Reviews with content warning for War - Bone Weaver

Note: I am updating this written review after having in essence an intervention, different text will be in bold

This is a story about war, and a girl trying to get her sister back while keeping her magic a secret. Toma has lived a relatively uneventful life, if you count the fact her family is undead and yet can still walk and talk thanks to her magic. Her peaceful life is soon completely upended when her sister is kidnapped. She will have to venture across a country ravaged by civil war to get her sister back, meeting unlikely companions along the way.
I almost expected it to end with the 3 main characters as a throuple because the book touts itself as being LGBT. I wouldn't label this as an LGBT book even though the authors says that

Vanya(male character) is bisexual and Mikhail (male character) is gay

It really reads as more of an after thought or as an attempt to diversify the cast of characters. Even the main romance is between one of the Vanya(male character) and Toma(the female lead) . I guess to me a book isn't LGBT just because one or two characters is, unless it is a major plot point or romance, or even point of discussion in this book it was used as the equivalent of her hair is such and such color. The main focus of the story remains on Toma and her discovering her identity and who she is.
There were parts of it that I liked, and some parts I didn't. The world building and lore is truly excellent. (We all know I love world building!) And I am so grateful that there was a glossary, so many books don't have that and need it! But some of the characters I just wanted *more* from. After some author revelations, it's hard not to look at this book differently. The way Toma has to hide her magic and not reveal who she really is for fear of ostracization or worse. I can't imagine, and would never be able to imagine what is like to have to hide who you are for years and years and years, for fears of being hurt or bullied, or worse. I think because my experience with this book was up and down, I will read another book by the author and see what I think. While being a consistent author is great, being an author that improves with each book is even better, there is no limit to how great they will become.

Content Warnings

moonytoast's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for providing me with a digital ARC of this book!

The world of Bone Weaver explicitly pulls from a wide breadth of Slavic folklore and the history of early twentieth-century imperial imperial Russia. Even though this book is not a historical fantasy in the same manner of The City Beautiful, it’s very easy to notice those historical influences on the story. I personally enjoyed this book more—perhaps because fantasy with historical influences is less rigid in the atmosphere you can create and worlds you can build compared to historical fiction with fantasy elements. In that respect, this reminds me of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books and even The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid.

I loved all three of the characters in the main ensemble, but Toma definitely has my heart. Her commitment to finding and saving her sister, Galina, creates an immediate emotional depth even beyond Toma’s slow unraveling of her past before she found family among upryi. I love her dynamic with Vanya and Mikhail in that feels fully realized. Their interactions feel like three people with entirely different life experiences and perspectives on the world who have stumbled into a quest together. I don’t want to spoil the third act and a certain event, but I love that we get to see how much they care about each other in the wake of everything they’ve gone through together.

I had only one substantial qualm with Bone Weaver that made this go from a five star to a four star rating: I felt like the resolution wrapped up a bit too quickly in regards to the politics. Polydoros set up a very nuanced and complex political landscape for most of the book, not just with the peripheral events the characters pass through but also with the conversational clashes between Vanya and Mikhail on those matters.

The conclusion of that arc where Vanya trusts Mikhail to be capable of solving these issues simply because he will not be like his father and that he is a good man falls a bit flat to me. It feels like it’s not fully reckoning with the fact that the problems we saw throughout the book are bigger than the tsar or the Tribunal. That being said, I do appreciate that it’s made clear that there is a staggering amount of work that needs to be done before they could reach a semblance of justice—and that killing Koschei did not solve everything.

Definitely recommend this for anyone who enjoys young adult fantasy books like the Grishaverse or even historical fantasies set in the nineteenth or early twentieth century!

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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Bone Weaver was an intriguingly dark and thought provoking fantasy that seamlessly blends the rich and diverse folklore of Eastern Europe with Jewish and Imperial Russian history to create a beautifully vivid though unflinchingly bloody tale of power, persecution, grief, identity, found family and belonging that’s an absolute must read for lovers of magic, monsters or mythology infused YA fantasy.

It follows seventeen year old Toma who has spent the last seven years living in the wilderness, adopted by a family ofUpyri—human corpses reanimated by magic—and lives happily with her sister Galina and their parents. But, when the dethroned Tsar, Mikhail crash lands outside her home whilst fleeing from revolutionaries, Galina ends up captured by them.She’ll do anything to rescue Galina even if it means diving headfirst into the Empire’s bloody political conflict and helping Mikhail.

The pair soon meet Vanya, a charming commoner branded as a witch by his own neighbors, the unlikely trio bond over trying to restore Mikhail’s magic and protect the empire from Koschei, the brutal revolutionary leader who deposed Mikhail—and whose forces have now stolen the castle. Vanya has his magic, and Mikhail has his title, but if Toma can’t dig deep and find her power in time, all of their lives including Galina’s will be at Koschei’s mercy.

I genuinely enjoyed every second of Aden Polydoros’ richly detailed world building & loved how viscerally immersive the setting felt. I also really enjoyed the fantastical elements and folkloric beings we encounter (like the man tickling Mavka and river based Rusalka) that made me want to research more about them.

All the characters were well developed and wonderfully compelling, Toma our protagonist was one such character—driven by her love (and unwavering loyalty) for her sister. But, I must admit my fave character had to be the charismatic Vanya who manages to keep his easy going and friendly nature despite the atrocities he’s witnessed firsthand from being Strannik—one of the Empire’s religiously persecuted minority groups.

The conflicts that all three encounter (and previously experienced) were absolutely heartbreaking at times, and made all the more poignant knowing that they parallel real world situations (both past and present) and struggles that diaspora/minority communities endure—especially in terms of cultural identity and nationality.

The pacing was a little slower than I would’ve liked but, the chance to explore the more surreal (fantastical) elements, as well as the slow burn romance between Toma and Vanya definitely helped to make up for it.

Overall, a gorgeously wrought and uncompromisingly dark fantasy that I genuinely couldn’t put down! Though I do warn there’s quite a lot of graphic violence (blood, death, body horror, gore) so do bear in mind if you decide to pick this up.

Content Warnings

meganelise's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.5

A little slow to get started but then I didn't want to put it down for the whole second half of the book.

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-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

Toma has been living separated from the turmoil currently happening in the Kosa empire. As civil war wages on, the empire is on the edge of being torn apart. She lives in the outskirts with her family of the undead. At least, she did. Until she meets Vanya, an accused witch, and Mikhail, the dethroned Tsar.

The three band together to help Mikhail to restore his magic and hopefully take back his throne. And hopefully find Toma’s sister as well. But in order to defeat the revolutionary leader, Koschei, Toma will have to dig deep in order to discover her own power. If she can’t find her power in time, the entire empire will be at the mercy of Koschei.

Thanks to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for an advanced copy of Bone Weaver to review! Polydoros’ debut, The City Beautiful, was a top read for me last year, so I was excited to dig into this new fantasy. There is a lot to like about this fantasy/horror combo!

If you like your fantasy with a lot of world building, this is definitely the book for you. Polydoros based a lot of the mythology in this book on Slavic mythology. Especially religious and cultural unrest, which definitely comes through the story. I found myself looking up some of the monsters and things included in the book, and I learned a lot! Honestly, I can’t think of a lot of YA books that are based in this kind of mythology.

That being said, there were moments in time where the story itself felt a bit dragged down by the amount of world building there was. It almost felt Tolkien-esque, in a way? In that there tended to be a lot of description about things, which isn’t always a bad thing. Just not necessarily my cup of tea.

Despite this, the characters were well developed, and the different uses of magic were interesting and well done. It’s definitely a dark horror/fantasy, so I would keep that in mind when reading!

All in all, this is going to make a great book to have on any fall TBR!
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I'm finding that I enjoyed Polydoros' debut more than I enjoyed this one. The mythology was fascinating and the horror fantasy was done well. Stay tuned for a full review to come soon!

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