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julienicole1106'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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
13renna's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
sauvageloup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
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.
- 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.
- 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!
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
loquaciousleon'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
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Blood, Classism, and Deportation
miaaa_lenaaa'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
Paige why do you have such inappropriate taste in men???
Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Grief
katievallin'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
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Medical content, Trafficking, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Addiction, Torture, Vomit, and Death of parent
lisa00's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Cannibalism
tlaynejones's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
risaleel's review against another edition
- 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: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, and Trafficking
Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Grief
ruthypoo2's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Moderate: Physical abuse and Violence