A review by bex_knighthunterbooks
The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart

adventurous emotional 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

4.0

This makes me want to read more epic fantasy trilogies - I really did feel so emotionally involved by the end of this and cried at multiple points. I think the second half was stronger than the first, but I think that is mainly because it being a few months since I read the first two books I was struggling to remember the situation and I don't think the time jump helped this. I didn't enjoy Phalue's perspective for this section as it was a bit grumbly and felt needlessly in opposition to Lin's, and Jovis being separate from the others again in quite a frustrating predicament. However, the second half was very satisfying when we got the final reveals and the high-stakes action where I felt really invested. I actually loved the very end-end, even though I'm sure it wasn't what some fans were hoping for. This volume contained some court politics and the discussions on difficulty of ruling, and a lot of action (mostly chases and fights), but with emotional weight to decisions definitely given space to be explored. The action itself did get a little repetitive in this volume, but not enough for me to get bored. It also felt like we got some really interesting and satisfying character development from Ranami and Nisong. Overall, I'd say this was a brilliant conclusion to a really enjoyable series, with great worldbuilding and a propulsive story.