Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Bone Season

a solidly good book, pretty gripping and will read the next one

pros:
- the worldbuilding is very imaginative, with the whole mix of clairvoyance, angels, emim, ghosts/poltergeists and rephaium. I liked all the different types of clairvoyance and reading about Paige using her gift. the Rephs were also imaginative, seeming to be a strange mix of vampire/angel/demon/clairvoyant.
- I thought the main relationships, friendship and romance, were nicely built up and not rushed, but sign posted well.

I did expect that Warden would be the love interest, but it developed nice and slowly and I could see why Paige began to trust him slowly.

- the writing was overall clear and gripping with moments of being poetic. i wanted to keep reading, once I was 50 or so pages in.
- I did like the side characters, Liss, julian, seb and Michael were all interesting.

cons:
- the biggest issue I think was the feeling that the plot wandered too much. it felt like we tumbled from one event to another without any particular structure, and so the tension felt off, as big events happened without any build up.
- lost track of who everyone was with such a big cast, and I was also still unsure about what exact powers paige and the rephs had.
- it felt like there were a lot of holes in explanations, with a lot of slang used without being explained. a certain amount makes sense, but I feel that it tipped over into too much. i had a lot of questions and even when there were answers, they seemed somewhat arbitrary. also why was Arcturus still being called Warden at the end?
- there was also a big worldbuilding dump at the start, which I was told about and wasnt too bad, but it definitely could've been handled smoother.

- I know that this was written in 2013, so it's not really surprising, but there were serious issues with the age gaps in Paige's relationships, with Nick driving away with her from school when shes like 15? and Arcturus being very very much older.

- also, if I'm being honest, I didnt find paige very interesting. yes shes spunky and she is shown as being kind to Seb, Liss and Julian, and yet she still felt extremely 2D, I didnt really feel for her as a full person and the emotional impact of some events was definitely lessened bc of it.
(- I'm definitely curious to see what Shannon changed in her new rewriting of the book)

overall, a gripping and pretty original thriller, but with some shaky plotting and too big cast. but I've got the mime order and will most likely be reading it!

Content Warnings

annietaber's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I wanted to like this more than I did ;( I would start vibing with the world building and the plot and then something random or ill-paced or artificial would just totally pull me out of it, whether that be a stupid plot point

(walking into the forest only to be told for the millionth time that there’s a mine field and then just turning around and going back with no value added)

Or an overly cheesy piece of dialogue between two characters that I don’t see why/how they’ve become so close??

I’m looking at you Liss and Julian

Honestly chronically under developed. I thought this would’ve been fixed by her 10 year anniversary edits (especially bc I LOVED her other book), but this just still seems immature. I wanted MORE. It could’ve given me more!!!

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buud_w0rm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

This feels like my first real high fantasy book with so much language and lore and characters heavily involved in the story. Sometimes it did take me out of it when I couldn’t remember a character or understand parts of the language. Besides this, I really enjoyed the world and am curious to see what’s in store for Paige and if she’ll meet Arcticus again.

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frankisilliterate's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

madeleinekl's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A really cool concept for a 'paranormal fantasy' (something I hadn't come across before). Vaguely steam-punk vibes but not in an annoying way. The main character was a little too powerful/perfect (as well as being, of course, a beautiful thin young girl), but that's how it seems to always go in these books!

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