The writing in this book most definitely lives up to the stunning cover of The Bone Witch. I had a bit of apprehension prior to beginning this story because I saw a lot of DNFs due to slow pacing. And the pace is slow at times… but so what? This is a book that is well worth the effort put in by the reader.

In the present, a bard requests Tea’s story and the reason for her exile. Tea’s story takes the reader into the past, to the day she accidentally raised her brother from the dead, setting her on her path to become a dark asha. Told in both past and present narratives, there might not be a heap of action and adrenaline rushes; but there is a unique and magic-filled plot.

I love a book that I can consume in one sitting, but there’s a lot to be said for a book you read in small increments. Tea’s story is richly detailed; and yes, sometimes that much detail can be overwhelming, but I can’t say it was all unnecessary. It painted a picture that was captivating and beautiful. This book may not be for everyone, but I’m happy I read it. It’s a unique story with solid world building and gorgeous writing. I’m definitely curious to see what comes next. While The Bone Witch is not a thrill ride or a book to be devoured in just a few hours… it is an intriguing story and one to be savored.

To be quite honest, there wasn't much about The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco that I didn't enjoy. She manages to weave this story that is so enthralling that I couldn't put it down. This novel follows Tea, an aspiring bone witch, through the first few years of her training. We as readers get to see a lot of this training, but we also see what becomes of Tea later on in life because of the way Chupeco formatted this story.

Because this is the first book in a series, it does focus primarily on world building and character development. I felt that a lot of the more mundane aspects of the book could have been left out in order to have more "exciting" scenes, but the mundane scenes are what help to move the story along at times because we see the development of Tea's relationships with those around her. It's because of this that the story is a very character driven book, which isn't something I see every day. It was wonderful to see relationships, primarily the platonic kind, take a front seat instead of more romantic relationships.

The best thing about this novel is the diversity, not only with the characters, but also in the mythology that we encounter throughout the story. It appears that the cultures and creatures that Tea encounters are a mixture (or what I took to be a mixture) of many Asian cultures which was refreshing to see in a young adult fantasy novel. Chupeco describes the Asha as geisha like individuals that entertain at parties and also fight monsters.

Above all, this novel is beautifully written. It was hard to put into words how the author describes Tea's future. There's a subtle mixture of hope amongst the tragedy that this protagonist discusses with the Bard. To fully understand readers would have to experience the story for themselves. Chupeco has certainly created a wonderfully dark novel that I cannot wait to see where this story goes.

I recommend this novel to those who enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha, The Tiger's Curse series, interesting mythology, and overall badass female characters.

THIS BOOK IS MY FAVORITE OF THE YEAR SO FAR. OH. MY. GOD. This was amazing. *hyperventilates*

I got an ARC of The Bone Witch earlier this year through NetGalley and finally got the time in my busy schedule to sit down with it--and I ended up getting a print copy because my local Barnes & Noble broke the release date. How lucky was I? So, I sat down with my shiny new copy and blazed through the first half in a day. I was up in my reading chair till late at night with it; I was up in bed after that reading it. I couldn't put it down.

Chupeco has a rare talent for creating interesting, vivid, and immersive worlds, and The Bone Witch is one of the best I've seen since Sarah J. Maas. The world and its cultures in this book are incredibly unique. Both are a mixture of what we would recognize as Middle-Eastern and East-Asian. Particularly, the world of the Asha--the wielders of magic--are reminiscent of traditional Geisha culture from Japan. Asha wear elaborate and expensive silk "hua" that are given to them by the "mother" or mistress of their house in which they live and that provides for them when they become novices in the art of magic. These hua are unique to each Asha, and the debt that incurs from the cost of these items plus any instruction and so forth must be paid back by the Asha. This is on par with traditional Geisha culture--Geisha, when they have debuted and are earning money, must pay back the debt incurred for their care and instruction to their house and its "mother." And again, the Asha's "hua" described are very similar in appearance to kimono. This cultural detail added a unique dimension to this story, and I haven't really seen this done elsewhere.

What further adds to the immersive and colorful world within The Bone Witch, is its mixing of Middle-Eastern culture into the Japanese-inspired elements. There are cultures that cover their heads (the women do anyway), observe social customs regarding the separation of the sexes--we see this with a maid working in the Velarian where Tea (our main character) lives and is apprenticing as an Asha. The maid does not view being around Tea's brother as appropriate because he is not family, so she separates herself. A lot of the otherworldly creatures that readers will encounter in this book are also reminiscent of demons and other mythical beasts found in Middle-Eastern and Asian mysticism. In a nutshell, I appreciate and love that this novel didn't take the usual route with building a fantasy world that is reminiscent of the English middle-ages. That gets so boring--not so with The Bone Witch. And can I just say that the atmosphere in this novel is so dark it is scintillating? I love dark stories.

I also really like the plotting and structure of Chupeco's novel. Sections alternate between brief narratives happening "now" in which Tea and a bard discuss her past, and then the actual chapter that follows will dive into the actual story. When taken holistically, this shows how Tea grows and develops as a person and Asha, and it allows readers an interesting to see just how much she changes through her triumphs and struggles. Tea is very three-dimensional, interesting, and sympathetic. She walks a moral grey area and is dark in personality in her world, and this makes her unique in comparison with other characters from the same genre.

Finally, Chupeco's writing style overall is beautiful, descriptive, and lyrical. Descriptions are vivid, colorful, and the pacing of this story will suck readers in from the first chapters. Before I knew it, I was turning the final pages. I want to go back and read this book all over again--I can't express enough how fantastic and well-done this book is. Five out of five stars is just not good enough!

If you're a fan of fantasy fiction, magic, NECROMANCY, and immersive, well-developed characters and worlds that you could live in, pick The Bone Witch up. It deserves all the buzz it's getting and more. This is my #1 pick of the year.

The Bone Witch has such an intriguing fantasy world – it is a bit odd and dark (at times confusing!), but the cool thing is it’s not like anything I’ve ever read! I think what makes The Bone Witch stand out is the unique plot and magic system. It is seriously so intricate and unique! The plot is really complex and can get quite confusing sometimes, but hey it leaves some mystery for the sequel! And I can’t wait for the sequel after the ending. And that cover is seriously perfection! I did have a couple of issues with the story, but overall it was a pretty good start to a new ya series.

So Tea (Tay-uh) is a bone witch who can gasp resurrect the dead. If that isn’t a creepy ability I don’t know what is! Anyway, she finds this out when she brings her brother Fox back to life. There aren’t a lot of bone witches in this world who’s power is to summon the dead. Tea can also “read” people through a heartsglass necklace that can tell her what people are feeling and it is so fascinating. Anyway, the story follows Tea as she trains to be an asha when she is taken away for training. But it also follows a second POV from a bard who’s looking for a bone witch, and their stories intertwine.

I do have a couple gripes as to why this book isn’t quite a 5 star for me. Number one, I love detailed descriptions as much as the next guy but I think the descriptions were a bit much. Let me rephrase that – it was wayyyy too much. It really slowed down the plot which goes into my next issue. Number two, the pacing of the book really goes downhill after about a third of the book. There were times, and I hate to say it, I was bored and struggled to continue. At least for me personally, good pacing keeps boredom at bay. I wanted to see more of her abilities in the real world as opposed to a play by play of her training, you know? It ends up picking up toward the end with the daevas, but until then it was kinda boring during parts of it.

Even though I have a few issues, it is still has cool necromancy set in a dark fantasy world that I can’t wait to see develop more in the sequel!

Am I the one who is in love with this book?

When I read a story slowly that means, I don't like it, but this is the first novel that I have stopped myself from finishing it quickly because I have to digest everything. Everything was amazing to me. The imagination of Rin Chupeco is spectacular. I felt that I was in another world, another time and another dimension. It was surreal!

Tea was not your typical protagonist. She is a Bone Witch/Dark Asha, one that people are afraid to encounter with because she is just so powerful. There is something so mysterious, and at the same time, intriguing with Tea Pahlavi.

Fox, Tea's dead brother or so called familiar is loyal and protective of her. I actually like Fox and I'm glad that Tea returned him from the grave.

Lady Mykaela is a wonderful Dark Asha that truly sees potential with Tea. I'm very curious with The Oracle and I hope that I learn more about her.

Tea's THREE K: Kance, the prince whom she is infatuated to, Khalad, the heartforger/prince who might secretly like Tea and Kalen, the duke/prince's royal guard who hates Tea.

I was jumping in joy when I found out who Tea truly loves because my guess was correct! I couldn't wait for the second book on how their love to each other blooms.

I didn't expect the Faceless/antagonist, I really thought it was Zoya or Farhi. Great job Rin!

What I'm looking forward to book two: Tea's power over the monsters, Tea's Asha sisters, including Mistress Parmina, the Bard and Tea's exile and of course, Tea's revenge.

The Bone Witch's world is incredibly intricate and spell-binding. I can only describe it as Tim Burton meets Memoirs of a Geisha with its horror and its beauty. Its originality is stunning, and it's one of my favourite high fantasy reads. It follows the story of an undiscovered witch, Tea, who accidentally raises her beloved elder brother, Fox, from the dead at his own funeral. Immediately afterwards, she is whisked away to be trained as a proper witch--called asha in this story. Her rise through the ranks of witches, and all the lessons that come with that, isn't a smooth road.
If you're a reader who doesn't like books centered solely on character growth with a vague plot, this may not be the book for you. However, I'm one of those people, and I absolutely loved this book.

I really loved Tea's relationship with her brother, and how the difference between the different bonds they have--familial, as well as witch and her familiar--are explained as the story goes on without getting too confusing. To my surprise and absolute delight, Fox maintains a sense of humour about his demise and resurrection.

In this book, there are two POV: Tea's, and a bard who seeks out a bone witch and plans to sing about her life. The styles are extremely different; the bard's is heavy while Tea's is happy-go-lucky. In her POV, we see the world in a light but haunting manner, and it makes you want to find out how Tea ended up in the place where the bard found her.

People literally wear their hearts around their neck, in what's called a 'heartsglass', which displays their feelings. Accompanied with its own original folklore and mythology about monstrous beasts called daeva, the horror and beauty mesh so well in Chupeco's The Bone Witch.
This book also confronts toxic masculinity and how it prevents people from reaching their full potential. Asha--what witches are called in this book--are not only sword-wielders and weavers of magic; they must abide by their traditions. Most of them undergo training to make them more refined, and skilled singing, dancing, mastering flower arrangement, and more. This is because, though they're powerful on their own, they must learn how to coax a patronizing man in order to put him in his place without using their power--which could make the kingdoms turn on them.
There's such amazing description throughout the book, painting every second of it in your mind's eye. The different diverse characters and their struggles are all very compelling.

A few negative things: the love triangle that's hinted at in the second half of the book, and there's the occasional information dump.

This book drew me in from the first page and I can't wait to read the sequel.

I grabbed this book since they were giving it away as a free ARC. I enjoyed the book but did find it a bit confusing. I would let that deter anyone from picking it up because it was quite interesting but it isn't my normal read so maybe that's way I couldn't fully get it.

I was very excited when I first received the ARC for this book, but was a little let down.

The story flips back and forth between the viewpoint of the Bard, a man who has found Tea in the present tense and talks to her about how she became a dark asha, or bone witch. The other view is Tea’s from the past – essentially as she tells her tale to the Bard. As the story unfolds you know that eventually Tea is somewhat banished to where she is telling him her story, her viewpoint is meant to bring you full circle I suppose to how she got there. Except obviously, since it is only book one, you only get a portion of that part.

I love world building. It is one of my favorite parts of reading. Diving into a new world while I get to know my characters. Chupeco did a beautiful job of reinventing geishas and merging them with this dark magical power. Along with the role the geishas play, it was wonderful to see a male counterpart with the Deathseekers. I loved the idea of the heartstones and the role they play with each person. My only criticism to the world building was that it was a little excessive. There was a lot of details that made the story almost draw out a little too much. However, all the history and culture has set up a wonderful base for the rest of the series.A majority of the book was spent describing her everyday life, duties, and what she was wearing. Think Memoirs of a Geisha with a small splash of Middle Eastern and magic.

The actual story was very slow to unravel. I blame all the details. I found myself, quite honestly, falling asleep while I was reading the book. There were quite a few times that I wanted to give up and DNF, but I feel a little too obligated to finish since I had received an ARC. Even as the story did progress, I found it to be quite dull. The challenges that Tea had to overcome were drowned out by the tediousness of the surrounding details. There was never a moment that I found myself flipping through the pages to see what happens next.

There was a slight romantic aspect in the book. But it is such a small detail throughout the book that it is hardly worth mentioning. As it turns out, I have a feeling that the role of the love interest for Tea will play a slightly bigger role in the sequel. In this portion of the story they seem to be supporting characters.

All in all, as much as I love the idea of using geisha roles in a magical book, I found that it was poorly executed by drowning it in detail. A little more excitement could have gone a long way, especially earlier on to catch the readers before they give up at 25%.

The Bone Witch starts of with a gatherer of stories finding the asha who is known as the Bone Witch. The unknown storyteller manages to wrangle how the Bone Witch came to be despite her young age and so the tale starts.

The Bone Witch's strong point is the world building and the character development of the main protagonist Tea. This is a fantasy adventure story which spans a few storylines. The wording and description is definitely great, very detailed and it does capture the readers imagination. The pacing tends to be a little slow sometimes but it definitely has a nice adventure thing going on.

Overall its an enjoyable read for fans of intricate world building and main characters who does develop as the story evolves.

Bone Witch, written by Rin Chupeco, is the first book in what promises to be a brilliant new fantasy series. The world-building is exceptional as the reader is immersed in Tea’s world where asha’s wield extraordinary powers and are both revered and feared. As Tea evolves from a simple, country girl to a powerful asha, the story introduces a cast of unique and entertaining characters. The descriptions of the asha’s outfits can sometimes be a bit drawn out, but overall the detailed descriptions only serve to make the world more real.

The story is told from the perspective of Tea and from the perspective of a Bard who has sought out Tea to hear her story. The story unfolds as Tea recounts her rise as an asha to the Bard. The story goes from present day to the past as the two storylines build and the reader begins to anticipate that Tea will reveal what happened in her past to bring her to where she is now. This gives the story a page-turning quality and even though the plot is somewhat slow, the writing and characters are sure to keep the reader engaged.

A beautiful, epic tale with strong female characters that will be enjoyed by teens and adults who love fantasy stories.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.
This was a reading experience that was unlike other. I didn't know half the things that this book was talking about. I asked myself, "what's a hue, what's a drycht, what the heck is a daeva?" After I got my bearings and just took the writing for what it was, I was quickly impressed with this novel. It's absurd and imaginative and frankly, awesome. The lead character was a badass. I really enjoyed this one and hope there will be a second on the series.

The Bone Witch was probably one of the YA books that I was most excited about for Winter/Spring 2017, so I was delighted to get my hands on an eGalley. First of all, The Bone Witch has a stunning cover design, so kudos to the folks who worked on it. I didn’t think the story was perfect, but it doesn’t change the fact that I DO think this series is going to be really popular and hopefully really great. There’s definitely been a lot of hype generated for this book and it was a quick, exciting read.

My first impression was that the story telling is reminiscent of Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind. Tea Pahlavi (the bone witch) is telling her story to a bard that has come along to find her in her lonely exile and hear Tea’s side of things. To those of you who’ve read NOTW, is this ringing any bells yet? Tea has done something terrible, the man she loves is dead, and she’s preparing her revenge on a dark, bone-riddled coast. I kind of love this method of story-telling because you know what happened to the character up to a certain point in their lives, but you don’t know HOW the events leading up played out. Filling in those pieces and all the little mysteries is so satisfying for me as a reader and it leaves me hooked. I felt the number of Tea/Bard sections were too frequent and Tea’s story lacked some of the depth that I had expected, but I was comparing it to the depth of Kvothe’s story which some argue was too thorough.

The magic and the magic learning system in this book was really cool. The schooling and many parts of the asha life appeared to be inspired by geisha training in Japan, which I don’t see done often in fantasy. I loved Memoirs of A Geisha so The Bone Witch was kind of a fun treat for me. Series debuts and great origin stories two of my favorite things, which is another reason I expected to adore The Bone Witch, but the story-within-a-story style yet again lacked the depth and detail I like here. This book seems to span about 2 years in which much happens. Yes, we get the highlights and all the important bits, but I didn’t fall irrevocably in love with it. I am intrigued by the likelihood that Tea is an unreliable and biased narrator, because she is telling her own story… What is she lying about and what secrets could she be keeping?

I also love the fact that there are these crazy, mythical monsters out there that resurrect every so many years and terrorize the countryside. Definitely grim. The Dark asha like Tea and her mentor Mykaela are the only ones who can effectively control and put down these monsters, or daeva as they are called. These daeva are central to the storyline as is the briefly mentioned and under-detailed False Prince and his followers. Rin Chupeco gave her readers a little taste of the bad guys in this first installment and I expect to see much more of their involvement in future books. Plus, Tea’s dead love and her desire for revenge was really, really interesting, especially after that final segment.

Overall, I thought The Bone Witch was tremendously enjoyable, dark, and full of possibility. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next installment and a physical copy of this book. This book had me cringing, curious, and reading in every spare second!

Magical! Rin Chupeco has created a world full of wonder and mystery. The characters were full of color and depth and the story will leave you wanting more. Loved it.

"The Bone Witch is thoroughly original and visionary," is how I describe The Bone Witch! The rest of the review could be found at the link attached.

I must admit that I did not finish this book. I made it to 68% and I may at sometime in the future finish it, but I really doubt I will do so. the younger readers will most likely love this although I think even they are going to be expecting something that has a little more action, character
interaction and a lot less filler.

As I said in my update on this novel: "I am having a hellacious time reading this book. One thing happened so far. ONE!!!

I know that this is a YA book, but the synopsis reads as if it would appeal to adults too. Not this adult.

But I will persevere -although I abide by my thoughts on this: you don't need to drink the entire glass of milk to know that the milk is spoiled.

I shouldn't have to read this far to be pulled into the book."

This was at 50% and as I found myself trying to finish I did realize that there are some aspects that are interesting about this otherwise boring novel -I liked the fact that the author took so many cultures (Japanese, Indian, Iranian and most likely more) and melded them into this work. However, the fact is that up to the point that I stopped, NOTHING happened...NOTHING!!!

What we did get was an interesting look into what must have been a school for Geisha's that also taught some magic and self-defense. (which makes me want to read [book:Memoirs of a Geisha|929] ). We got a brief look at Tea raising he brother from the dead as well as some rats and a murder victim.

Have you ever read Laurell K Hamilton and noticed how she can take pages and fill them with the most useless trivia, mind numbing descriptions and repetitive filler? Well this author is doing the exact same thing...and even does it better than LKH.

Perhaps young teens will like this book, but I think an older mind will want to pare this down into something more readable. It is a shame that I just couldn't force myself to finish, because I can see that this has the potential to be an interesting series -but not if the author keeps writing just to fill the pages.

*ARC supplied by publisher.

*I received an advance copy from Netgalley for an honest review.*

The Bone Witch starts off slow and it took me a while to get into it. The story alternates between the past and present, but it is easy to tell the difference. By the end though, it left me wanting more.
The story follows Tea, who discovers that she is a bone witch when she accidentally raises her brother from the dead. This leads to her going to train with a mentor to learn how to control her powers.
The majority of the story is about Tea learning to become an Asha. The Asha are like Geisha, and use their magic to earn money for the house they belong to by entertaining patrons. Since bone witches, or Dark Asha, are rare, Tea's training is sped up. The Dark Asha use their powers to stop Daeva, think demons, that terrorize their world. Tea's mentor is one of the few Dark Asha left and it is taking a toll on her health.
Overall I really liked this book, but only gave it 4 stars because of the slow start. Tea is an interesting character. She is strong, not spoiled, and feels real. The world building was done well.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series and would recommend this to fans of Shadow and Bone, The Crown's Game and Throne of Glass.

I found this book to be something to wrap yourself in. I enjoyed every word, every twist, every moment. It was beautifully written and I cannot say enough amazing things about it. Between the concept, character build, the author has a hit on their hands!

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it, like expected. I will be featuring my review of this title on Obsessive Book Nerd eventually, just not at this time.

This was an interesting and intriguing introduction to a new series that has lots of potential moving forward. I found that while reading The Bone Witch that my interest was at its highest when I was reading about Tea experiences as a young girl learning about her powers and how to become an asha. The training and treatment she endured in her quest to become an asha and learn to control her powers, at times reminded me of Memoirs of a Geisha and the training that the main character endures in that story. At the same time that I was held spellbound in regards to Tea's training, my interest in the story waned when the narrative would shift back to the present day where Tea is speaking with the interviewer about how she got to where she is. These small snippets between the broader story I felt detracted from the main story and it wasn't until the end where I felt I truly appreciated these snippets and where they were heading. As it stands, it is the cliff hanger ending that will ensure that I read the subsequent books in the series and I hope that the series becomes more interesting as it continues.