I thought “The Bone Witch” sounded interesting and after reading the last sentence in the book description, “Memoirs of a Geisha meets The Name of the Wind in this brilliant new fantasy series by Rin Chupeco!”, I knew that I had to read this book. Maybe my expectations were too high but I found myself sorely disappointed. Now before I delve into the details, this isn’t a bad read, it just isn’t in the same league as “Memoirs of a Geisha” or “The Name of the Wind”.

The story itself was decent. The story follows Tea as she discovers her innate ability to raise the dead and learns what it means to be a “bone witch”. Along with following Tea as she learns proper magical etiquette, the story alternates chapters with an older Tea as she reflects back on her life and raises beasts from bones. There isn’t a whole lot of action to keep the reader glued to the pages, rather it’s more of a glimpse of life for Tea as she navigates a new society with new rules and challenges. With that being said, there’s enough action that I didn’t give up on the book and finished it through to the last page. The storyline is the one place where I would compare this book to “Memoirs of a Geisha”- a lot of descriptions of the rituals that Tea goes through.

The characters in this book are alright. I didn’t find myself caring about any of them, even the main character, and didn’t really relate to any of them. They weren’t unlikable but I felt that I didn’t know them well enough to care about them. I could have used a little bit more of an emotional connection to all of the characters but maybe throughout the rest of the series there will be more of a connection.

The writing in this book is pretty good. The author writes with a good variety of sentence structure- definitely a polished writer. The descriptions in this book don’t stand out as magical but they’re readable and get the point across. This is why I wouldn’t compare this book to “The Name of the Wind”- the writing just doesn’t live up to the comparison. Even though the writing isn’t the best I’ve ever read- the writing is definitely not amateuar. I would be interested in reading more by this author, just not this series.

The most frustrating part of this book for me was the ending. I had so many unanswered questions at the end that I found myself extremely irritated. There’s such a thing as the perfect amount of intrigue left at the end of a book, this book misses that mark by a long shot. The book would have been much better if the author had fully told the story of Tea’s young life and left her adult life more of a mystery, rather than leaving both stories half finished. If you’re going to read this book- I would recommend waiting until the next book in the series is released.

I can’t say that I would recommend this book but I can’t recommend against it either. If you are looking for a story that combines elements of “Memoirs of a Geisha” with a fantasy story, you will enjoy this book. If you’re looking for a book with writing comparable to “The Name of the Wind”, look elsewhere.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel seems to come from a similar idea as <em>Sabriel</em>, but is not as well executed. The author executes some interesting world-building, but may be trying to include too many imaginary cultures at once to give any of them the thoroughness really required (and includes enough thinly-veiled real-world stereotypes to make me kind of uncomfortable). The choice to have the two intertwined narratives not meet up is an odd one, and has the effect of the framing story spoiling many major plot points of the main story in a disappointing way. It had enough going for it that the next book in the series could turn the whole thing around, though.

This is my Rin Chupeco book. 

I was very disappointed. I thought the book would be better from what I read in the description. I found it to be veeeeery slow. Not only that, it had way too much information crammed up and it was very hard to follow. I felt like it was never going to end. 

I liked about 2 scenes where good conversation happened.

The ending has a name that is the hook to the second book.

Tea, like her sisters, is a witch.  When her brother, Fox, died, she found out purely by accident that she is a special type of witch, a necromancer.  During her grief, she brings him back from the dead.  This makes her a bone witch.  A bone witch is shunned from society and is greatly feared.  Luckily, she is taken under the wings of an older, experienced bone witch.  She puts in a great amount of effort to become an asha, someone who can do magic as well as be a social companion.  These are dangerous times, however, and Tea has to make some choices that will effect her and those around her forever.
 
I’ve heard this described as a cross between Memoirs of a Geisha and The Name of the Wind.  I can see where they are coming from.  Because of the story telling aspect, it definitely reminded me of Name of the Wind, although it is definitely geared to a young adult audience.  I enjoyed the way the book was written.  Basically, you have a bard who is pulled to a location where Tea is living in exile.  She has brought him there to share her story with him and have it told.  The story alternates between Tea in the present and Tea in the past.  It was very easy to follow, but also took a long time to develop.  As this is the first book in a series, I do understand the need for all the groundwork for the story, but it did slow down the plot.
 
I see this getting mixed reviews.  It’s either love it or hate it.  I actually loved it.  It was a very memorable read.  I finished it a few weeks ago and still find myself thinking about it.  I give this a 4 out of 5 star ranking.  Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The cover is gorgeous but the plot is non-existent. I loved the summary provided but by the time I finally finished the book, I couldn't remember why I was intrigued in the first place. First half was much better than the second half.

This is the first time in a long while I have read a book that I didn't want to put down. I fell asleep reading it on two nights, and I switched it to text-to-speech during meals. I was captivated by this world and the characters living in it.

I LOVED the main character.
I LOVED the storyline.
I LOVED the beautifully descriptive writing.
I LOVED the surprising twists.
I LOVED the fresh and brilliant magical system.
I LOVED the fantastical beasts.
I LOVED the sociopolitical undertones and messages.
I LOVED the LGBTQ elements.
I LOVE that it is a series and I get more of Tea's story.
I LOVE that there was no romance.
I LOVED IT!

The world was just so unique. I fell in love with the magic system and the land, but especially the magic. It was just so intriguing I couldn't get enough of it.
One of my favourite aspects was the heart glass. I want a heart glass. That would just be so cool!
I always find necromancy an interesting topic in a book. No matter what happens, some dead people are coming back to life, so it should be interesting.
It wasn't the best book ever, but it was really a good start to the story.
Overall, I think the author did a great job and I can't wait to see where she goes with the series. Consider me intrigued.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is amazing. I would have probably broken the spine of the book if it wasn’t for the fact that I received this ARC digitally. I would also like to mention that no Kindle Fire’s where broken during the course of my reading either.

This is the first time I have read any book by author Rin Chupeco. I became aware of Rin Chupeco because Zoraida Cordova, another great female author took a lusty photo of a stack of Sourcebooks ARCS she was reading, The Bone Witch was the book I instantly felt I had to read.

I really loved reading this book, that being said I did feel that there were parts of the book that lost its tempo. At the beginning of the book, I really felt like I was going to finish the book in a matter of minutes, but as the characters and of course the plot changed so did the tempo and speed of my reading. That being said this should not stop you from reading this book, because it’s truly an amazing read. If there ever was a book where you should totally judge it by its cover, this is truly the book. Seriously! Have you seen the cover! The cover of the book itself is an example why you should buy it, it’s absolutely B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!

Besides the beautiful cover, I believe the main reason why I love this book is because I fell in love with Memoirs of a Geisha writing style and  creative fluidity of expression, this book holds the same type of quality.

“There is no greater strength than the ability to understand and accept your own flaws”

This books is everything you need to start 2017 with some serious creative girl power fighting style. I mean seriously I made a list for you!


Geisha-like girls are FIGHTING with STRATEGIST while wielding powerful magical. Honestly this sounds like every female protagonist anime I ever grew up watching, good memories 
Despite the large amount of girl power in this book there are some awesome male characters that are dressed in black, black, and a slightly darker black cloths, who are also awesome.
Did I mention  there are undead creatures, who unfortunately never know when to stay dead, or rather stay undead!
Bone Witches are actually freakin’ amazing and can control demonic undead beast…
Great World building, character bonding, and odd family reuniting after death-ish


My only issue with this book is that there is a hint of a love triangle. Now wait, stop sharpening your pick forks and fires, the love-T isn’t that bad, it’s just a hint of it.I feel that a lot of YA books happen to fallow this trend but by the end of the series the characters are going through a lot more in their life than what I assume was going to be a Love-T. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Think about The Remnant Series by Mary E. Pearson, that love triangle was more about loyalty, patriotic to ones country/home, responsibility and freedom, that’s what those different male characters represented to the female protagonist.

The Bone Witch is only the start, I feel that Rin Chupeco has so much more to offer us as the story continues. This book has a lot of endearing characters with a unique magical ability. It has a lot of dark and melancholic, yet story climax, falls, and restocks itself over and over again that keeps you not only reading but at the edge of you’re seat while you constantly think what’s going to happen next. I do believe this book is going to be amazing for all those YA readers who love a strong female character, dark story line, unique magical females, dashing men, and did I say an undead family bonding moment? Cause you zombie lovers should be biting at the bites for this book. I know I already pre-ordered it, it’s available to read March 7th 2017 through Sourcebooks! Make sure to stop at you’re local bookstore and grab yourself a copy!xa

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The cover and description made me super excited to read this book. You can't get any better than dark forces, witches, and magic.

As much as I wanted to love this book I struggled reading it to its end; many times I thought about just stopping. It just didn't keep my attention and was poorly paced. The story dragged on and on and confused me a lot.  This book was overloaded with description and lacked what is necessary to drive the plot forward.  The description of everything became boring. 

The characters were flat and I just couldn't connect with them.  There wasn't really any emotion radiating from them.  I believe this book spanned 3-4 years of Tea's life but it's hard to tell. 

I was completely lost regarding the romance. During the book Tea likes Prince Kalen but it never moves past that and it doesn't really seem to be reciprocated but then at the end they are walking into the sunset. I don't get it. 

During the book there is a present Tea and a past Tea. The present Tea is talking about her past and how she learned to be an Ashka. The present wants vengeance for something but I'm clearly lost regarding the reasons behind it. 

The beginning starts with Tea unknowingly raising her brother, Fox, from the dead. This alerts others that she has the dark in her and Lady Mykaela comes for her to teach her the way of a bone Witch. Tea and Fox have a connection because of her resurrecting him. Fox is a protective, nice zombie. But in the end he connection is lost and Tea thinks he will kill her. I don't know how or why there is this huge shift in their connection/relationship.  

There are so many gaps and things I don't understand. I would have preferred more plot, faster pace and less description.

Tea's sisters are all named after flowers, but she isn't. They are all asha, but she isn't. Not exactly. She finds out what she is when her brother, Fox, is laid to rest and she hears him calling to her. She finds out that she is a Bone Witch when she raises him from the dead. Soon after, Lady Mykaela takes her away--Fox in tow--to train her in the ways of her art. 

And that's where I basically lost all interest.

I really wanted to like this but I had such a hard time with it. I felt totally out of my comfort zone and element with this book. I felt like I had been thrust into a new culture without any prior knowledge of it and without any means of learning about that culture. I could not for the life of me figure out what the heck was going on the majority of the time. There was so much description and extensively vague worldbuilding that I found myself wanting to skim through it but I knew that I would be so lost if I didn't read every single word. Then again, I was still lost, even when reading descriptions over and over. It really didn't help that the plot seemed to come to a grinding stop at about 20%. 
A few things I did like:
- The cover (Sooo gorgeous!)
- The  necromancy 
- The monsters 
- Heartglass 

Heartglass was a very interesting concept in which an asha or Bone Witch could draw a person's 'heart' or soul out into a glass necklace so that they could give their heart away to whoever they were in love with. But in doing so, you gave the person control over you. Better hope whoever you fall in love with has the best intentions. 

I'm pretty disappointed in myself for not finishing this book because I do not like to DNF books. Maybe this just wasn't the right time for me to read this. Perhaps I will come back to it in the future and try again because there were a few things that really stood out and had me interested in the first place.

*Sigh* When I read the description for this book, I had high hopes and was super excited to get a copy.

The story had a really great start.  We are introduced to Tea, who turns out to be a Bone Witch and accidentally raises her brother from the dead.  Because this is shunned upon in her village, she ends up leaving with an older bone witch who trains her to become an Asha.

After the witch takes Tea, the story becomes slow..too slow for my liking.  Nothing really happens after that (no joke), which was disappointing.  I was expecting a much faster paced book about witches and dark magic. One that would be packed with action.  Instead, I got more of a story about Geisha.  Had I known this ahead of time, I wouldn't have chosen this particular book. I also thought it was a bit too descriptive which made me lose interest.  Unfortunately, I did not end up finishing this book, which is a shame because I really wanted to like it.

It may not have been my cuppa 'Tea', but perhaps it might be yours.

This is a true fantasy novel with weird animals, strange powers, and countries/names you can’t pronounce, and I really liked it.

There are alternating chapters.  The chapters in italics are the present told in the Bard’s first person.  The Bard is here to hear Tea’s story and then ultimately tell others why she is doing what she’s doing.  She says that she is going to destroy what she can because “they” killed the man she loved.  In these chapters you learn about Tea’s powers.  She is one of the most powerful bone witches; she has been cast away or has chosen to leave--we’ll find out later.  She’s clearly powerful, knowledgeable, and angry, yet she’s not crazy or unkind.  Obviously, something happened that has pushed her to right a wrong as she sees it.  The other chapters are Tea’s story, told by her in first person, so switching first person between chapters does require effort for your brain.

Tea begins her story explaining, “I never intended to raise my brother from his grave.”  A year before Tea is supposed to gather for spring equinox where teens receive their heartsglass, which you wears around your neck.  This is your “heart.”  Witches, like Tea’s sisters, trace Heartsrune spells to fill the hearts.  Many witches, like her sisters,  are respectable, but bone witches are definitely not.  No one in her family has ever been a necromancer, but when Fox, Tea’s brother dies, “The syllables tripped on my tongue, tasting old and formal.  It felt as if they came from someone using my mouth as a passageway through which words not my own raced.  I had heard Fox.  I had seen him move….  I dashed toward the grave….As we watched, a cold, gray hand rose up, scratching and stretching, and gripped the tufts of weeds growing close to the grave.  The strange being lifted itself out of its earthly prison…..but then it smiled, and it was Fox’s smile, quiet and kind.”  Tea now has a familiar and it doesn’t exhaust her powers.

A bone witch happens to be nearby.  As Tea would be treated badly, Lady Mykaela comes to fetch Tea and Fox and take her to the Willows where she will learn how to use her powers.  Witches, called asha, are trained here.  It’s an odd world--they entertain people with dancing and fellowship. Tea meets many people, including the prince, and gains knowledge.  She’s the only bone witch in training, but she’s principled and powerful.  Lady Mykaela is the only bone witch in the area, so she becomes exhausted.  Tea will have to learn quickly in order to complete the duties required of bone witches.

I liked the novel although I’ll admit I’m not sure I understand the kingdoms, the False Prince, the Faceless, and the weird animals.  I has a slight passing understanding.  I should probably re-read the beginning where it’s explained.  I can see some people having trouble with the novel because it’s not a fast-paced novel where there are fight scenes, etc.  It challenges your brain as you figure out this strange world.  At the end, Tea has raised her animals from the dead and is headed off to destroy, but I don’t think book two will be about this destruction.  I think it will be her romance and why she’s declared war.  There is no romance in this novel--it’s completely Tea’s story.  It’s definitely an interesting and fascinating book that is getting a lot of press.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the story line and the characters were vivid and interesting. The ending was somewhat disappointing. I feel like it just ended and that ideas were running out. I didn't feel like the readers got a clear idea of what happened and there was not enough information to leave it up to the imagination. I wanted more! Now, if this is the first book in a series I think it will work great.

It's a bit confusing at first since we're just being introduced to this world and the characters are using words we have no meaning for so it feels like we're essentially being dropped in a foreign world without any guidance but the more you read the more you begin to understand. Excellent story and I definitely recommend!

The Bone Witch is one of those reads I didn't expect to enjoy as much and it left me wanting more. There were many great aspects to this story, much of it centered around Tea's training. She has an ability that not many have and many more fear. The power she can wield shows itself later on in her life when she loses her brother. Not knowing what she could do, her brother is brought back from the land of the dead into the world of the living, sending her world into chaos.

"Bone witches were not a respectable trade. They said bone witches gave sleeping sicknesses to innocent princesses with the prick of a finger, they said bone witches ate the hearts of children who strayed too far into forests."

This revelation completely destroys any ideas she has for her future. And without knowing it, it will shape her destiny and make her who she was meant to be. With all of these realizations she is forced to leave behind the place she calls home, her family, and find a way to take control of her new powers before they consume her entirely.

"Tea will not be safe here. Not from the villagers' prejudice, which can be rectified. Your daughter must have training or the Dark will chew holes into her heart, eat her from the inside out, until she shall be more husk than the dead we trade in."

Tea embarks on her journey, meeting many distinctive people that will help shape her and show her that life as a Bone Witch is not just made of intimidating and chilling moments, but can be a very powerful craft. We meet Mistress Parmina and Lady Hami who will help her become the Asha she should be, even though she doesn't have the ability of bending the elements to her will. It is not an easy feat in any way, and there are many stumbles along the way, but her persistence and perseverance will make her a force to be reckoned with.

And there are so many other aspects to this world. A very special heartsglass that they carry with them around their necks, which has the capability of making them cherished loved ones or victims to those they entrust with this very special part of themselves. A closer sibling connection that is formed between Tea and Fox when she brings him back, which I am hoping to see more of in the next novel. And of course horrific beasts that don't necessarily stay dead.

"They told of daeva- strange and terrible monsters, maimed creatures assembled from scale-slicked bodies and yellowed fangs and spined limbs and horns. I was familiar with the legend: the daeva are the False Prince's final curse on the world, and the Faceless are said to command them. Occasionally, the curse would take hold once more, and a daeva would rise from the dead to wreak havoc."

There were truly great elements in The Bone Witch, but I was often left hoping for more of the story, more action, and less of the training. Even though I know this was meant to build up her repertoire in this mythical realm, it left me wishing their was an equal amount of both aspects to the story. And although I felt there were lacking factors, I very much liked this novel and I'm looking forward to see how it will play out in the next book.

***I received this copy from Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***

Disclaimer: This review was written by Ashley Spruill and edited by Kyndal Wilson

The Bone Witch is the first installment in a new YA series by author Rin Chupeco (I wasn’t familiar with her work before this, but some of you readers may be) slated to come out March 2017. It’s about Tea Pahlavi who discovers she is a bone witch (almost like a necromancer) when she accidentally raises her brother from the dead. She is taken in by an older bone witch to begin her training in order to learn how to use her magic in the face of danger and dark forces.

Sounds familiar, right?

While the summary fits a dauntingly long list of titles with that same premise, I was still excited to be able to read a novel by a POC with a kind of magic I personally haven’t read a lot about in other series. And by the novel’s end, I had a lot of mixed feelings. So let’s just dive in to the nitty gritty.

To start, I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with the setting. With the author having been raised in the Philippines, I had the distinct impression throughout the novel that it was the source of some inspiration. Much like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, the novel is not set in our world at all, but in one where magic is the norm. You cannot help but get pulled into her attention to detail because, from the clothing to the buildings, everything is clearly of some significance. 

However, at least for me as a reader, the significance was difficult to follow. In LOTR or GOT, there are often details that will feel familiar because of the medieval times feel of it all. There is no such familiarity in The Bone Witch. And when I assumed I could Google search some of the items — like a hua, an article of clothing worn by a lot of the female characters and described often — I came up short. While I often pride myself on having an active imagination, it was still hard to not to have anything to base Chupeco’s details on, which could be frustrating at times. I truly do have to applaud Chupeco on her efforts — whether the details are inspired by a culture not my own or from her own imagination, she has truly created and built something unique for this story. I may just suggest taking notes the first time reading. There are details that I wrongly assumed I could remember or weren’t of importance that come up later (and often).

The characters themselves were much more familiar. Tea, the protagonist, enters the story at a mere twelve-years-old, and we learn that much of the story is actually her narrating flashbacks. The present Tea is actually seventeen, exiled, and — for reasons that, OF COURSE, aren’t given to us in this book — raising an army of dangerous creatures referred to as “daeva” which felt almost like demons of another culture (which is probably simplifying it too much). To me, there wasn’t anything particularly special about Tea except that it quickly becomes obvious that she’s “the chosen one”, but she doesn’t really bring anything new or exciting to the trope. 

And the biggest shame about Tea as a character is that she is so much more interesting when we see her in the present day. She’s angry, exiled on a beach filled with bones of dead daeva that she’s raising to attack a nearby city, and more importantly, convinced she’s doing the right thing to save people from an even worse enemy. We only get this Tea in 2-3 pages between chapters, usually to preface what’s to come in a flashback or to explain what we just read. But it was just so much more interesting to read. That’s probably the biggest frustration — the story that should be told isn’t. And by the time the book ends, the past still hasn’t caught up to the present, which means there will likely be more of this in the second book. 

But, Tea aside, we are introduced to an assortment of interesting and somewhat more colorful characters. Although none are as colorful as Mistress Parmina, the woman who ultimately oversees Tea’s training. She’s motivated solely by money and pride, so she can be mean and demanding until someone becomes of value to her. She’s not likeable, but she stands out against the rotating backdrop of characters who either easily get along with Tea or are nothing more than the classic mean girls with a petty grudge. However, the more interesting story is knowing that these characters, even Tea’s brother that she resurrects, somehow come to scorn her eventually. 

The messiest part of the story for me was, ultimately, the plot. Sometimes, if stories don’t have strong characters, they have a strong plot (or vice versa). This was not the case with The Bone Witch. Much of the story is focused on Tea’s training, a drawn out montage of back-breaking chores and, eventually, training to become what is known as an asha. Asha are young women with varying degrees of magical abilities in wielding either the elements or the dead (like our young Tea). However, they are trained to go into a myriad of positions — from bodyguards, court entertainers, and, to some extent, politicians. So they are trained in skills from singing and dancing, to fighting, history, and magic. 

And that’s what the majority of the book is about.

There are moments of plot development but, we spend so much time on Tea’s training that, by the time we get to the end and realize there was a traitor out to kill her, I was left scratching my head trying to figure out if I was oblivious to the clues, or if the author just picked someone at random. The entire ending was jarring and left me feeling disappointed because I was expecting for the past and present to meet. So there wasn’t really any build-up. There was some last-minute action and a romantic interest plot twist that’s pretty easy to guess.

Ultimately, The Bone Witch is beautifully written in terms of setting, but lacking in development of characters or plot. One can only hope that this will change in the next installment. The potential is there, I just hope it’s reached. I really want to know how our character becomes so hated, ostracized, and raising a demon army, and it’s the main thing that will likely keep me reading this series. 

That is the story I would have rather read.

Loved this book!  I really enjoyed the characters and the storyline.  I actually looked for it to purchase for a family member who I knew would enjoy it!

In the past few years, some of my favourite books have been those which were suggested to be primarily by someone saying, “read it; just trust me”. Generally, this phrase comes up when the premise is just too weird to sell a book. For example: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor involves monsters and the slow collection of human teeth. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater is about a magical horse death race into the sea. Neither of these descriptions gets an immediate affirmative from me, but I loved both of these books immensely.

Thus, when I read the premise of The Bone Witch — girl accidentally raises her brother from the dead and discovers she is a powerful witch that most people probably won’t like — I was actually reasonably on board. I’ll be honest and say that I can’t give it 5 stars, but it was certainly a great read.

One of my favourite things about this book were the short bits between chapters featuring a glimpse into the future life of the main character (aka: the bone witch) Tea. It reminded me of the way in which Patrick Rothfuss formatted The Name of the Wind, and anything that relates your writing to Patrick Rothfuss is a good sign in my books. It left me totally fascinated and puzzled by how Tea ended up where she did, so I’m certainly on board for a second book.

I struggled a bit with the details of Tea’s training; I was awfully tired of reading about her learning to dance. I think the story would have been well-served by a greater focus on her physical and magical training, rather than the cultural elements of her role as an asha-ka.

In short, the concept of The Bone Witch is phenomenal, and I look forward to reading the next book to see where things ended up for Tea!

This was my first read by Rin Chopeco, so I wasn't sure what to expect from this one.  I saw the cover and read the synopsis and knew I had to request it right away.  I didn't realize right away that this one was going to have a sequel, but I'm glad it does because it left me wanting more.

What I liked:

- I LOVED Tea and her brothers close relationship.  Since Tea has brought him back from the dead he becomes her familiar and can sense her distress.  The familiar/asha bond is even stronger because he is a protective big brother.

- Rin Chopeco does a really great job building the world.  At times it feels like there is a lot to remember but eventually it all clicked for me.

What I didn't like:

- As I mentioned above, Chopeco has a very descriptive writing style (which isn't really a bad thing!), so be prepared to hear details upon details describing their outfits.  I wasn't too bothered by that, but I felt like we were "told" a lot instead of being shown things.  I felt like her characters ended up lacking personalities because of this.

- I expected a little more action and adventure, to be honest.  It looks like things are headed that way for the next book though!

- Oh, also it seems as if we are heading straight into love triangle territory, which if you've read my reviews you know that isn't really my thing.

This story definitely reminded me of a mixture of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and Memoirs of a Geisha, just as it was described in the synopsis.  I will say that this one definitely has some slow moments that left me struggling to get through it, but all of that being said, I will definitely be reading the second book because I really need to know what happens!! 

(I've included the permalink for my blog post, but the review will not go live until 3/7/17)

While The Bone Witch could be a fantastic fantasy with great world building and characters, it did not work for me. I found this book to be very bland and too slow to hold my interest. The book is told from two POVs: an older, mysterious Tea recanting her story to a young Bard and a younger Tea from the past when she first discovers she's a bone witch. While, I would normally really enjoy something like this book had to offer I could not get into it. The writing was too descriptive (if you can believe it) and I found myself mostly skimming over certain parts just to move the story forward. I hate doing this. I really want to lose myself in a story,  but once I find myself doing this I know it's going to be hard for me to keep pushing myself to finish the story. 
Why I had to DNF
- Nothing happens. I could take nothing happening if the writing was engaging and the characters were brillaint, but when I couldn't get a feel for either of these I found myself drifting and thinking of other things.
- Special Snowflake Syndrome. Right from the start Tea is said to be special and the one to bring change. She's rare. Of course, she is. *yawn*
-Boring characters with no real personality that I could see. At first I was really interested in Tea and Fox, but the second she raises her brother from the dead and Tea is whisked away to learn to be a bone witch, I just didn't care anymore? It's like the plot ended and everything that was interesting along with it. 
- Info-dumping and poor world-building. What I thought would have been an interesting magic system I fould a little dull? The introduction to heartglass and the different colors to identify different types of witches should have been really cool, but it just didn't hold enough interest for me, sadly. 
While I really wanted to like this book, I can't take it anymore. I had to DNF and call it a day. If you're looking for a dark fantasy, then by all means give this a try but it was just not my cup of tea.