This was a very imaginative fantasy! The world-building was very gorgeous and original! I love the fast-paced tale! The characters are wonderful! I recommend this for fans of Mercedes Lackey!

The amount of times I have read this series is my business okay. The world building. The character development. The storyline. It all had me captured by the first chapter. Be prepared to put all your energy and memory into this series. It is almost a requirement but I’m so glad that I did!

I was nervous about what may have changed in this rewrite of the series but I worried for no reason. Every part of this was a masterpiece and I loved it! Exceptionally well done and thank you to the publisher for letting Samantha Shannon rewrite this.

I know many complain about the info dumps and world building, but I read this at the right time where my brain could really absorb and appreciate a slow, complex and layered high fantasy world. I actually didn’t find this very confusing at all and didn’t find myself needing the glossary much (also it’s a pain to skip to on my kindle back and forth). With Shannon’s books, you know the world will be lush and detailed with a lot of historical threads weaved in and a magic system that is powerful yet subtle. This doesn’t have the shock and awe of combustible magic or fantastical beasts, but this instead felt more strategic and nuanced. The magic system is grounded in your mind instead and the thin line separating the living from the dead and beyond.

I found the magic system smart and intricate, and it compliments the cast of characters and their personalities well. While this didn’t have much fast paced action, I found myself drawn to Paige’s world and Paige herself as a character. She’s at times abrasive and brash, yet fiercely loyal and emotional at others. She’s a dynamic character that keeps your interest and fascination and her choices— while some are very stupid, still smack of cleverness and strength, even if her pride does give herself and us readers quite a few headaches.

While the romantic sub plot was expertly crafted— the yearning and gradual emotional development was done well enough, it’s not the star of the show here and it’s not meant to be. I appreciated the restrained hand Shannon uses with this and how she let the other plot elements breathe and take more time on the page. I see the Arcturus simping, and I get it, he and Paige have an interesting dynamic, and while I’m keen to see more, I love that it’s actually not the element I’m most interested in.

While I have said this is slow paced, I don’t think that’s a fault so much as more of a specific design choice and also a bit of a hallmark for the author. That said, there were some pieces I didn’t feel fit quite right or some character actions that felt a bit too convenient, like Nashira and her lack of interrogation of Paige. I’m sure this will be explored more, but I was surprised at how easy parts of Paige’s experience in Oxford felt. I also didn’t love how there were large gaps of time unaccounted for and the explosive climax was largely planned and advanced during one of these chunks, where I would have loved to see it being laid in real time more.

The second half of this book especially felt like it crawled a bit when so much had already been laid down in the foundation where the pace definitely could have been upped a bit. Still, there’s plenty of open doors and crumbs to explore so I’m excited to see where this 5 book series goes!

Overall, my rating sits between a 3.75 and a 4. I’m enticed to continue, the world building is impressive, the characters feel like they have big arcs planned, but I did wish for just a bit more action and excitement, especially in the back half.

I really wanted to love this book. My friend has raved about it for so long, but I think I am a simple fantasy girlie! I just really struggled to get into this book and to finish it. I would love to try some of Samantha's other work eventually, but this series isn't for me.

4.5/5 stars

Been a minute since I read a Samantha Shannon book! Forgot how intense the world-building is (I mean any book that has a glossary and character list...there's levels). This is the only place I have to deduct half a point because there was something I was confused about which seemed fundamental to how this, in reality, alternate timeline of our world functions. I thought I'd missed something, but I think it just wasn't explained until towards the end of the book? Since this is supposed to be a long series maybe that's intentional for the long haul as it were, but it wasn't like a big reveal.

Anyway that aside I really loved this and I am super excited to continue the series!! I really enjoyed Paige as a main character, she's feisty, tough and inquisitive. Can't wait to see where the story takes us...

Of course it was excellent read and I had no doubts about it!it gets some time to get used to writing and characters, but once you pass it , it’s amazing. I loved the character and how unique this book was. Looking forward to continue series.

The Bone Season absolutely blew me away. Such a fantastically written book, with a gripping plot, amazing characters and original setting and ideas.

I have attempted to give this book a chance many times at this point. It is by far the oldest title on my NetGalley shelf, and for some reason I do not find it as engaging as I expected.

I have yet to read Samantha Shannon’s other works (although I own several physical editions) but for my particularly The Bone Season did not engage me the way I need, especially dense fantasy, to engage me.

I know this book is well loved and I’m hoping I am simply crazy and upon rereading the book, I will enjoy it more, but as it stands now, this book did not stand out to me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

2.5-ish stars

Samantha Shannon’s The Bone Season is a captivating blend of fantasy and dystopia that immerses readers in a richly developed world. The story follows Paige Mahoney, a strong and complex protagonist with unique clairvoyant abilities, navigating a society that criminalizes her gifts. Shannon’s world-building is impressive, filled with intricate lore and vividly drawn characters that keep you engaged from start to finish. The writing is lyrical and evocative, making the stakes feel personal and urgent. With its gripping plot and thought-provoking themes of freedom and identity, The Bone Season is a must-read for fans of imaginative fantasy and thrilling adventures.

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an ebook of "The Bone Season" by Samantha Shannon. I enjoyed this book! I finished it quickly and liked the world building and magic system. It is filled with politics, lots of characters, and is not for the faint of heart. Shannon has quite the imagination. I recommend this to anyone who loves dystopian, paranormal, and fantasy reads.

*4.5 Stars*

I got an ARC for the rewritten edition of this book that I had already listened to twice before.
I'm extremely bad at remembering details in a book so I could not tell you what changed from the first versions to this one but I really did enjoy this story.
Paige is a great main character, I love being in her head and seeing her grow throughout this book.
I also enjoyed the plot though it did not surprise me much (once again, this was my third read lol). I like Samantha's writing style and I'm really looking forward to reading the sequel. I'm ready to fully immerse myself in The Bone Season series!

The Bone Season presents a richly imagined dystopian world filled with supernatural elements and complex characters. However, despite its potential, the novel falls short in execution, leaving readers like myself feeling conflicted and uncertain. While the premise is intriguing and the character of Warden holds promise, the pacing and convoluted plot make it a challenging read. Shannon's prose is often dense and overly descriptive, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the story. While I may not continue with the series, fans of intricate world-building and morally gray characters may find enough to keep them invested, particularly in the enigmatic figure of Warden."

This book will be reviewed and featured on my instagram account : @emily_reads_everything. In addition, my goodreads account will have a starred rating, as well as one here. My GR account is linked in the profile of my instagram.

Whew. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I WILL FOLLOW SAMANTHA SHANNON ANYWHERE.
 
This gorgeous author’s preferred text of The Bone Season is astounding. No one world builds like Ms. Shannon. Her words always manage to encompass my very being into a lushly layered world of fantastical settings. It’s grim and oppressive, but delicately woven into a story you can’t imagine stepping away from.
 
I can’t wait to immerse myself back into Scion London with the arrivals of the revised texts of the next three additions to this series. And get ready for the 5th novel The Dark Mirror.
 
Once again, thank you to Bloomsbury for this #gifted copy. And as always, thank you to Samantha Shannon for consistently reminding me of the joys of reading.

There is just something about Samantha Shannon's work that will always have me wishing the book never ended, but is still so perfectly written that I cannot be mad that it is ending. I loved every second I spent reading this book. I wish I had the ability to read it for the first time again. The words Shannon writes are magical and the worlds she creates are masterpieces. Everyone needs to read this book!

One thing I love about Samantha Shannon is how expansive her worlds are. I truly felt like I was there with Paige, and I loved how complex our cast of characters was. I'm waiting for the other edited versions now, but I'd totally read the rest of this series based on what I've seen now, and I wish it was already complete!

It makes sense that this came out in 2013 because even though it has been heavily re-written, it exudes 2010s energy. The tropes, the rebellion, the romance, the dystopia, the chosen one... all our old friends are here and exactly as you remember them.

Re-Written:
There've been quite a few books in recent years where the publishers claim that it's being re-written (especially when self-pub get picked up by trad) and when listening to the audiobook and reading along (one of the old version, one of the new) I find that there's a handful of changes and none of them are meaningful or consequential in any way.

Until now. This is 100% re-written. I had the ARC of the anniversary edition and the audiobook copy of the old edition from my library and initially there were a lot of changes but I could easily dual read (eg the curtains in one are purple, and in the other are red, but nothing apart from the one adjective was changed in the sentence). However, as the book went on it became increasingly mentally taxing, and eventually whole pages were missing or added or re-written so heavily that I had to pause one book and catch up on the other.

Which Version Should You Read?:
Because of the brain strain, I only maintained my experiment through the end of ch 4. After that I only read the anniversary edition so I could more accurately review my ARC. But I do think that overall, I was vibing more with the older edition. The info-dumping felt slightly more organic, but primarily the character personalities change a lot between editions and I only had one preference for a character in the new edition; the old edition was my preference for everyone else.

The Magic System:
There sure is a lot of information about the magic system here, but almost all of it was delivered through very flat 'I should explain this to you now' dialogue so I struggled to retain much if any of it. This book is so long and there should've been a lot more occasions to show not tell.

The Romance:
While I could feel the writing steering me toward a romance from the very beginning, I was always waiting for it but couldn't quite feel it. There were some contrivances like (view spoiler).

Irish History:
One thing that I appreciated was the incorporation of a subject that the author seems to be passionate about, as the main character appears to have survived through an analogous Bloody Sunday in their world. There were a lot of clear inclusions of and parallels to British/Irish clashes and rebellions that were mirrored in the plotlines here.

Overall:
Had I been a teen who read this in the 2010s, I think I could've been all about it. And even as an adult in the 2010s it would still have been fairly decent (hence the 3/5 rating). For my personal enjoyment I think I'd lean more on the "it's fine" side of things. Far too long for the amount of content, and easy to read but nothing that really stood out that I'll be ruminating on at all.

I eagerly anticipated diving into this book, especially after being captivated by Samantha Shannon's writing in ADOFN. The plot and setting introduced something entirely fresh to me, with its portrayal of clairvoyants and dreamwalkers. The relationship between Paige and Warden intrigued me greatly; it starts off complex and gradually unfolds with each step forward and backward, as they cautiously build trust in each other. I didn't expect myself to enjoy a dystopian novel this much now that I'm not /too/ into the genre anymore lol. I will definitely pick up the sequel.

TY NETGALLEY FOR THE ARC <333 (sorry it took so long, the epub formatting was horrendous on my kindle (idk why, it's never happened before) so i waited until i got my hands on the physical copy)

I read this book YEARS ago, when it first came out and I wanted to reread it again to say if it had "aged well". Unfortunately it did not. The world that Shannon has created is amazing, and I still have intrigue around the world but it was a good reminder of how young Shannon was when she first wrote this book and how large of a task it was to create such a developed world.