Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Bone Shard Daughter follows Lin, the daughter of the Emperor who seems to have lost her memory, and Jovis, a wanted smuggler on his quest to find his lost lover. We also follow Ranami and Phalue, two lovers struggling to uphold their relationship because one is a governor's daughter, and the other is a rebel.

I am overall very pleased with this book. Andrea Stewart did an awesome job giving all the characters distinct voices; at first I was worried because there are five POVs which seems a bit much, but the author created amazing characters and I found each of their chapters interesting.

I was very fascinated by the unique world building. This book is set in a fantasy world where animals are constructs made of and controlled by bone shard magic. The concept of the constructs was quite gruesome but very intriguing at the same time.

There were some parts that were a bit boring, but overall the author created so many questions that kept the reader interested in the story. I couldn't put the book down especially towards the ending, there were so many unexpected plot twists!

Andrea Stewart’s debut had all the telltale signs of a bonafide winner. The Bone Shard Daughter boasts a back cover full of big-name recommendations, including Sarah J. Maas, M.R. Carey, Tasha Suri, and many more. And as I read the first few chapters, I perked up at the exciting premise and unique magic system, hoping for a home run debut from my sixth and final 2020 Dark Horse pick. But in reality, I was relieved to turn the final page. The Bone Shard Daughter met my expectations in some areas, but the story as a whole failed to resonate with me. The good thing for anyone reading this review is that your experience may differ, especially given the book’s 4+ star average on Goodreads.

The Bone Shard Daughter takes place in a failing empire comprising a network of drifting islands in a vast and unforgiving sea. The current emperor, Shiyen Sukai, rules the world using bone shard magic. Every citizen is required to give a small shard of bone from the base of their skull as a tithe to the empire at a young age, and those shards are used to power constructs that perform various tasks for the kingdom. If a person’s shard is used in a construct, the person gradually grows ill, and years of their life are shaved off as the magic drains their life force.

We follow five points of view throughout the story:

Lin Sukai, the emperor’s daughter, who is forced by Shiyen into sick competition with her stepbrother, Bayan. They both attempt to recover lost memories, learn bone shard magic, and earn keys that unlock doors throughout the palace and the secrets behind them.
Jovis, an imperial navigator turned smuggler whose wife was kidnapped and whisked away on a ship with blue sails seven years ago. Now, he searches for signs of the ship in the hopes of finding her.
Phalue, heir to the governorship of Nephilanu, one of the Empire’s larger islands.
Ranami, Phalue’s girlfriend and anti-classism advocate who hopes to free the common people from Phalue’s father’s iron grip and unrealistic taxes.
Sand, a resident of Maila Island in the far reaches of the Empire. Sand spends her days collecting mangoes until she falls from a tree one day and begins to question how she arrived at the island at all.
I list these as bullet points because the narratives are interconnected, but not so much as to yield an easy explanation as to how. The pieces come together by the end of The Bone Shard Daughter, but Stewart also leaves a helluva lot for the next two books in the trilogy. I don’t plan to move on in the series for a number of reasons I’ll cover below, but first, I want to highlight the novel’s overwhelming positives.

The Bone Shard Daughter’s premise and magic system are inextricably intertwined. The Empire forces its citizens to contribute bone shards as a sinister tax, and Emperor Sukai uses them to power constructs of all sorts to run his operations. He has four primary constructs that each require dozens if not hundreds of shards, each with a complex network of commands that dictate how the construct behaves and who it obeys. Simpler constructs, such as customs agents that work on the docks, only require a few shards engraved with rudimentary commands. There’s much more here to sink your teeth into, and fans of cool magic systems will be rewarded with some neat tidbits. It’s a novel idea, and Stewart does a great job of putting the magic to work in the world she’s built.

The book’s world, unfortunately, doesn’t live up to its premise. The characters take the reader to multiple islands throughout the book, but none of them feel distinct. I imagine a world of islands would birth numerous different subcultures and idiosyncrasies, even if they all report to the same ruler. But they’re all homogeneous and indistinguishable from one another. In addition, scene transitions can be so violent and fast you sometimes don’t even realize you have hopped islands. Every chapter starts with a header telling the reader which island the character is on, and that’s a red flag itself. I’d rather be shown through descriptive prose and narrative hints where a character is instead of simply reading it at the top of each segment. Two islands on the book’s map are never visited and rarely mentioned, leading me to believe they’ll be important in the sequel despite having little purpose in this installment.

The characters are my biggest sticking point with The Bone Shard Daughter. I struggled to connect with any of them because their most relatable traits were difficult to reconcile with what the book told me. For example, Jovis searches for his wife, who’s been lost for seven years. I know nothing about her (other than that she’s lost), and the precious few memories he shares aren’t vivid enough to bring her to life. Jovis also befriends a cat-like sea creature named Mephi early on. They form a close bond and have a playful back and forth. It’s cute and fun, but to me, treating animals with kindness is a baseline barometer for human decency and does very little to tell me about Jovis, who already shows those traits by smuggling kids away from the tithing festival. He saves those kids, mind you, as he complains to himself about getting distracted from searching for his wife.

Jovis raised another issue, and it’s the action sequences. There are multiple fights in the book, but they do little to impact the reader. In one scene, Jovis throws his quarterstaff about 60 feet, completely knocking out his opponent. Seconds later, he throws it again and accomplishes the same exact thing. This is a common occurrence; fight scenes breeze by with a lot of telling and remarkably little showing.

Lin has arguably the best storyline, and I genuinely enjoyed following her journey to please her distant father and discover the castle’s secrets. But because she has lost her memories, there’s not much to latch onto, character-wise. Instead, Lin becomes a vehicle through which the reader can explore the world and how it functions, learning things as Lin does.

Phalue and Ranami’s storyline has to do with anti-classism and reworking your worldview to skew toward altruism instead of self-serving capitalism. It’s a great message, but their story in a vacuum doesn’t do much to advance the larger plot. They are also completely unmemorable with almost no character or development whatsoever. Their joint role in the story feels truncated, and once again I’m inclined to believe their relationship will be fodder for the sequel.

Sand appears in so few chapters that I debated even dedicating a paragraph to her. Her story is a mystery, and by the novel’s conclusion, her purpose is apparent. The mystery at her story’s core is the most intriguing of the book’s many secrets. However, it’s near impossible to care for Sand and her comrades with so few pages covering their story.

The novel actually ends from Sand’s point of view, and the conclusion in general left me disappointed. I turned the final page ready to leave The Bone Shard Daughter behind. Some readers, I’m sure, will eagerly devour the next two installments of the series, and I wish them all the best. There are still some things to like here; Stewart’s magic system has heaps of potential, and the story could bloom into a gripping fantasy epic. For me, personally, The Bone Shard Daughter’s flat characters and bland world just didn’t strike a chord.

Rating: The Bone Shard Daughter – 5.0/10

I really enjoyed the bone daughter but have to say that the title and blurb are really misleading. This is the story of not just the emperor’s daughter but three other point of view characters. My favorite POV hands down were Jovis and his magical weasel companion. How this did not make the blurb confuses me. The two main stories only really connect and the end with the smaller point of view characters adding perspective along the way. There is a nice side perspective that deals with complacency and privilege but it got resolved way too quickly and I think that level of privilege would be something that the couple will need to deal with over and over again as it is not easily put off after one day. This society has many issues with power and corruption but accepts gay and lesbian couples as part of society, which is nice to see, as it is a fantasy world. I like the floating islands and look for more questions being answered in the second book.

I couldn’t decide, so I landed on 3.5 stars.

This book, told from several POV’s, sets up a really interesting world where an Empire literally drains and abuses its people. The Emperor holds power through fear and the might of his monstrous constructs. The emperor seems soulless, neglectful, old and petty, Ruined by his own power and a lack of compassion.

His daughter Lin is trying to win his love. She knows she’s the rightful heir to the Empire but her competitor Bayan seems to always be one step ahead and ready to depose her by wining her father’s favor. Lin seems perpetually on the verge of a breakthrough, an epiphany about her life and her father but it always stays just out of reach of her memory.

Jovis the smuggler works at cross purposes to the empire by basically doing whatever he wishes. He skirts every rule and also tries to save the children that are targeted by the Empire. He’s trying to find his missing loved one and this treck helps him come across his companion, Mephi. I loved Mephi. Mephi is a magical otter sea lion narwhal thing and I love him to death. No one better ever hurt Mephi or I am going ham.

There is, of course a rebellion. The Shardless Few. They play a role in the story but seem to be set to be more important in the future.

Phalue and Ranami live on one of the Imperial islands. Ranami a dreamer and wanting change. Phalue the governors daughter and a rule follower. They are ina relationship that is always strained, with both women basically living a life the other doesn’t respect. They work with the rebellion’s leader but their story is limited in scope.

Sand lives on a very Remote Imperial Island full of mindless slaves who seem only to exist to do unimportant, programmed tasks. Sand seems to clear the fog from her mind after a minor accident and helps some others on the island to do the same, but what is their purpose?


There was a lot I liked about this book, it had some unbelievably awesome magical stuff in it that I adored. The Bone Shard Magic, much like necromancy, is VERY interesting. I couldn’t get enough of those sections. I want to know all about it, all the rules, how it works. Then there’s Lin. I’d read 75 books about Lin. Lin is fricking awesome. Jovis was ok. Mephi was amazing. Phalue and Ranami though I adore their sapphic relationship, their entire story line bores me to death. It must be important for future books. Sand, I really liked Sand. I want more of Sand.

Overall This was a good book. The slow parts I didn’t like must be setting up things for future installments, that’s the only thing I can figure. I’d definitely recommend it to fantasy lovers. I hope there’s more coming to fill in the dangling threads.

The Bone Shard Daughter is a tale told from several different points of view. The first being from Lin, the daughter of the emperor. He is a master of bone magic. This is the ability to build animal like constructs to do his bidding and protect the city. Lin only wants the love of her father but he constantly tests her about memories she lost several years prior and she constantly fails him and thus fails to gain his love. Her rival, Banyan, is the emperor's foster, who threatens Lin's inheritance of the throne. Jovis is the other main character in this story. He is chasing after a mysterious blue sailed boat that captured his wife many years ago and he hopes to find her again someday. His random encounter with a strange creature whom decides to stay with him brings about changes in Jovis that he could have never imagined.
I really enjoyed the story, it seems to be set in a mythical land that has definite Asian influences in it. I am certainly looking forward to the next book in the series. I think fans of The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco would enjoy this book as much as I did. I highly recommend it.

<u> <b>Review for <i>The Bone Shard Daughter</i> by Andrea Stewart</u> </b>

<u> <b>Thank you so much to Orbit for sending me a copy of this to read and review! All opinions are my own.</u> </b>

<b>Trigger Warnings (TW):</b> For violence, death of a loved one, graphic scenes, drowning, blood.

<u> <b>Summary: </u> </b>
<b> <i>“In an empire controlled by bone shard magic, Lin, the former heir to the emperor will fight to reclaim her magic and her place on the throne. The Bone Shard Daughter marks the debut of a major new voice in epic fantasy.”</b>

<img src="https://imgur.com/5CDV1Ti.jpg"


<u> <b>My Thoughts </u> </b>
I absolutely loved this debut. I’ll read anything this author puts out and will be highly anticipating the sequel to this one as well.

This is set in a world where human bone shards are used to control animal-like constructs that are supposed to help keep law and order in an empire that is crumbling down on itself. It is made up of floating islands that drift throughout the year.

We are mostly following Lin, the emperor’s daughter, and Jovis, a smuggler.
There are multiple perspectives, but to me, these two POV’s were the most compelling and the ones I was invested in the most.
Jovis is down on his luck and searching for his wife, who was taken away from by a man on a boat with blue sails.
<blockquote> <i>'"Jovis, you’re not a fighter.”
“I would be for you.”
Back then I’d thought hopes and willpower could make a thing be so. Now I knew the limitations of body, mind and heart.</i>”'</blockquote>
He is searching desperately for her, and he definitely does not make many friends along the way…except for Mephi, whom I love.

Lin is missing a large chunk of her memories and has been tasked to do her best to remember them by her father, while she competes against her adopted brother for the emperor’s favor.

Each character in this book was incredibly well-rounded, the world was so interesting, along with the magic system and the use of bone shards. We follow Lin as she learns more about this magic, since she is vying to take charge of the kingdom in the future.

There are so many layers to this book, and I honestly enjoyed every single moment of falling into it due to the writing. It was lush and descriptive without being overly flowery (even though that doesn’t bother me at all personally), while also providing such <i>depth</i> that you were compelled to continue reading with whatever spare time you had.

If you are looking for a book with a really cool magic system, well rounded characters that you really come to care for, along with a lot of political intrigue, you should check this one out.


<b> <u>Overall (TLDR)</b> </u>
This is an AMAZING debut. It will be in my top books of 2020, and this author is going onto my auto-buy list. She has an incredible voice and (I hope) many more stories she wants to tell.


Thank you so much to Orbit for sending me a copy, I’m forever grateful.

Go read this, and then find me on Instagram and Twitter!
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Lin has forgotten it all. At least, she's forgotten enough that her father, the emperor, cast her aside as a potential heir, and won't teach her the secrets of bone shard magic. Bone shard magic uses pieces of a human skeleton as a power source for creations made of animal parts, and these constructs have offered Lin's father an iron grip over the island empire he has controlled for decades. Using fear and terror as a weapon, the emperor's people have offered parts of their skeletons to be used for this magic, but murmuring among the populace over its terrible cost has the emperor losing his grip on power. Meanwhile, Lin seeks to learn the dark magic her father won't teach her, because she believes it will help protect her people, but she still has much to learn about her father's actions. One man who defies the emperor is Jovis, who makes it his business to save (smuggle) children from offering parts of their skeleton to the emperor, thereby saving them from the magic's repercussions. Others in the empire have their own journeys to forge on these perilous islands, and it soon becomes clear that the fate of all may rely on the actions of a few, for bone shard magic is not the only darkness within the emperor's realm.

What a phenomenal debut from Andrea Stewart! The Bone Shard Daughter creates a world steeped in creepy magic, old perils, and islands sinking into the sea for unknown reasons while rebellion takes root against an emperor who claims to have his people's best interest at heart, even as his constructs gnaw away at their existence. Seen from five distinct points of view, the narrative style was rather distinct, as Sand, Ranami, and Phalue are narrated in the third person, whereas Jovis and Lin relate their stories in the first person. Jovis and Mephi (short for Mephisolou) are a delight to read, both conversationally and morally, as their goal is to save children from being used as bone shard fodder, and Mephi acts as friend and sounding board for Jovis, who hopes to find his wife someday. Lin is something of an enigma, given she doesn't remember anything before five years ago, but she has plenty of spunk and drive as she seeks to do the right thing, even if she doesn't yet know what the right thing is. I really enjoyed Phalue and Ranami's relationship, and the social disparity between them helped illustrate the problems the populace was angry about, and also how inequality serves to drive people apart, even those who might otherwise love each other. Sand, another girl who doesn't remember who she is, is also on an island where others have forgotten who they are. Mysteries abound, and revelations that unveil themselves as I turned the pages left me on the edge of my seat.

The Bone Shard Daughter gave me thrills and chills, intrigue and deception, tears and cheers from beginning to end! I am so happy that this is only the first story in The Drowning Empire trilogy, and I am waiting on all my bone shards for a continuation of this exceptional water bound universe. Andrea Stewart's debut is one of 2020's finest fantasy forays, and your bones will thank you when you allow yourself to be submerged within the depths of its magic. I recommend The Bone Shard Daughter for all lovers of fine storytelling and magical worldbuilding, and it will shamble about your thoughts long after you turn the final page.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Orbit team for approving me for an e-arc in exchange for review!

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart is the first book in a multi-POV fantasy series. It follows Lin, heir to the Emperor; Jovis, smuggler extraordinaire; and provides smaller POV parts to members of a revolutionary party, a local governor’s daughter, and a captive on a mysterious island.

I have mixed feelings about The Bone Shard Daughter. A lot of this has to do with where I found out about the book and how others were portraying it rather than how the book was marketed by the publishing team.
This book was recommended to me through instagram as being a sapphic book. And don’t get me wrong, there are two sapphic POV characters (who are in a relationship), but they are minor POV characters. As in they share 6 chapters between them; whereas Lin and Jovis each get 19 POV chapters. So it’s not exactly a sapphic focused story if that is what you are looking for.

I enjoyed Lin’s story arc the most. Her world is filled with horrific elements from amnesia to necromantic constructs watching her every move. The lingering sense of dread was almost palpable as secrets began to be uncovered. Lin had clear motivations and her actions had consequences.

On the other hand, I dreaded Jovis’ chapters. I wasn’t particularly interested in his character arc. He kept acting against his established motivations, and I just didn’t think he was a particularly engaging character. He calls himself a master smuggler, but he never comes across as particularly masterful in...well...anything and he is constantly being caught red-handed.

Something that really limited my enjoyment of the book was the age of the characters. This isn’t really an issue with The Bone Shard Daughter specifically, but a trend across contemporary SFF. Most of the POV characters were in their early to mid twenties, Jovis is the oldest and based on contextual clues within the story I believe he is 26. All of the bad, questionable, or evil characters were old. I just find that this approach really cliche and unnuanced. It feels really YA to me for something that is in an adult story.

While there wasn’t anything truly terrible about the book, I doubt that I will pick up the rest of the series because I wasn’t hooked by The Bone Shard Daughter.

Perfect pacing, lovable characters, unique and grand world building - this epic fantasy has it all. You know that satisfying feeling when you finish a book that just hits all the right spots? The Bone Shard Daughter did that for me.
The ending was brilliant, one of the best endings I've read in a first book of a series.
Conflicts between characters are so well-written, especially between Phalue and Ranami. Never does Stewart fall to the misunderstandings trope - each character has their own motives, their own prejudices that they struggle to see past, but all of them are trying so hard it's impossible not to love them. My favorite character by far is JOVIS, the witty, reluctant smuggler/hero of the people.
The world building is incredible - a mass of islands where magic is siphoned from shards of bone from living people, and increasingly more mysterious the more you learn about the world.
I could not put this book down.

I really enjoyed the writing of The Bone Shard's Daughter. The concept kept me intrigued but the writing really felt well rounded and extensive without being too much of an info dump in the worst building

The Bone Shard Daughter is the story of an empire ruled by a reclusive emperor, and the people who will rise up and stop at nothing to get it back. The Bone Shard Daughter has a wide variety of characters: Lin, the Emperor's daughter desperate to prove herself and earn her father's love; Jovis, a smuggler searching for a lost love but gets an adorable creature named Mephi instead; Phalue, the daughter of a imperial governor who is in love with Ranami, one of the Shardless Few. And there is Sand who doesn't quite know who she is. All of these narrators take us through a tale filled with intrigue, rebellion and betrayal, and a dark secret that could alter all of their lives as they know it.
I thought The Bone Shard Daughter was a really impressive and unique fantasy. I loved the world-building we got here, as well as the magic system. Each of the narrators illustrates a different aspect of life in the Empire. Lin's story, and the things she experiences and discovers about her Father and herself was a really cool plot twist that turns the entire story on its head. I also adored Jovis and Mephi, but especially Mephi because he's just plain old adorable. But Jovis was a cool character as well who questions everyone's motives as he's pulled into becoming a hero and into rebellion despite his best efforts to the contrary. And the bond between him and Mephi just warmed my heart. Most importantly, The Bone Shard Daughter is a story about complacency and resistance, and how waking up from the former and engaging in the latter can bring autocrats who profit off of the poverty of others to a heel.

ARC provided by Orbit books and NetGalley.
I enjoyed how this book touches so many subject, and each of them are well done. While some of them needs to defeat a governor, others are fighting the emperor. All that mixed with powers, relationship and privilege.
Something took me by surprised. The author managed to write five different POV in a spectacular way. Two of them (The two main characters) are written in first person, while the other three are written in third person. That style of writing needs talent. It's so well done that I didn't feel overwhelmed by the different characters. .

The quality of the story is amazing.The setting is truly different and brings something new to the fantasy world. Even if some of the plot twists were predictable, they were still well executed. I felt connected with the story and the characters were brilliant. The world building was done in a discrete but truly present way. (Migrating island, mythical creatures, Bone magic, animal-shaped construct)

I really enjoyed my time with The bone shard daughter, and will surely continue with the series. I can't wait to dive back into that world and see what is coming.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit books for providing me with an e-arc.

**Please take note that english is my second language. Thank you**

This was hands down one of the most original book I have read in a long while. From gorgeous settings, to intricate magic, to complex character and great rep! Just. a wonderful read! I started re-reading it right after I finished it.

In a land of thousands of floating islands, the aging emperor uses a particularly gruesome form of magic to manage his empire: by taking shards of bones from the children of his subjects and using those shards to build animate constructs to carry out his orders. But the emperor's daughter Lin will one day take over, and must learn how create and control. Meanwhile, many of the subjects aren't too keen on this misuse of their bodies (which degrade as their shards are used), and are beginning to rebel against the emperor. Stuck in the middle of all of this is the smuggler Jovis, who just wants to find out where his kidnapped wife has gone, but keeps getting drawn into the rebellion and has a new mysterious link with an odd talking creature named Mephi.

The world-building in this book (the first of a series) is wonderful, and sets up the rest of the series well. The only character that I felt any connection to was Jovis, who is wonderfully complex and interesting (though my husband pointed out that a LOT of my favorite characters in fiction are the smugglers and criminals). However, there may be a reason for that, one that I will not delve into here. I'm definitely curious to see where the next book goes!

*This book will be published Sept. 8, 2020.

4.5 stars

this book is a very good
— Mephi, probably


I had such a great time reading this debut!

I feel like I am in a minority here but I love adult fantasy with multiple POVs to the point where if I know that that's a feature of the book I am much more likely to start it. The Bone Shard Daughter didn't disappoint with its five (!!) POVs and, something I hadn't seen done before, the use of different voices (1st or 3rd person) for different characters. I think that might sound scary to someone but I personally thought the transition from one chapter to the next was seamless and it never bothered me, on the contrary it contributed to diversify the POVs with their different strengths.

Lin is the Emperor's daughter and one of the two more frequent POVs. She's trying to remember her past and secretly learning the magic her father is keeping from her until she remembers. Bone shard magic is basically a type of magical programming used for constructs, creatures made of different animal parts and operating on the life force of the bones of the citizens of the empire. Constructs can be small and relatively easy and much more complicated with many variants in the code used for them, which essentially tells them the different conditions in which to operate and who to obey to. This magic was so cool to read about in its different aspects, I couldn't help but root for Lin to learn it and to find ways to hack her father's constructs. I loved the focus on having her own agency especially as things unravel towards the end. With that sad, I also thought her chapters became kind of repetitive after a while because a good chunk of the middle book revolved around her sneaking around and essentially following the same pattern over and over. I was still engaged but I couldn't help remove half a star from the overall rating because of this.

Jovis is the other main 1st person POV and simply my favorite, and I suspect I'm not the only one in this. He's a smuggler trying to find his wife who went missing years ago. He witnesses the collapse of one of the island of the empire (..the title of this series is quite literal) and finds a new friend in Mephi, a strange otter-like creature who starts small, just a little beast initially mistaken for a kitten, and we see grow up in the few months in which this book spans. Mephi is, for me, the highlight of this book and I will never shut up about him. If you have a soft spot for magical animal companions please stop reading my review and just go buy and start this book right now because you mustn't miss this. Mephi and Jovis form a deep bond and let me just tell you about 80% of the highlights on my kindle are things Mephi says to Jovis or Jovis says about Mephi. While Mephi sometimes kind of acts as an outside conscience for Jovis, Jovis is also a really interesting and lovable character of his own and I want him to only and always have good things.

Phalue and Ranami are two POVs that are connected to each other from the beginning. They are an established sapphic couple (!!!!!!!) in which Phalue is a lesbian and Ranami is wlw. I never know going into a book what to expect from an established couple because I'm personally a reader who lives for romance in books and I love the getting there more than the we're already there and have to deal with conflict, but what the author did with this couple is so, so relevant and so important. Reading about the difference in privilege and struggles that Phalue and Ranami have faced in life was every bit as uncomfortable as it sounds and yet so needed, and I appreciate the choice to offer both POVs when it might have been easier to condense them into one and leave the other's growth to be seen from an outside point. I can't wait to see what the future holds for these two in the sequels.

Sand lives on an island where everyone is dedicated to their daily tasks without many worries, and yet when she starts to remember that she might not have always lived on the island she starts to question why they're all there and how to take back some autonomy. Her POV served both as a glue to other storylines and, I suspect, as a setup for the next installments, and I thought this was done brilliantly.

I'm so glad I got to read this and even though now the wait for the second book will be exhausting I still think that this first book offers enough closure and such a satisfying feeling that you won't be mad you have to wait for the rest of the series. It's one of the most solid debuts I've read and I think it will appeal to a lot of different types of readers, even to fantasy readers who come from YA and want to try their hands at adult fantasy. So by all means, give this new Asian-inspired debut set in a world where queerness is perfectly normalized a try, you won't regret reading it.

There is so much to love about The Bone Shard Daughter: grotesque and truly unique magic, compelling, sympathetic characters, and a deep world. I liked Lin a lot but by the time I got to Jovis's second chapter, I was hooked! It was an adjustment to get acclimated to all the POVs, but once I got to know each of the characters, I found myself rooting for them and tearing through the book to the end.

There's something about this book that feels truly different, thought it's difficult to put my finger on exactly what. The construct magic is definitely unique - and jarring, in a good way! - and the world feels lived in. Overall, highly recommended for new and old fans of the fantasy genre! Also, this would be an excellent book for readers of YA fantasy looking to move into adult.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I used this advance copy to prepare for an audio interview with Andrea Stewart on the Fantasy Inn Podcast, which can be found here: https://thefantasyinn.com/2020/09/15/e49-andrea-stewart-interview/

There are few things in this world that I enjoy more than a hot cup of tea and good book, one of them is a book so good that I completely forget about the tea…

Reader, let me present to you one of those books: The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart, killer of the cuppa, and one heck of a captivating read. If you like imaginative epic fantasy, multiple POVs with distinct perspectives and voices, and highly structured magic systems then this might just be the book for you.

This story is told through three different POVs, with each character occupying a different space in a highly stratified society – Lin is the Emperor’s daughter, and while she struggles against her father’s control and the secrets that he keeps she still occupies a position of immense privilege and must eventually come to terms with the inevitable consequences of her actions; Phalue is a governor’s daughter born to a comfortable life, but through her relationship to commoner and rebel she is able to reflect on the systems on oppression from which she has benefited and wield her privilege in a way that betters the lives of others; and finally, Jovis is smuggler who has always been having just enough so long as he had his love at his side, but when she goes missing his life falls into the hands of racketeering gang until a cataclysmic convergence of fate, chance, and a magical animal familiar set on him the path to becoming a people’s hero.

The three narratives, while balanced, aren’t presented in any systematic pattern or order and this fluidity of narrative allows for a natural ebb and flow to each character’s individual arc without ever easing up on the overall pacing of the book. For example, significant portions of Phalue’s character development take place while Jovis is away from the action at sea, or how Lin’s quest to uncover her memories and her father’s secrets are interspersed throughout the silences of Phalue and Ranami’s lover’s quarrels. The stories run parallel to one another for much of the book as the foundations for the series are set, but once they start to intertwine the already impeccable storytelling steps up to a whole new level. The final battles are entirely engaging, bringing neat resolutions to many of arcs that drove the plot for this instalment, each character is treated to cliff-hangers and realizations that will keep readers anxiously awaiting more.

The world building is both comprehensive and unique, with a fully flushed out political structure operating on fumes and a tenuous balance between magical constructs and fallible humans. This is further complicated by a system of corrupt officials grown entitled and lazy as a result of their greed, and the beginnings of a civil uprising slowly burning it’s way from one island to the next. Layered atop the highly relatable political instability is an ancient history that is equal parts mythology and living magic, and I have no doubts that the seeds planted in this first instalment will continue to grown and amaze as the trilogy progresses.

The same level of detail and intricacy invested into building the Empire is also extended to the bone shard magic system. The methods in which different animal parts can be combined to create creatures to serve a specific purpose are endless, as are the commands that can be etched on the bone shards that power them. The language of the commands is complicated and difficult to learn, reminiscent of block-based coding or MySQL implemented in such a way as to control the actions of intelligent beings. This mixture of magic programming and self determination presents significant barriers for Lin to overcome as conflicting commands can lead to disastrous results, but when done right will provide her with the tools with which to control the Empire.

The immense power behind construct creation is balanced out by the fact the constructs are powered by threads of actual human life, and will eventually lead to the death of those whose shards are in use. This provides ample opportunity for the subtle critique of imperialism, capitalism, abuse of power, and class stratified societies. But it never feels like a lesson, rather these issues are presented from the views of of our three main characters who all occupy different places in society, and the reader is left to draw their own conclusions.

If you’re looking for Asian inspired fantasy that is neither derivative nor damagingly stereotypical, then I can’t recommend this book highly enough. It presents a tactful and deliberate blend of the tropes and features that readers have come to crave in fantasy and presents them in new and exciting ways with originality as the main course and not as a side. It features a full cast of unique and diverse characters, a fully developed on-page f/f romance complete with genuine conflict and growth, and the subtle undertones of scathing societal critique leveraged at our contemporary world.

This title is listed as Epic Fantasy, but I’d happily leave it at Epic. Period.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to offer up the same high praise that I've seen elsewhere to heap upon this book. The writing is not flowery, but it moves the narrative along at a nice pace. The multiple perspectives are of varying quality and those weaker characters made it difficult to fully engage in this book. If the story had focused solely on Lin, I may have enjoyed this book better.

This felt like proper epic fantasy! The world building was simple yet enticing, constructing a world of islands under the rule of one powerful regime and king. The author used multiple perspectives and people of different races and circumstances to tell the story of a struggling empire. The common folk losing faith in their king. The working class/farmers working themselves to the bone with almost nothing to show for it. The daughters of the governor and king are found questioning everything they know and have been told growing up about the poor and the decisions made by their respective fathers. And it all comes to a head, with upheaval and intrigue to overthrow a government and give life back to the empire and its people.
It was a slow building storyline as the author focused on building the stories of each individual perspective and peppering in the state of the empire along with it. I'm usually not fond of character-driven stories but the flow of this book moved so well. The state of each character reacted to the state of political unrest, and vice versa. Everything moved so steadily along and gained traction, progressing faster and faster, like an out-of-control train. The author revealed so much and yet left some mystery by the end of this story and I'm excited to continue with this series. I can't wait for book 2!