Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart

5 reviews

dragongirl271's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

witcheep's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

There is so much I loved about this book (and I'll blabber about that soon)! I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel to see how the escalating hardships are handled; what kind of alliances are made between the different factions in the Empire that is on a brink of war on so many fronts. Moreover, my heart aches to see if Jovis and Lin can get any peace in their lives; they both have so much at stakes after the ending of The Bone Shard Emperor. And I must know more about Mephi asap!! Also, I must confess, even Phalue has grown on me, and I'm keen on learning what the plot has in stock for her.

Worldbuilding

In The Bone Shard Emperor, we get to learn a lot more about the late Emperor Shiyen / Lin's father's secrets as well as about the Alanga; this makes the worldbuilding even more detailed. I loved speculating what might be revealed next and how the informaton would connect to the different characters. Biggest of the Alanga secrets are found in an Alanga diary Jovis steals (

the Alanga language is the same as the language of the bone shard magic; these two are connected in their history

) and deductions Jovis and Lin make with their animal companions, who they learn are called ossalen (

these companions are the source the Alanga get their magic from, making Lin and Jovis Alanga, but there's still more to learn about the ossalen

). The Alanga begin to appear all over the Empire, and some of their identities are surprise plot twists.

Characters

As in the previous book, Jovis continues to be my favorite character and the main reason I loved the book so much. He's a real charmer with his humbleness and willingness to help others. Jovis continues his contemplations about his identity with the same easygoing but self-deprecating humour I loved in the first book:

But if some other person fell into danger, my brain became muddled as the melon pulp at the bottom of the wine barrel. I'd told myself so many times I wasn't a hero.
I lifted my staff to the side, opening my arms, inviting the construct to attack.
Maybe I was a hero. And heroes were idiots.

Jovis struggles to find where his loyalties lie at, and doesn't like that every group in the Empire seems to want him to be their pawn. With the help of Mephi, Jovis begins to untangle his emotions about this situation and takes more agency about his decicions and actions.

"You and Lin had a fight. You need to make things right because she needs you there. Everyone does. You can't walk away." There was something odd about his voice, like he was choking on something.
I lifted a foot and darted around him. "This is me, walking away."
He slid past me, his body low to the ground, his ears flattened, jaw clenched. "Very funny. Jovis makes big jokes when he can't face big feelings."
Ouch. So maybe that was true.

Phalue managed to get my interest in this book, whereas in the first one I was indifferent about her. Here, we are shown how Phalue constantly works on herself to be a good person in every relationship important to her; with Ranami, with her father, with a street orphan who she begins training to fight, and even her people and all of the Empire. She fights her prejudices to be a morally stable and good person, and I respect that. She doesn't throw herself into any alliances, but considers them thoroughly. As Ranami puts it, Phalue doesn't make her mind lightly, but when Phalue decides something, she goes to it wholeheartedly and without saving efforts. I like a character who acknowledges that they need to work on themself and is willing to do that work not only for themself but for the people they love as well.

Relationships: Lin & Jovis

There are a lot of revelations about the worldbuilding elements and about Lin and Jovis to be have between these two, and I love how they slowly begin to trust each other enough to share them with each other. Their relationship is a very tentative slow burn of friendship

and more

, and I'm here for it! Andrea Stewart took me on an emotional ride with this relationship dynamic, which made me care about them deeply. Lin and Jovis have a tendency to argue, tease or challenge each other, but when it really counts, they can rely on the help of each other both in physical danger and in emotional distress.

"He's a construct and so is his master. The Shardless Few in the south; the construct army to the north-east. And around us, the islands sink."
I shouldn't feel sorry for her. I couldn't. "Are you ... complaining about being an Emperor?"
She shot me a dark look. Ah. Too far in the other direction. I'd overcompensated. But then she let out a rueful laugh. "When you say it like that, it does seem foolish."

They still keep big secrets from each other, though, and it causes big turmoil between them when the secrets begin to reveal.

"I need to trust someone, to feel like I can still belong. That I'm still real and not just what he made me."

– Lin to Jovis

After all the willingly and unwillingly revealed secrets, Lin and Jovis have hurt feelings between them and

they separate for a short while

. The end battle

draws them back together as a situtational necessity, and they find a way to work around the hurt. After the battle, Jovis takes the initiative to make amends:

"I love you," Jovis blurted out into the silence. "Please don't execute me. Not even later. Ah shit. I'm no good at this. I mean – let me start over. I've made a mess of things. I don't care what you are. Whatever your father did to make you. I care about who you are. And who you are is a person I care about." He pursed his lips, wrinkling up his nose. "I'm not even sure if – does that make sense?"

Isn't that the cutest, most awkward, most Jovis confession? And how Lin echoes the sentiment with her own reconciliation:

"I don't care where you come from. I don't care about your heritage. Come back to me."
I didn't ask, but he offered it anyway. "I promise." He took my hand and held it over his heart. It beat, strong and steady, beneath my palm. "And I'll never break a promise to you again."

Swooooon!

Content Warnings

alexalily's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

aardwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Everything I loved about the first book is here, and when the narrative flow gets going, it's every bit as good. There are a few quibbles on the storytelling level. The whole thrust and theme is bound up in protecting your people, but whole swaths of innocents get cut down in nameless silence all the time with little reaction. (Hard to avoid on an epic scale, but egregious.) It makes the often petty behavior of even the most interesting characters and ruthless antagonists feel a little like super powered teenagers playing action figures with people. But the world is still fascinating, and that really is terribly common in the genre.

I had trouble pinning down why I liked the book less than the first one. There's a forced, chemistry-free romance that doesn't suit either character. There's some real book-two-of-a-trilogy bloat, and a lot of the 500+ pages feel like wheel spinning. There's less about the more interesting POV characters from the first book and the secondary weirdos who have a lot of potential.

I finally realized that this just comes down to having way too much Jovis. He's always been the most boring man in the world, to be tolerated only because Mephi is there, and everything he does is dumb and wrong. Cut him and the pacing and plotting and trope use would tidy right up.

Content Warnings

caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thanks to Orbit Books for the free advance copy of this book.

- Okay okay okay. I feel like I can't get too much into the plot of THE BONE SHARD EMPEROR because not only will it spoil some of THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER but also OMG SO MUCH HAPPENS. Questions answered! More questions raised!
- This book has a lot more political maneuvering than I typically enjoy in my fantasy books, but I'm so invested in not only Lin but the world of the Empire as a whole that I was hooked on every word. And then, aside from the politics, there are some truly epic battle scenes that had me on the edge of my seat.
- We also see a lot more of Phalue and Ranami, sapphic power couple of your dreams, in this book and I am here for it.
- Please just read these books already and come talk to me about the new developments in this book, and please @orbitbooks_us let's get the third book quickly!

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