death into one torturous state of being, little can be said by the pen which could rival the sight seen by her eyes. She is horror if horror should ever take upon a form.She is death and despair.She is the maiden of pain. "
And amazing pieces of lore here and there
"Echoes: the elders told Vrana and her peers in their youth that all actions were not without consequences, that all choices would be remembered and felt throughout time for time itself was alive; others said that when the earth slept it sometimes dreamed of what had been but no longer was. "
The book had it's own romantic story but it was more woven into it than the center of it , which gave way to more adventure and action packed scenes and battles between illusion and reality.
The best thing about this book was the Twists i was Ouh and Ah -ing all over it, by the hundredth page i was eating it up like a starving book worm!
I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes fast paced adventure and just a dash of mystery
I NEED THE NEXT BOOK RN!!!!!!!
booknooknoggin's review against another edition
2.0
I got this free from the author for a fair and honest review. I just cannot finish this....quit 67% in. The horrible sex scene with the "do you know where pee comes from?" finalized it for me. Reads too much like a fantasy than apoc fiction. Jumps between scenes feeling rushed and with no good transition.
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