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A review by theeuphoriczat
Bone Weaver by Aden Polydoros
4.0
"Death had stripped away even the most rigid societal restraints, leaving my family desperately grasping for the things they'd cared about in their former lives."
"...the outside world's beauty was only exceeded by its venom and cruelty"
I finished this book in under 3 hours, I was so captivated by the story. Set in an Imperial Russian inspired country currently ravaged by war (called the Kosa Empire). A supposed democratic revolution funded by the powerful elites threatens to tear the country apart, after they have successful dethroned the royal family and the Tsar has gone missing and suspected dead.
At the edge of country lives Toma and her adopted family. But her family is different and made up of the undead. They are being kept alive by magic and Toma is seen throughout the book sewing and ensuring that their decaying body parts remain intact. This is where we are introduced to the different types of undead, the magic that keeps them alive and the power & magic structure of the society.
I am trying not to spoil too much of the magic structure because it is one that you need to read and be in awe of. At the start of the book, we see Toma save a young man who turns out to be Tsar Mikhail, the rightful emperor. While she is tending to his wounds her undead sister is kidnapped by the revolutionary leader Koschei and she decides to go on a journey to find her sister.
This takes them on a journey that involves monster fighting, train-hopping, circus acts, death, kidnapping, friendship, loyalty, magic, devotion and love. The characters are so well written, i loved how the author wrote the Toma's naivety, especially since she has not been around the living in such a long time. You can see that in the way she relates with Mikhail and Vanya and the other cast of characters they meet and seek help from in the course of their journey. I love her relationships with Vanya, it was dark, gory, and in no better word to describe it, faithful.
There is a part in the book where she is trying to thread her needle so that she can sew a dismembered body part and her tears well up and her vision goes blurry, I can tell you I felt that into my soul.
I really found the glossary at the back to be really helpful, but I would have loved if we got a bit more discussion around the undead, especially the difference between the different types. I would have loved some on page action as that would have helped my understanding with the war in general. I have to be honest, while I was readying the book, I was too focused on our characters dilemma to notice. There were also certain scenes that I wished the author had drawn out a bit more, unless there is a follow up book which I don't think there is.
Overall, I thought it was solid world building, great magic-political system, well thought out historical context, and well-rounded characters.
Thanks to Pride Book Tours for making this book available to me.
"...the outside world's beauty was only exceeded by its venom and cruelty"
I finished this book in under 3 hours, I was so captivated by the story. Set in an Imperial Russian inspired country currently ravaged by war (called the Kosa Empire). A supposed democratic revolution funded by the powerful elites threatens to tear the country apart, after they have successful dethroned the royal family and the Tsar has gone missing and suspected dead.
At the edge of country lives Toma and her adopted family. But her family is different and made up of the undead. They are being kept alive by magic and Toma is seen throughout the book sewing and ensuring that their decaying body parts remain intact. This is where we are introduced to the different types of undead, the magic that keeps them alive and the power & magic structure of the society.
I am trying not to spoil too much of the magic structure because it is one that you need to read and be in awe of. At the start of the book, we see Toma save a young man who turns out to be Tsar Mikhail, the rightful emperor. While she is tending to his wounds her undead sister is kidnapped by the revolutionary leader Koschei and she decides to go on a journey to find her sister.
This takes them on a journey that involves monster fighting, train-hopping, circus acts, death, kidnapping, friendship, loyalty, magic, devotion and love. The characters are so well written, i loved how the author wrote the Toma's naivety, especially since she has not been around the living in such a long time. You can see that in the way she relates with Mikhail and Vanya and the other cast of characters they meet and seek help from in the course of their journey. I love her relationships with Vanya, it was dark, gory, and in no better word to describe it, faithful.
There is a part in the book where she is trying to thread her needle so that she can sew a dismembered body part and her tears well up and her vision goes blurry, I can tell you I felt that into my soul.
I really found the glossary at the back to be really helpful, but I would have loved if we got a bit more discussion around the undead, especially the difference between the different types. I would have loved some on page action as that would have helped my understanding with the war in general. I have to be honest, while I was readying the book, I was too focused on our characters dilemma to notice. There were also certain scenes that I wished the author had drawn out a bit more, unless there is a follow up book which I don't think there is.
Overall, I thought it was solid world building, great magic-political system, well thought out historical context, and well-rounded characters.
Thanks to Pride Book Tours for making this book available to me.