Love, love, love.

This story is a drug to me. Yes, it is complicated at moments, but all the best fantasy worlds are.

It’s incredibly written, the pacing is nice and quick despite it being more of an epic fantasy with a complex world. The characters are also complex, diverse, and very very human in the sense that they’re not perfect. Which again, I adore.

It’s a lot to take on and you want to make sure you have the time to focus during this read, but dang is it really worth it. This is a great book to not take yourself too seriously and enjoy the ride. You’re not going to perfectly understand everything the first go around and that is part of the charm.

It will suck you in and leave you scrambling to order the next book.

Thank you so much to the publishers and Netgalley for the e-arc!

I must advise that this will not be an objective review as I cannot stop thinking about this book since I first read the arc.

I discovered Samantha Shannon this year and reading her has been one of the best literary journeys I’ve ever been. I thought Priory was my 2023 comfort book…..that’s until I read The Bone Season.

I’ve had the original edition on my kindle for a while, but when I saw that she was revising it, I decided to wait. Now, I feel like I have missed on loving a favourite for years. I am a very easy 5-star giver, but rarely are there books that make me feel as if they were written for me. And this one feels like so.

In a quick-fire review, this for me is a dystopian urban fantasy book that crosses elements of different genres. I was immediately romped in with the opening chapters, imagining the London I walk on a daily basis and relating my favourite locations of the city to the ones in the book. How I love when this happens. *SCREAMS IN SEVEN DIALS *

The story is set in future London, in 2059, in a world divided in Clairvoyants, out-casted from society, and Amaurotics. Due to this division by the republic of Scion, Clairvoyants have been forced to operate in a criminal underworld, dominated by Syndicates. Our protagonist, Paige Mahoney, is an unusual type of voyant, a dreamwalker, operating in the Seven Seals Syndicate. She is potentially the only dreamwalker alive, making her existence a living treason. Paige managed to stay under the radar for a while, even from her amaurotic dad, but this rapidly changes when she has to use her abilities in a dangerous situation. And that’s how much you will get from the plot from me.

Readers, I was having palpitations from the first four chapters. The concept of this story, for me, is tremendously original and intriguing, an intense vivid reading experience from the first sentence. I was daydreaming about reading this book at work, walking, and going to bed.

Samantha Shannon proves that her world building skills are one of her best weapons. Now, the initial chapters might be slightly complex, with a lot of new terms introduced, and sometimes with a bit of info-dumping – I did not mind this at all, as it was necessary for world building and quickly, I started getting into the rhythm of it. A lot of things are thrown at you when you think you grasped it all. I felt like I was doing a complex 10000 pieces puzzle that eventually started to fall into place and blew me away with the final picture.

Just like Roots of Chaos, her imagination should be studied, SERIOUSLY! What a powerhouse. The abilities, the voyants, the auras…..did I understand it all? Absolutely not. And I still loved all about it. I can not stop thinking of the concepts of these aptitudes and concepts, especially the dreamscapes.

I love Paige. She’s an amazing MC, strong, intelligent and her development is perfectly written. Paige is quick in her toes, but also in her thinking, and carries an immense emotional baggage from her past. The flashbacks were so intense and interesting to read and slowly builds to her overall personality and arc. Her wittiness and sarcasm laced her perfectly.

I could talk about Warden, but he’s still too much of a mystery to me, and I feel it will be too spoilery to write my thoughts about him.

I have to say that Nick and Liss are two of the most amazing support characters I’ve ever read and god, how I love them. Liss, so delicate and kind hearted. I wish I could tell you more without spoiling, however I’ll just say……hold tight to your heartstrings. And Nick….oh Nick. The most protective, selfless, big brother figure character. I am so scared for the future books and if they will bring ache surrounding Nick.

There is a tinge of a build up to a romance and I enjoyed the way it was done. You can see a progression through different stages of the relationship, with a slow build of respect and trust, with a sparkle of tension. My favourite type.

I am torn again if I should read the original series as I am itching to get more of the story and I cannot wait for this epic adventure to continue.

I could go on for hours, writing about this book. And I probably will. At the same time, I’m 100% sure this review is not enough for the magnitude of my feelings about it.

I will finish this review by saying that I admire the honesty of the author in revising her debut, whilst keeping her readers updated about it. I appreciate how much she believes in her ideas to this point and I think that also had its weight on my reading experience.

Thank you, Samantha Shannon, for giving me my favourite 2023 reading experience and a book that will stick with me forever. Little Dreamer, I will see you soon.


I will be posting this review on my Instagram, once this is out in the world and I have a beautiful physical copy of it.

I came late to this series. A huge fan of “The Priory of the Orange Tree” and “A Day of Fallen Night”, I had always meant to get around to reading Samantha Shannon’s first series. Once I heard that she was rewriting the first book for its tenth anniversary, I requested and was delighted to receive the ARC, and dove in.

It wasn’t love at first sight. Truthfully, I might have set the book aside were it by any other author, but I so loved Shannon’s other work that I kept to it. There is a lot of information to take in at first – a lot of slang, worldbuilding, and then twists on the worldbuilding – and character work took a backseat to establishing the plot. There are a lot of plot points that date the book – it’s a science fiction dystopian and written in first person starring a tough woman with super-special abilities - which reminded me not in a great way of YA dystopian works that were all the rage before and around 2013. It wasn’t until around the 30% mark that characters began to get an opportunity to interact with one another, and from then on out I was hooked. All my criticisms eased as I got further into the world, and its quirks began to make sense rather than be merely confusing. I grew attached to the world, to its characters, to POV character Paige Mahoney, and delighted in the action sequences that built on one another. The last 100 pages or so is full-throttle; I stayed up entirely too late getting through them because I just had to know.

So yes, despite the rough start, I’m now excited to continue this series. While it’s not instant love like the “Roots of Chaos”, I can appreciate this novel as a set-up to a much longer series of books – books I’m eager to add to my To Be Read list, now.

I'm very, very delighted I got to read the newest version of this book. I originally read it back in 2020, and coming back to this world was amazing. There are definitely some differences in this book versus the original, at some point I would like to go through and highlight where some of the things have changed -- I feel it would be a nice experience.

This book was much tighter in plot than the original, and you can also tell how much more well written it is. Ten years made a lot of difference in skill, and I loved this book just as much now -- if not more.

Paige remains a favorite of mine, as does Arcturus. There were some parts I don't remember as well as I would have liked, and honestly, I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. Because this version is so much more solid.

Also, I feel like it was easier to understand in some ways, I wouldn't say there was less jargon, but it was presented differently, so it worked for me. Instead of the original four stars I gave this book, I would now give it a five. I'm eager to see how these changes make a difference in the future books.

An absolutely amazing book, and I am so excited for all the future ones!

Samantha Shannon has outdone herself with this epic retelling of THE BONE SEASON. Already a masterpiece, THE BONE SEASON 10th Anniversary Edition is somehow even more magnificent than its predecessor. It follows the story of Paige Mahoney who is a dreamwalker, a special type of clairvoyant. There are many clairvoyants living in Scion London in the year 2059, although their strange abilities make them unwelcome by the government and non-gifted locals. After accidentally killing a man with her mind, Paige is kidnapped by masked strangers and taken to a penal colony named Sheol, far away from her beloved Seven Seals gang in London. THE BONE SEASON will have you on the edge of your chair, desperately hoping that Paige will master her dreamwalking abilities and escape the dreaded Sheol. Samantha Shannon has clearly edited THE BONE SEASON 10th Anniversary Edition to deepen the reader's understanding of Paige's character and her motivations. This is a must-read for readers of all kind.

Wow! The 10 year anniversary one is VERY different from the original. Still loves it though. I am very interested to see how the main plot points are going to carry forward with some people being killed off in this one that weren't originally.

Very happy that Liss got a proper goodbye. The introduction of new characters was interesting to me and I'm curious with how things with David are going to play out.

Thank you so much to Bloomsbury, Samantha Shannon, and Netgalley for this ARC! I have so, so much to say about this book, and I am so grateful to have gotten the chance to review this prior to its release this fall.

First of all- The Bone Season is an incredibly unique series. For me, this is absolutely a five-star series, and this edited/updated version of the first book has reignited my love for Paige Mahoney. This is the kind of series that I initially struggled to understand, but by the time I had finished the first book and moved on to the next, I was completely intrigued. Because of it's completely unique nature, I almost struggle to recommend it, because I truly believe this is the kind of book, where "if you get it, you get it". Once I finished this series for the first time, it lingered in my brain for months. I have thought about it many, many times since my first read-through. I think this is the kind of sci-fi book that is completely worth giving it a shot, but keep in mind- there is a LOT going on, and it is understandable if a person does not resonate with it the first time. I, however, am so glad I stuck with it.

Samantha Shannon has redesigned this book in such a beautiful, tasteful, and considerable way- although I enjoyed the original version, this 10th Anniversary Edit has made the plot so much more palatable, smooth, and understandable. I am consistently in awe of Paige's character attributes, and I am so excited to see this series get re-published. I can see the care and attention that Shannon has put into this edit, and I am really looking forward to its revitalization. This book is so gut wrenching, and I adore it.

The Bone Season releases this August, and if you have not yet read it & think it might be up your alley, I highly recommend looking into it then!

Thank you to Bloomsbury for introducing me to one of my now new favorite books.

So I just finished an arc of the tenth anniversary edition of the Bone Season, and I’m told that Shannon did some revision and I haven’t read the first printing Vs the anniversary edition and let me tell you I’m impressed. I thought priory was her best book, let me tell you it’s the bone season. You have a well written cast of characters, a main character who you can’t help but root for despite her very questionable choices. The ending left me with actual chills and I can’t wait for the “revised” rest of the books.

Oh my gosh this book was full of amazing world building and I absolutely loved it! It kept me hooked right off the bat!

This book was great to begin with but I love the tweaks that were made to show her growth as an author. Can't wait for the next in the series.

A wonderful reissue of one of my favorite urban fantasy series. Very reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere in setting and feel, although characters not quite so weird. This edition includes some revamped material and I have to say that it added much to an already splendid story.