DNF about 60% through. This book was just not for me. The story was not to my liking and the characters were not 3 dimensional. I didn't understand or care for them, nor did I feel sympathy or..... well, anything for them really. I couldn't spend any more time on a book I wasn't enjoying.

I procrastinated about reviewing this book because I wasn't quite sure that I liked it. The book started out strongly - there were 2 points-of-view. The present was told by a bard and the past was told by the main character, Tea. It's obvious that something serious happened because the beginning of the book reveals that Tea has been banished to an island by herself. I enjoyed the writing style, but I wish there had been more substance to the book and less of the airy descriptions.

There were also some holes in the story that didn't make sense to me. First, I didn't understand how Tea was able to accidentally resurrect her brother, Fox, from death. Supposedly, she has magical powers, but later in the book, in the descriptions of asha training, ashas (witches) have to draw ruins, sometimes using their own blood to create spells. How does one accidentally draw ruins when one doesn't know how to do it? It occurs later on in the story, too, but with some sort of stone that amplified Tea's powers. I also didn't understand the point of the heartglass. Everyone has a heartglass (from what I can gather, some sort of stone) that changes colors according to their moods. If you love and trust someone completely, you can exchange heartglasses with them, but it makes you vulnerable if they no longer love you at some point. It's also supposed to make ashas weaker not to have their heartglass. If you lose your heartglass and you don't care about the person that you gave it to, you can have another one made for you at great expense. It seems ridiculous to me. You're not born with these heartglasses attached to you so why bother going through the expense in the first place if it makes you vulnerable? The book said that only really wealth people could afford to have another heartglass made. How did the average person obtain a heartglass in the first place? Maybe I missed something in the story that explained this? It seemed like there were too many magical things going on in the story that the author couldn't even keep track of them all.

I also didn't understand some of the societal descriptions in the book. People feared Bone Witches because they practiced "dark" arts. Dark, in this case, means that they bring things back from the dead. If they fear them, why would they call them Bone Witch, which is considered a derogatory term, instead of dark asha? Throughout the book, there's a hint that dark ashas are somehow bad, but they're the ones protecting everyone from the daevas (monsters), at great personal risk. The author said in the book that people fear and hate people they need. That may be true of some people in a group, but I can't see a whole society behaving like that. Even if it were true, why would someone who was so useful and powerful need to dress up and entertain rich people at parties?!?

As if it weren't enough that Tea has to face people who hate her and awful monsters, she also has to face an enemy known as the Faceless. The Faceless appear to have strong powers, but we have no idea why they're trying to harm everyone. There's no explanation about why some people have power and some don't. There's no explanation about why some people are born with more power and others aren't.

This leads me to my biggest problem with this book - it started a bunch of interesting characters and possible story lines, but then it never went anywhere. I kept waiting for explanations or something and there was just nothing. Fantasy books still have to make sense within the scope of that fantasy world. I felt like this didn't. The ending of the book was supposed to be a cliffhanger to make the reader excited about the sequel. I just felt disappointed that I read an entire book that was basically just a confusing prologue.

I don't think I could recommend this book to others.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary e-book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The Bone Witch, quite simply, is a captivating read. I expected fantasy and magic, but I didn't realize how fantastic and magical the writing would be. The Bone Witch cast me under its spell from the very beginning. Chupeco skillfully and artistically weaves past and present together to give the reader a sense of gripping intensity and an irresistible force that compelled me to keep reading into the early hours of the morning when I finally finished this wonderful novel, satisfied, but eager for more.
The Bone Witch delivers a magical realm that feels comfortably familiar and vibrantly new. The rules of this fantastic new world make perfect sense in the lyrically beautiful setting that Chupeco's descriptive voice brings to life.
The fully realized characters will steal your heart. They're flawed yet heroic. Uncertain yet unstoppable. Fiercely tragic and smart and witty and enchanting.
I'm eagerly anticipating the next book, even while I'm dreading some of the dark paths these favorite characters are going to tread. People usually try to avoid heartache and tragedy, but in the Chupeca's hands, Tea's future holds a bright kind of darkness! Or a dark kind of brightness! Whichever it is, I'll know I'm in good hands.
Fully recommend!

This wasn't a bad book, but it was a boring book. Now, how can a boring book can be different than a bad one? Well, I enjoyed a few things :
- the cover is magnificent!
- the writing. It was pleasant and flowing naturally.
- the Bone Witches job : raising and putting daeva back in the grave in order to keep the different kingdoms safe, creating the hearts of light people will wear around their necks from their 14 years old (I think it was 14, not sure), etc. I liked the myth created here.
- Tea and her brother : it wasn't hyper developed despite the fact both characters are central to the story, but it was there and I enjoyed their odd siblings link. Big brother-little sister with a magical bond. It worked for me.
- some try at diversity : Tea is "brown skinned", Likh, a male character, wants to do a woman's job and will go for it despite society and rules. Cool.
- the two timelines : it probably has a name but I don't know it. I enjoyed knowing where it was going, it fitted the book - maybe because it provided the only hard facts to the story...
Because one of the biggest issue I had with this book is that nothing really happens. The beginning is quite promising but I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that it's only descriptions of people, clothes, places and rituals for 75% of the book. You're living Tea's everyday life. And that's it. There's very little action, very little decisive moments. Most of it is clothing and lessons. Bo-ring.
Also, I think some stuff should have been developed while some others should have gone straight to the bin : the characters sounded very flat despite some good ideas >> develop them and DROP THE LOVE TRIANGLE. The story is not focusing on romance at all - thank god - but were two potential Love Interests necessary? Hint : they rarely are. Especially when they're walking clichés. A Prince and his cousin-warrior-guard, REALLY?
Also, minor fact but it bothered me while reading : the names. I had the feeling that it was borrowed and barely altered names from all over the fantasy landscape. We had a Zoya, a Kalen (both important characters), people called the Drychta, a place called Daanoris and extras called Mavren and Lia. It was a bit too much for me. I probably wouldn't have minded if stuff happened regularly, but the action was concentrated in the last 10% and it was too much and not enough at the same time.

To sum it up : a first book with good ideas that was a massive introduction for whatever will happen next. Never works, imo. :/

DNF. The formatting for the ebook was atrocious and made it difficult to read.

This story has so much potential. The concept is great. I love the format of the dual timeline in which what appears to be the present makes up the bulk of each chapter and what appears to be the real present is small italicized sections at the end of each chapter.

If the way I've described this is confusing, that's because it is and it takes a bit of effort to follow.

The parts of the story arc that work and are pretty amazing are bogged down by distracting bits of miscellaneous overreaching.

What really works:
(1). Tea, her growing awareness and acceptance of the Dark within her.
(2). Her relationship with her brother, Fox.
(3). The descriptions and mythos around the Daeva.
(4). The chapter conclusions told from the perspective of the Bard.

What doesn't work:
(1). The asha, the asha-ka, the training intervals: it's like disciplining a geisha and expecting a ninja warrior.
(2). The continuous and superfluous descriptions of Asha gowns and Middle-Eastern/Arabic foods and word descriptors that are not English but have no dictionary/internet hits.
(3). This next will be unpopular and I'm sorry, but I have to include it. It seems like the necessary thing now is to target the LGBT audience, so much so that it appears that LGBT is a hip trend to those of us in an older audience. Don't get me wrong: I'm all for everybody being exactly who they are, whatever that may be, with all rights and privileges therein. However, the obligatory LGBT characters in this book are clichéd, obvious, and overdrawn. Tea's desire to save this character from his impending doom in the macho Death-Eater Guard or whatever they were called (sorry) by having him dress as an Asha and perform a lovely dance was all just very distracting to what needed to be a more focused story-arc buildup.
(4). The romance-building is obvious and not surprising. At all.

Overall, though, I liked it enough to guarantee a read of Book Two.

This book was provided to me free through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Always read and form your own opinions.

An interesting premise that was not implemented as well as it could have been. The plot seemed thin and there was no clear end goal or purpose. The narrative meandered and lost itself in its extended flashbacks and occasionally over-zealous narration. I found myself falling out of the story rather than staying in it as there were some odd formatting issues and a decent amount of grammar and spelling issues (ARC). I also don't think some of the metaphors fit for the background of the protagonist. They just didn't seem like something she would say or know.

Some concepts were also left very abstract. After reading I still am not able to explain the concept of a heartglass. Is it made of the emotions you have? Does it take your heart literally out of your chest and transform it? How do you live without your heartglass if it gets lost or shattered? It is tied to your life so someone could break it and you die? Then how can you get another one if you lose one? That part unfortunately didn't make sense to me.

However this novel does have a lot of potential and I'm sure the grammar, formatting and spelling issues will be cleared by the time it reaches publication. I think the idea of bone witches, versus just the usual elemental witches is a unique and creative touch and I definitely enjoyed seeing that explored. Many of the characters were well-conceived and some of the in-the-moment plot points were original and fascinating.

I do think there was too much narration versus action (tell vs. show if you will). I most enjoyed the moments spent in the main character's point of view. I think that that the monsters too were creative and well-written. However, there was a lot of history introduced in large chunks that later was not needed. I think this slowed down the novel and a better integration of only the most core historical facts as needed would greatly improve the reading continuity, which as is is kind of choppy.

Overall there were too many little issues I found with the novel (its implementation not its concept) that I couldn't stay as into it as I really wanted to. While this book didn't resound for me, I look forward to seeing how this author develops artistically as she refines her style.

I received an ARC of this book for free for an honest review.

Books that start with necromancy and end with (apparently) necrophilia should not work, one would think.

But apparently sometimes they do. Just ask Rin Chupeco, or read her book The Bone Witch when it comes out on March 2, 2017. Then you'll see. Now, according to Amazon the recommended ages for this first book in a coming YA series are 12-17. I read it anyway, because I was lucky enough to get an advanced read copy through NetGalley and the book's publisher, because just about any book will make me happy. However, I would not let a twelve year old read this book - if I had a twelve year old. Why?

Necromancy, possible necrophilia (at least platonically) are big reasons. But Chupeco also focuses heavily on war and violence and political intrigue... and those topics are important, but perhaps best explained in a different setting.

All that being said... YA books about twelve year old girls who discovers she is a (dark) witch when she accidentally raises her brother from the dead are surprisingly good! I feel it important to mention that said girl, named Tea, is not in love with her brother... it's a different dead person, see.

The story is compelling on the whole; a collection of city-states vastly different from one another and yet united against destructive mythical creatures, that women are at the forefront of society and the last line if defense against the dragons, that it is a female driven society...

It does falter in places, though. Chupeco has tied a large part of the story to color - the color of dresses, flowers, uniforms, and heartsrune necklaces. Each color has a meaning and there are a lot of colors heavy with meaning. It is nearly impossible to keep it all straight. I hope that final editions have appendices with lists and explanations for readers. I would have liked that. Chupeco also spends a lot of time... organizing. Organizing is a good word. And it makes sense. It is the first book in a coming series so the world needs to be organized and established.

So despite the slow moments of organization, The Bone Witch is a compelling start to a series and I will keep an eye out for the next book. It is going to be good!

Tea doesn't realize that she is special, until the day she raises her brother from the dead. That event ignites the beginning of her epic journey to harness her power. Tea is a "Dark Asha", very rare, and reviled by most. Her singular job, once properly trained, will be to rid the land of monsters that the people call "Daeva". But the ability to raise creatures from the dead isn't the only reason others are leery of Tea, her extraordinary gift means that other Asha aren't as powerful as they'd like to be.

I enjoyed getting to know Tea, both from her point of view, and the alternating voice of a young woman (I think) who is interviewing her. She is a strong, loyal and smart young lady. However, I had a hard time following the story line. Chupeco's description of the world in which Tea lives relies too heavily on my imagination. I didn't have any background knowledge on which to draw and the maps didn't fill in enough blanks for me.

I found myself confused by the characters and which land they came from. I was also confused by the different abilities various Asha had. It felt to me as if this book was written to become a movie. I needed visual cues to help me through the story. Chupeco writes in detail of the "hua" or dress that all Asha wear. She describes her characters in detail so that you could practically smell them. But, I just had a hard time putting it all together.

The ending was also perplexing. I have no idea why Tea was exiled, why this young girl is interviewing her, what happened to her brother, and why this particular person ends up as her love interest. I guess I'll have to read the next one to get my questions answered.

In summary, maybe I'm too old to follow the plot lines in this story. I don't see any reason that it couldn't go in a middle school. I added it to my book order, we'll have to wait to see if it circulates. I'm hoping at least one of my regulars will read it so that they can explain it to me!

two stories intertwined - a fantastical read that leaves you wanting more, I am hoping for a sequal!

The Bone Witch was a fantastic read! Chupeco has a wonderful talent for enveloping you in Tea's world. The characters are well developed and the story took many unexpected and exciting turns. Fantasy readers, both adult and young adult, will enjoy this book- especially those with an affinity for Japanese culture (many elements of Geisha were woven into the development of an Asha.) I can't wait to read the next one!

Thank You NetGalley!

I wanted to so badly like this book. It sounded like it had a lot of promise.

I just couldn't really get into the story. I felt like I was just reading words that didn't really go together. The premise is really interesting to me. But I really just have to say, that I couldn't connect with the story. I felt confused at times, and even when I re-read the story, I just didn't get it.

I don't usually care for fantasy novels , good read if that's what your into

What do you get when you cross a geisha and a witch? An asha! Yes, the asha can sing, dance and put on a beautiful show. They wear gorgeous clothing, elaborate hairstyles and makeup. But they are also the best fighters around and can control elements. In Tea's case, she is a special kind of asha because her magic comes from the darkness. She can raise the dead and control vicious creatures that threaten the eight kingdoms in her world. Because of her skills, people fear her, but also respect her abilities and rely on her to protect them. I loved learning about all of the training that Tea goes through to develop her skills and become even more powerful. There's plenty of action, but the ultimate battle is reserved for the next book (or books). I can't wait to see what's in store for Tea, her brother and the other asha in the next book. If it's as good as "The Bone Witch," readers are in for a treat!

Even though I found this book to be confusing at times, I really enjoyed it. I loved the writing style and concept so much. Everything seemed very well thought out and very detailed. I really liked the alternating narratives and the world building was really cool. There is some info dumping here and there but it wasn't terrible. I really liked all of the characters. They were all well written and developed.
Overall, I really enjoyed this this. It's pretty original and I really loved the concept. If you're looking a fantasy that has great world building and a great concept, I would recommend The Bone Witch.

Tough to wade through at times but when you get into it it's written well. Looking for more excitement and pace in the next book - if there is to be one!

I was disappointed in how I felt about the book. The premise sounds amazing! A young girl, Tea, is brought into the world of asha--geisha-like women who can control elements--after raising her brother, Fox, from the dead. Tea is a Dark asha, also known as a Bone Witch to those who dislike her kind of asha. Bone witches are rare and considered untrustworthy to many people in the surrounding lands. Though, they are needed to send daeva--demons who cause havoc--back to the dead.

There were intriguing elements about the story: the asha, the daeva, the magic that is infused into their clothing and hairpins, even some of the backstory of how asha and daeva came to be was neat. But, sometimes it felt like there was just too much information. It became convoluted and it was hard to keep who was who and what was what straight in my head. There were characters brought to only one scene and then were only mentioned in passing several pages later and I had no idea who they were.

There was a False Prince? But I didn't know who that was. There were bad guys called the Faceless that were causing a ruckus. There was also political turmoil because some countries were okay with Bone witches and some weren't. Secrets were revealed, daeva were raised, people died.

Which, sounds awesome, but there was just so much going on that it was hard to keep track.

However, at the same time, nothing happened through most of the book. Tea was doing her asha life and learning how to be an asha, which is pretty much like being a geisha with lessons and tea ceremonies and getting fancy clothes. It felt like most of the book was Tea talking about clothes and hairpins and then there were pieces of the book where all this info and action was stuffed into a few pages and then shifted back to boring stuff.

I will say that, despite it's boring aspects, there is potential here. I liked the writing style, so I wouldn't be opposed to reading something else from this author. It was just less kick-ass asha than I thought it was going to be.

If you want to give this book a shot, go ahead. It may appeal more to you than it did to me.

It just wasn't my cup of Tea.

** spoiler alert ** The publisher provided a free brook via NetGalley for an homer review.
I was very excited to read this book from the back cover description:raising the dead, oops it's your brother, distrustful public of one with her rare powers? Great! There are no real spoilers here (small one in the very last sentence).

Let me say I wanted to love this book. But there were some flaws with the story. I never truly liked Tea, the main character. The story being told from Tea the fallen in the present and Tea's origin and schooling never meshed well. She wasn't the most endearing character, though she is spirited. I just couldn't connect.

When I updated my Goodreads to say I was reading this book, I read the review here. I didn't know about the book recipe saying this was like "memoirs of a geisha;" I love that books. It's top 2 of all time for me, I did artwork, school projects-including writing Arthur Golden himself. I read mostly nonfiction books about the flower and willow world, as well as many (good and bad) fictional stories. It seemed the author wrote extensively about the world of the geisha, but substituted asha for geisha. Measuring time spent at parties with with ohana incense markers, accounting, detailed kimono/hua, flower, singing, dancing and musical instrument lessons...but then also just adding on...oh and they can summon the elements and fight, and in Tea's case, raise the dead....but she had to entertain at nightly parties instead of helping the kingdoms. Big disconnect I couldn't go along with.

I also didn't care for the slow build ending with an obvious reveal of love interest and hints at sequels to come.

I did not finish this book. I could not engage with the story or the characters and had to stop reading.