It was slow, and hella descriptive. But it was fantastic, though apparently it's not a standalone which is the only minus I can give it, because it would've been a fantastic standalone.

You shouldn't read it if you didn't like The Star Touched Queen or Uprooted.

Definitely one of my favs so far in 2017

I have tried - several times - to get into this book, but simply cannot. On its surface, it should be a great fit for me - it has a fantastic first sentence ("Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise."), an engaging premise, strong female characters... But somehow the story just falls flat for me, and I can never seem to get more than 40/50 pages in. I don't know if it's just a matter of the right book at the wrong time or what, but I've tried reading it over a couple of months and the fit never gets any better.

**I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

okay I am going to try to fully express how I feel about this book...sorry this will probably be such a scattered review because I am so shook by this book tbh....

First off, I am honestly so surprised that this book has such a low average rating. 3.38 stars is pretty much unheard of to me (I usually don't even read anything under 3.80). Please know how inaccurate that average rating is and ignore it. This was such a good book, easily one of my fave books of the year and we're only two and a half months in!

A basic summary of this book is that Tea, the protagonist, is revealed to be a dark asha (essentially a witch), or a bone witch (although this term is considered offensive), when she accidentally raises her brother, Fox, from the dead. Luckily, another dark asha, Lady Mykaela, is in the area, so she takes Tea under her wing and brings her and Fox to the Willows to train to be an asha. However, this book is told in alternating POVS: one is Tea's while she is training, and the other is another person who is with Tea in the future. In this way, we see a Tea who is coming into her powers and a Tea who is now much changed from that of the past.

In The Bone Witch, we get so many diversity aspects that we usually don't get in a fantasy. The world building is exquisite, and each of the eight kingdoms is vastly different. There's the kimono-like huas that the asha wear. The women who wear covers that are reminiscent of hijabs. A caring prince but with him, his cousin who hates Tea for some reason. Many women who mentor Tea through her journey to become an asha. A strong sibling relationship between Fox and Tea. A boy who desperately wants to be an asha despite the fact that only women can be ashas because some of the things they do are considered too "feminine," such as dancing and singing.

Admittedly, this book did drag a bit for the first third, but it does pick up rapidly. And yes, there were some cliches, but I think they were well done? I got so caught in the plot I didn't even notice any of this much though.

Although a little confusing at first, I loved this book so, so much. I'm very excited for book two, especially after that ending! We know the beginning and ending of Tea's story, but we don't know how she gets to where she is in the future, and I'm already planning to reread when this book officially releases.

Nooooo! How could it end when it was starting to get good?! I struggled with this book, let me tell you. It's not that it was bad, it's just that it was so dang slow. Seriously, I thought I was going to read about a girl who can raise the dead and do super fancy things with her gift, but no hardly any of that happened. The book mostly followed how Tea became an Asha, and all the rules and lessons she must learn in order to become an Asha. It did have some beautiful writing, (that's what kept me from not stopping the book), but I was hoping for a little more adventure I suppose. The ending more than made up for it and I will continue the series. I have a feeling there will be more action than telling in the next book.

I wanted to like this book much more than I did, especially after loving The Girl in the Well. In the end it felt like a chore to finish, and I had no investment in any of the characters.

First, Rin Chupeco spends a lot of time. A. Lot. of. Time. describing clothing and settings in excruciating detail. And then going over it some more, like a painter without the confidence to know when to stop. Rather than a deft touch to embroider her tale, the descriptions became muddled and meaningless. Eventually, the narrator explained that these details are important, to her, but really, what? The explanation was too late and hurried, stuck in as a bit of a prop.

Second, Tea is describing her history to a bard from a very conservative nation, one that does not favor elaborate details such as she recounts (In.Great.Detail). Although it is eventually discussed that this bard is Not Like the Others, it again is too late. Why would he repeat these details?

Overall, the explanations come too late and the plot too slow to be truly engaging to me as a reader. The character development is reactionary - things happen to Tea, and then she defines herself a bit more. And then another thing happens, so she discovers something else. As the tale is told to the bard, she is working on her own scheme, which is itself shrouded in mystery even to the end of the book.

I feel like there were too many tricks, too much fancy, and too little engagement with the reader or bard or whoever. Tea has her own plan, and she has manipulated the bard and others to participate. I feel manipulated, too, in the end. Somewhat disappointed by a book for which I had such high hopes.

I really wanted to love The Bone Witch, but I couldn't. There was just so many elements that rubbed me the wrong way. It makes me so frustrated and sad because the cover was so pretty and the description so interesting. I was so close to DNF-ing the book but I chugged along hoping it would find it's footing. A big nopety-nope.

What rubbed me the wrong way:

This book was a total snoozefest! The opening chapter promised us this epic story but it never was delivered. Some books need some time to build-up in pace and story, but this one never did. In fact, I thought the latter half was even worse. Too slow and too many pages of Zzz.

This book was hard to grasp. I was constantly confused. The magic system was complicated and the author had a tendency to prattle on and on about frivolous things like dresses. I never thought I'd say this but, there is a thing as too much details.

This book's romance.. OI VEY. It was inorganic and totally unbelievable. I rather there had been none at all.

I could go on and on but I'll stop here. Honestly, I don't really have anything positive to say. I mean, the premise sounded great and I could kind of see where the author wanted to go but I don't think she got there.

Let me STRESS that this review is based SOLELY on my own opinions. I'm sure there is others who weren't bothered by these aspects like I was.

1 Star

There's a lot of hype surrounding this book and perhaps rightly so. Whilst not exactly the adventure I was expecting it is nevertheless such an astounding idea behind the world created here that it took a while to wrap my head around it all. Imagine a land not unlike perhaps ancient China or even Japan with all its hierarchy and beliefs . Now add in witches and demonic like creatures oh and a special kind of magic that imbues heart stones with the emotions of those wearing them. An Asian influenced world with strong ideas about how people should comport themselves and into this comes a young girl who is about to set the world on fire!
Tea never wanted to be what is referred to as a Bone Witch, she just couldn't understand how her family could bury her brother who clearly wasn't dead! Problem is he was , or is depending on your perspective and now it's clear that Tea is most definitely a necromancer of great power when she had dreamed of being an Asha. Tea is lucky and is taken under the wing of Mykaela and journeys to the heart of the kingdom to learn how to control her abilities. Here she makes both friends and enemies, learns that a heart can be broken and perhaps more importantly comes to understand the power inside of her!
Such an unusual way of telling this story as we learn of a future Tea with her heart set on war and the youthful Tea full of hopes and dreams. It's easy to understand the time jumps though as italics are used for future Tea as she begins her next journey telling her story to a man of words, a Bard who has sought her out. Her training in magic takes quite a lot of space here with long passages of descriptive prose that occasionally felt unnecessary but I continued on as my curiosity to know what happened needed to be satisfied . Having finished I fully realise that a second book is essential as the hints of love and romance with its grave repercussions still leave me with unanswered questions. It's clear that young Tea is enchanted by someone but what about the love and hate side of passion? Personally I don't really see a triangle taking shape but I do understand miss direction .
Definitely fantasy with an almost Geisha like feel to the magical Asha's . These women are trained in numerous arts yet their male counterparts are rigidly enforced into becoming warriors without soft edges. I loved the incredible ideas in play here , the magic, the stones and yes even the ideas behind the demonic like creatures that continue to rise up. This beautiful book had so much potential and yet I truthfully did feel at times I needed less description and more action. Happily though this story is not yet told and I'm more than ready to learn Teas secrets!
A copy of this was provided for me which I have voluntarily read and these comments are my own honest opinion.
I thought about rating three and a half but as it did capture my imagination will raise it to four

2.5 STARS

Sadly, this one didn't meet my expectations, and I spent most of the book trying to determine if there was even a plot. After the first 15%, the book lacked direction despite the endless world building. I enjoyed the alternating chapters of present day and flashbacks, but that could not overcome the uneventful storyline. The writing was overly descriptive and took away from the flow of the book. If this had not been an advanced copy, I would have likely given up on it. However, I found the ending somewhat interesting and may try the next book at some point.

Bone Witch is the first book in a new series by Rin Chupeco and is currently scheduled for release on March 7 2017. 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.

Bone Witch is a book with a fantastic premise and well defined characters. Tea is a strong character with plenty of insecurity, but always trying to be the best she can. She does occasionally do things that are not right, but it only serves to make her more realistic. Her brother, the older as has, and characters she meet are also well fleshed out. The world, its mythology, and dangers were very well done and I liked the magic and social construct aspects of the story, and thought the political machinations were very well done and believable. I also like that there were moments that completely took me by surprise. Appearances and actions lead readers and characters alike to assumptions that are far from true.

What I did not like was the flipping between two timeframes. While the changes were clearly noted, the future or present depending on how you want to thinks about it is in italics. So it is not confusing, but I found that it broke my reading rhythm and made it harder to get lost in the story. My other problem, which might be deeply connected, is that the book felt very long. There were some very important things that could not, and should not, be left out but I felt like some of the descriptions could have been less wordy, or something. I just found myself looking at the hours or percentage of the book left to read several times and being surprised how much more there was to go.

Bone Witch is a entertaining read with a wonderful premise and serous world building. Those that like full visual descriptions and detailed explanations will love it. Readers that need a faster pace and prefer to use their imagination for more of the little details might get frustrated with the read. It was very well done, but just did not fit what I was looking for while reading.

In the beginning, I devoured this book. It had a wonderful start and I loved the alternating chapters/timelines. I was increasingly interested in finding out what happened to land Tea in exile.
My main problem was that The Bone Witch is highly descriptive which isn't necessarily a bad thing aside from the fact that by the time I was finished I felt like nothing really happened plot wise.

The writing is absolutely stunning and knowing that there is to be at least 1 more book in this series makes me incredibly happy because after that ending...I need to know what happens next!

The cover for THE BONE WITCH spoke to me, and I decided to grab a copy despite not knowing the author. THE BONE WITCH by Rin Chupeco is a character driven fantasy with an original premise. Beautifully descriptive Chupeco takes us to a world divided into kingdoms where magic and tradition are scared and feared.

It begins when a Bard approaches Tea, a Bone Witch, living on an island filled with bones. We learn she has been banished and he asks for her story. The story that unfolds is told from two narratives past and present as Tea relays her story to the Bard. Those stories make the current thread interesting as we see Tea prepare for her next move. The stories from the past, share Tea's begins as she resurrects her brother from the dead graveside, meets the Bone Witch who will be her mentor. Time in the present with the bard had me craving the why and how from the past.
Chupeco described the world vividly, and while it at times made the story cumbersome I enjoyed her prose, vivid descriptions and the depth in created. The reader will easily be able to envision the streets of each kingdom, the colorfully and richly detailed huas worn by the Asha (magic-wielders) and the heart encased jewelry everyone wears around their necks. We get a clear understanding of the magic in this world and the different types of Asha, warriors, and hierarchy. Women hold the most scared of roles, but men still rule and own kingdoms. While the Bone Witch is perhaps the strongest of the Asha, she is also the most feared. You will find a multitude of influences here from the huas which resembled the Japanese geisha to the castles and social structure and elemental magics.

This world is full of good, evil and supernatural creatures created from the dark ages of magic known as Daeva. Necromancy, arranged marriages, favors, and court politicking abound, We only visit a few villages, but the maps and talk of the kingdoms helped create a sense of the world. Most of the story is spent during Tea's training to be an Asha. Some of the customs are silly, and a lot of attention to detail was provided. Sadly, there weren't a lot of action scenes and the tidbits about everything from hair accessories to food weighted the tale down. I think this caused a lot of readers to abandoned ship, but I encourage you to hang in there. There are some fantastic scenes where Tea battles Daeva and makes startling discoveries.

As I said the tale doesn't have a lot of action or movement, but the characters are rich. The Tea from the present speaking to the Bard is confident, and perhaps a little jaded and the Tea from the past is inquisitive, eager to learn, stubborn and caring. It was fascinating seeing her grow and feeling her change as she became less naive. Of course, there is a lot more to learn, and we don't yet know what events triggered her present situation. I adored her brothers and found myself intrigued by the prince and his brothers. The head Asha who agrees to Tea's training is a snarky old coot and had me laughing a time or too. I enjoyed her mentor and the sisters who took on her training. A young boy who wants to be Asha and participate in the ceremonial dances added interest and showed our heroine' apt skills and heroism.

While at times the storyline dragged and admittedly forced me to read this in smaller doses, the writing, characters and overall arc have me craving the next book. Fans of THE NAME OF THE WIND will enjoy this story.

Bringing the dead back to life is not highly looked upon. Tea never meant to bring her brother back to life. She didn't know what she was doing. The moment he came back to life her life would forever change. That is when she discovered she was not like other witches in her family but a powerful Dark Asha a.k.a. Bone Witch. They are feared and looked down upon by others. She must leave her home and go train the Dark magic. Tea's story unfolds and we get to see how she finds herself at the present moment alone and ready for war. When you realize losing everything can impact your future.

A captivating story and a great start to a new series! A must read if you are into necromancer, powerful demons and a dark story.

THE BONE WITCH is a high fantasy novel that alternates between the point of view of the main character, Tea, telling her story to… somebody (oops, I forgot, a guy gifted with storytelling?) for most of the chapter and the guy’s point of view for the chapter’s introduction.

Oh, THE BONE WITCH, how I so desperately wanted to love it but just couldn’t. The cover is gorgeous and the synopsis, interesting, but I could not keep following the story. The writing was elegant, yes. But maybe too much so. It was so descriptive and static that I may have dozed off while I was scanning, sorry reading, the book.

I’m honestly surprised I didn’t DNF this book. I came close several times, especially near the quarter and half way marks. It felt like the story was moving so slowly and I felt like nothing was happening even though there were things going on. Part of this is because Tea is not particularly memorable. And the only thing worse than a main character that you find annoying is one that you are indifferent to.

Oh, and then there’s the romance. How can I forget the romance? Oh wait, maybe because it was pretty boring. Besides the ending paragraph, the romance was not very memorable with its use of common romantic tropes (royal love triangle and insta love, in the house).

That being said, I am kind of interested in reading the sequel. In the read the summary, get spoilers, kind of way. The ending of THE BONE WITCH was just so… inconclusive. It made me feel like THE BONE WITCH was just setting up the series and the real fun was yet to come.

I was really disappointed in THE BONE WITCH. Despite spending more time scanning it than reading it because it bored me to death (but not enough to DNF), the plot had the potential to be great but everything else prevented it from reaching its potential.

“There is no greater strength than the ability to understand and accept your own flaws.”

Necromancer meets Memoirs of a Geisha – 4.5 stars!

Expected publication in March 2017

Tea is a witch like no other that’s been born into the eight kingdoms for decades; when her powers awakened, she unwittingly used her powers as a necromancer to resurrect her dead brother. As a new and rare Bone Witch, she must follow her path to become a fully fledged dark Asha wielding dark powers that could either save or destroy her world; powers that are misunderstood, feared and frowned upon.

This book is amazing with creative world building mixed with lyrical, engaging story-telling. The Bone Witch has exceeded my expectations, it’s got an absorbing and interesting premise which is used to explore the themes of self-discovery, journey, politics and diversity. Tea’s apprenticeship to become a dark Asha is akin to that of the Memoirs of Geisha, very interesting! Book 1 sets up well for the sequel which I just can’t wait to read! I also enjoyed how the story is told using foreshadowing, like a story within a story through alternating perspectives. It is written very well and highly recommended read for readers who enjoys a YA fantasy story somewhat similar to Memoirs of a Geisha but with magic, the walking dead, monsters, potions, magical dresses, spells, prophecies, necromancing and amazing world building.

I DNF it so the rating is for the part of the book I did read. I just wasn't interested in reading it. I wouldn't get excited to start it and would find other books to read instead of continuing on. maybe one day in the future I'll try again but i just wasn't interested anymore right now.

This is an intriguing read. I was immediately engrossed by the first narrator. When it switched to Tea's voice, I was surprised. One thing I did not like was the italicized font for the first narrator. As a reader, it was visually disruptive and removed me from the story.

But the story? Oh the story was mesmerizing. You meet Tea then as well as currently so that you switch back and forth. I much preferred the narrative in Tea's voice as the other narrator began to annoy me. I felt I needed to know more about him. Ah well, you can't have everything right!

There is the seemingly quintessential triangle but it's very subtle. You aren't sure until the very last page of this story who that third person might be. Do be warned that this is a bit of a cliffhanger in that the last scene is the main character and her narrator moving towards another goal. But it wasn't an annoying, to me anyway, cliffhanger. More like a very well done "read the next book, sucka" hook. I can live with that.

At times, the book dragged a bit for me but that was minimal. I would liken this to Memoirs of a Geisha in that the training setting for the ashas is very Japanese in feel. But there is a definite multi-cultural overlay particularly in the foods.

All in all, this was a really fun read for me that was imaginative and clever. I'm very interested in learning what Tea does next.

It took me a bit to get into the way this book was written. It spends most of the story in the past of the main character, Tea. This part of the story I enjoyed. However, the ending of the book was lacking in that it left much unexplained. I feel that the cliffhanger of Tea going to war on the kingdom is enough to keep a reader interested without leaving so much of the backstory for later.

Still, it's a unique story with an interesting female lead. I'd be interested in reading more.

This was one of the most creative and enjoyable books I have read in a while. I really liked the Asian and Middle Eastern influences in the book; something that I do not see in many of the books I read. The technique of alternating between Tea (the Bone Witch) preparing her revenge in the present and telling a bard the story of how she became the Bone Witch was an effective way of telling the story and engaging the reader. Tea makes for a compelling lead character, especially as she is young, headstrong, and willing to challenge authority and tradition when necessary. The author has created a complex and diverse world. Her descriptions of individuals and events are often quite vivid, allowing the reader to get a real feel for what is happening and who the characters are. The book ends with Tea preparing to start the process of obtaining revenge, but also leaves lots of unanswered questions about how she ended up in her current situation, setting up a sequel.

I hope we can find out more about Tea in upcoming books! Overall, this book was excellent. I wish that we could have found out more of what happened in between the present time (where she is going to bring that daeva's to war) and where the story ended. I.e. the love between Tea and Price Kance's guard, how and why Mykaela is dying in more detail, more significance of bezoars and their powers, and political histories between territories. I would read more stories by Rin. Her writing style kept me interested and wanting more.