This was the first book I read from author Rin Chupeco, but it won't be my last. I adored the main character, Tea, and the world building was amazing. I love fantasy, and reading something with an Asian-inspiration was something I appreciated, not having read munch of Asian-fantasy before. I also really enjoyed the structure of the novel, as well, which is something I hadn't seen before. Bravo!

I honestly had trouble making it all the way through this book. I didn't enjoy the prose, it seemed to drag the story along and made it feel stagnant and bland. I did appreciate the characters, and while the writing was slow at times the world building was excellent. Worth the read, all together.

This book took me SO long to read. I made it about 80% through and then I'm just honestly going to have to DNF it. Don't get me wrong, I do love the writing and the world building, and everything is just so damned intriguing, but it just felt like a chore to read this.

I may or may not pick it back up in the future, I don't know. We'll see. I am interested by reading other things by this author.

Although I know several people who really enjoyed this book I just could not get into the characters.

A very nice and entertaining read. I'm glad I read it! Beautiful settings, great plot, very good characterization and evenly paced.

I come about my love of necromancy from reading the early Anita Blake books in my formative years. I wanted to love this but it was just all right. Not bad, not great, just middle of the road with some good world building and characters but also some lack of plot and development.

I am a huge fan of epic fantasy. You know, 1000+ page tomes with maps and races and all that. Which is NOT what I expected picking up The Bone Witch. I'm definitely not saying this is epic fantasy. But Chupeco's magnificent story read like one. How? It starts with the world building. There's a map! An incredible glossary at the end of the book with the countries, their rulers, a brief history, and a description of the kingdom. Those are easy similarities. It's truly the worldbuilding which sucked me in completely.

Chupeco's writing style is incredible. The Bone Witch has a slow-burn style pacing with some fairly purple prose. I know that isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I drank it up. Particularly when I listened to the audiobook! The dialogue, characterization, tension, prose, and plot are all excellent. I could listen to Chupeco's writing read to me all day long. That said, I might have skimmed some of the time Tea spends in the asha-ka if I was reading the ARC the whole time…

In fact, it wasn't until I started writing this review that I realized The Bone Witch is actually highly controversial in the blogosphere! I completely understand if you are a plot-driven reader who hates flowery writing. XD

In many ways, The Bone Witch reminded me of Sabriel. Positive necromancy (or, well, as positive as it can be) is not something we see very often in literature. I love how Chupeco shows that, like all magic, necromancy can be used for evil. But it isn't evil by nature. There is a complex interaction between necromancy, politics, and society which I cannot wait to explore in further books. I will obviously continue reading this series. I mean really, who doesn't want to read about bad-ass-geisha-style-necromancy?

I didn't end up reading this book and won't be reviewing it at this time. I didn't end up reading this book and won't be reviewing it at this time. I didn't end up reading this book and won't be reviewing it at this time

Why yes, another first in a book series. This is an endless trend in Young Adult fiction. And this book definitely fits that description.

I enjoyed this book, written by Rin Chupeco, and would recommend it to anyone considering reading it. This book follows Tea and her brother Fox as she learns what it means to be a Dark Asha, a Bone Witch. Which is to say, this book follows Tea telling this story to a story collector. Bone Witch means she can brings things back from the dead.

So, non-spoiler thoughts first. This book was well written, but often seemed fast paced. I think the author was trying to go for a high fantasy novel, but ended up with more of a fairy-tale or mid-fantasy feel. Any entry level fantasy novel, if you will. Things would get explained as she went, but a lot of information was actually relevant earlier on in the story. If they fed me information about my life they way they told her, I would have left long ago.

So, would I recommend this book? Yes, if you are thinking about reading it. Is there any romance? No, but I think there will be in the next. Is it a must-by for me? No. Will I be reading the next book when it comes out on March 1st, 2018? Yes.



Okay, now SPOILERS BE BELOW. STOP NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW. Please enjoy the lovely photo below as a stopper

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Now, down to business. I didn’t like the stark change of the character between who she was and who she now is without any real explanation. She kept referring to her love, and we finally found out who it is, but we don’t see any of that happen. We don’t know why he is dead. We don’t know why her brother has turned against her. I don’t understand. Why would he EVER leave her side, even if he didn’t agree with her? Why? He is her brother and SHE brought him back. You would think that would send him back to the grave right away.

Also, WHERE IS HER HORSE? And if they did horrible things to those she loved, again, WHY ISN’T HER BROTHER THERE?

The Asha made no sense. You have all this power and all you do is entertain? No, you are not a geisha. You are a powerful spell wielding being. I just, I don’t get it. This honestly degrades the story so much and made me so annoyed. This and the lack of information and why as a BONE WITCH WHO BRINGS THINGS BACK FROM THE DEAD she was a servant and wasn’t trained for two years. How, how does this make sense? And the possibility of her being turned away? PLEASE SEE ABOVE. There are a lot of holes in this story and in this world. That is why this is just a “this book isn’t horrible and has an interesting plot”, and not a Casting Trilogy Amazingness.

Noteworthy experiences while reading this book: I tried this book a little while ago and ended up DNFing. Well, I have to say that I am glad I gave it another go because this book was so good.
Do I Recommend this book? Yes

Notes and Opinions: This book is written as an interview. You have the one character who is learning the story of the Bone Witch Tea. I do not think I understood that the first time I tried to read this one. But this time around I made it all the way through and I couldn't put it down. This is a beautifully written story about a girl who ended up being something that she didn't ask for. I loved all the descriptions and way the story was told. It was different than any other fantasy that I have read. I have to say that if you love fantasy and amazing stories then you should check this one out.

Go Into This One Knowing: hints of Japanese culture, magic

WHY DID I LISTEN TO THE BONE WITCH BY RIN CHUPECO?
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco has comparisons to Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir, which honestly is all you need to do to get me on board. PLUS, essentially when it comes down to it, the main character is a necromancer and I L O V E books about necromancers. Then we add in the fact that this book is a hot audiobook commodity on Overdrive at my library which signals to me that I need to prioritize it on my list. ALSO AND I CANNOT FORGET THIS FACT, I really genuinely respect a whole lot of what Chupeco tweets, which again, means I have to move her book right on up my audiobook TBR.

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
The Bone Witch stars this girl named Tea. FYI, Tea is an Asha, or a witch – so to speak. This is actually pretty common in the world that Chupeco has built. Only, uh oh, she’s a Bone Witch. That is kind of a bad thing — it means she can raise the dead. She finds this out when she accidentally brings her dead brother back to life. So, this all happens when Tea is twelve. She’s then taken from her home and sent to live and learn under Mykaela, an older Asha who mentors Tea. She is trying to teach Tea how to control her powers. The book then covers up through Tea being 15 years old with interjections from 17 years old Tea. Also, there is a Bard involved. Oh and Tea gains QUITE a few skills. Epic, my friends, epic.

HOW DID I LIKE THE BONE WITCH?
Hello, yes, I very much ENJOYED the heck out of The Bone Witch. I think Chupeco’s writing flows very well. Tea’s character development is on point. I want to know a whole lot more about this world. Also, what is her plan with those that she raises? WHAT. I am just really looking forward to the next book – The Heart Forger. My library has it via Overdrive Audio, but I also have an ebook. I am not sure which form I will read it in yet.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
Emily Woo Zeller and Will Damron narrate The Bone Witch. I LOVE Emily Woo Zeller’s narration. This is going to sound weird, but she has such a gentle sort of voice. She’s very easy to listen to. Plus, I think that she does emotion quite well. So, it was definitely always a pleasure listening to her narrate. As for Will Damron, maybe I have heard him narrate before? If so, let me say he isn’t as memorable as Zeller. Granted, Damron is an okay narrator, but of the two on this audiobook, Zeller is my favorite and is totally an appropriate choice for narrator.

The Bone Witch is about a girl named Tea who accidentally raises her brother from the dead. I thought it was okay but Im holding out hope that the next book will be better. I did not like the back and forth, past and future pov writing style. It made this feel like 432 pages of backstory and buildup. Instead of being inmersed in the story, I kept being reminded that each event was just a step towards the present pov. The characters didnt steal my heart and the dialogue was mostly dry. (In terms of the audiobook, the narrator had this whiny tone that didnt help at all.) Now that things are pretty much set up though, hopefully the next book has a little more action or character development.

[SPOILER] The twist at the end caught me by surprise but thats because the clues that made Tea figure it out were not things the reader would know and that takes part of the fun out of it to me.

"This is death magic, complicated and exclusive and implacable, and from the start, I wielded it with ease."

In THE BONE WITCH, our heroine, Tea, lives in world full of witches. Her sisters are traditional witches, specializing in things like Forest and Water. Tea's power is unknown, but it turned out that she is a necromancer - one who can bring back the dead from the living, when she unwittingly wakes her dead brother from his coffin.

I'm very, very impressed with this debut. Rin Chupeco is an author to watch. The writing is beautiful. I found the plot to be allllmost too slow for me, but the writing kept me fully invested. I also loved the magic system. I think Tea is a very interesting character and I'm looking forward to her overall character arc in this series.

This book series has so much potential. I will definitely buy and read the next book in the series just because I really do believe this could be something amazing.

I almost felt like this was a Memoirs of a Geisha fanfic piece. The story mainly focused on the training of the asha and their rites of passage. It kind of dragged for me. There was action no doubt, but the PURPOSE of the story wasn't clear. Even at the end I was left wondering if Tea is the downfall of the kingdom or meant to save the kingdom. The flashback POV made the story as a whole confusing.

I adored this book. I really home there is a sequel soon. The world created was vibrant and I was hooked immediately.

"In the captivating start to a new, darkly lyrical fantasy series for readers of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir, Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price...

Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there's anything I've learned from him in the years since, it's that the dead hide truths as well as the living.

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she's a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.

In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha―one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles...and make a powerful choice.

Memoirs of a Geisha meets The Name of the Wind in this brilliant new fantasy series by Rin Chupeco!"

Name-checking both Leigh Bardugo and Patrick Rothfuss in the description is sure a way to get my attention.

This was a darkly evocative book and drew me in from the very beginning. The entire concept of the series was starkly original, even if the society that the MC was in brought up images of the geisha lifestyle. It was a severe disappointment to come to the end of the book, because I wanted to know immediately what was going to happen next.

I was first interested in reading the book due to the title. I love fantasy stories that include magic. The main plot of The Bone Witch takes place in the past, and occupies the majority of the book.

In it, a dark asha (also known as a Bone Witch) tells of her rise within the ranks of the gilded community of spellbinders who takes her in to be trained. But she is more powerful than any can imagine, and may be the key piece in defeating the evil Faceless and their nearly invincible creatures.

It is interspersed with flashes to the present where the witch is interacting with a bard she has invited to her hideaway while she pieces together the present with the past.

It's an interesting way to tell the story, and at times, a bit confusing, but not too much.

I really enjoyed the story and the characters. The author does a great job of creating this fantasy world, and is very descriptive. I look forward to reading the next installment in the trilogy.

A gorgeous cover for a gorgeous book! Such a great read. Full review will be on my blog soon, so please check back for that. I love books from Sourcebooks!

The beginning of this book was very slow for me. I have a hard time with fantasy books where I can’t connect with the characters immediately when they have unique names. I was glad I pushed through because I ultimately enjoyed it very much. It has certain Harry Potter-esque features due to the training setting. I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.