Review: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Series: The Bone Witch #1
Publication Date: March 7th, 2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal 
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Synopsis: 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! 

My Rating

4/5 stars

My Review

A heartwarming main character, a breathtaking fantasy world, and a story you wont soon forget. The Bone Witch is absolutely amazing!

It wasn’t Tea’s intention to bring her brother back to life, she just felt compelled to do it. When Tea discovered she’s a Bone Witch, she is taken to Kion to start her training as an asha. It’s not easy being an asha of the dead, Tea soon learns that with her power, she is bound to make a lot of enemies, even though her power is one of the most important in protecting the kingdom. With evil threats rising, and the only other Bone Witch close to death, it is up to Tea to take control of her powers, and protect the people who fear her.

Being in Tea’s mind was absolutely wonderful. I love her as a main character. I can’t help to relate to her, she’s very smart and determined towards her studies, but she also shows a passionate side towards her friends and brother. She can be confident at the right times, and knows how to get things to go her way. 

This book is told basically in two points of views, I called them little Tea and big Tea. We start the story off with Big Tea all on her own, coming across a bard and telling him her life story, while trying to bring an army of the dead alive. That’s when we get the back story and we see little Tea come in, starting from the moment she resurrected her brother. While I wasnt a huge fan of this aspect at first, it really grew on me by the end of the book, and I loved both points of the story equally.

I really love the world that Rin created. From the asha, to the daevas. It was all so creative, the creatures, the characters, just everything. While we only get to see the kingdom of Kion, we are told of other kingdoms in the story, hopefully to be explored in further books. I can't wait to explore more of the world that Rin created.

Now to the sad note, the reason why I didn't give this book 5 stars, and the reason why I was debating between 3 and 4 stars for a while, was the plot of the story. Don't get me wrong, I loved the story, but there was no rising action, nothing to keep you really engaged. Usually when I read, the book takes you through a rollercoaster ride, small bumps at first and then the one huge drop right at the end, well this book didn't have that, not really. Throughout the first 70% it was basically a flat line, maybe with a tiny little bump but nothing too exciting. Then after the 70% mark, you slowly start to see some hills in the plot, but then it almost stops for a bit, and then continues. Hopefully you guys understand what I mean. So basically, no a lot of action, even though it was a beautiful story.

The ending of the book, is what made me give the book 4 stars. It was captivating, and even though there was no cliffhanger, it really makes you want to read the next book in the series.

Overall, The Bone Witch is a fantastic book. The characters and the world are absolutely perfect. As long as you don't mind not a lot of action, then I definitely recommend this book.

Happy Reading,
Aneta