Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free digital ARC of this book. This book is true to its title description. The reader won't be disappointed when reading this book.

Rin Chupeco's The Bone Witch is gorgeously written and so interesting. Tea is a bone witch, meaning she can raise beings from the dead. Powerful and feared, Tea must leave home to train with a more experienced necromancer. This first book in the series mostly chronicles Tea's training. However, the book is set up as a story within a story, and so the reader gets glimpses of a more powerful Tea recounting her tale, which definitely piqued my interest.

The Bone Witch reminded me more than anything of Miriam Foster's City of a Thousand Dolls. It has a similar geisha-like training aspect to it. The setting is truly rich and lavish. I'm definitely curious about the sequel.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and decided to review it. This in no way affects my opinion.

DNF @ 9%

I am dreading going back to this one so that is how I know I need to DNF it. I was intrigued by the magic but the way it was written was just Not For Me™. I didn't like the flashback between the past and the present with the italics and the two different "narrators" basically telling the same story. I didn't find the world to be that enthralling to make up for how much I didn't like the writing so that is why this one is just a nope for me.

I couldn’t finish this. I made it about 20%. I love the cover. I liked the plot line. But like many other reviewers I thought it was tons of description and not much story. Barely anything happened to make me want to keep reading.

Unfortunately I DNF’ed this book. They style & story just wasn’t for me, I’m sure others may enjoy it. It just didn’t click for me and I was uninterested after the first couple chapters.

Tea comes from a magical family. All of her sisters are witches. But when Tea accidentally raises her brother, Fox, from the dead, she realizes that her magic is nothing like that of her sisters. She is a bone witch, and she is feared and shunned for her powers. Finally, under the guidance of another bone witch, Tea gains an education and learns to harness her powers of darkness.

I don't even have the words to describe how much I enjoyed The Bone Witch. This book is absolutely fantastic. I can't believe it took me so long to pick it up. Anything I say about this book will sound like it was written by a child compared to the eloquence of this book, but I will try.

The best thing about The Bone Witch by far was the writing style. The writing is dark and lyrical and you can easily find yourself completely lost in the story. The characters were described with such detail that they jumped off the page and felt real. While the book does jump right into the story without much initial introduction to the world, as the story continued, I found that I could clearly picture every aspect of it. If you like lyrical and descriptive stories, you will be salivating over The Bone Witch. If you want a lot of action in your books, you will not find it here. But it is very much worth the read anyway.

Stylistically, The Bone Witch reminded me of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (another absolutely fantastic read, by the way). The story is told in alternating perspectives - from Tea, as she recounts the past five years of her life as a bone witch, and from the man who is interviewing her for her story. The plot moves slowly through Tea's education, but details about her from the perspective of the interviewer are interspersed throughout the book, leaving the reader wondering how this young girl became such a powerful dark witch. I assumed that the remaining books in this series will continue in the same format, until Tea's tale of her past finally intersects with the interviewer's notes on the present.

The twist at the end of this book was spectacular. I seriously cannot wait for the next book to be released so I can devour it. I was hooked from the first page of The Bone Witch and I want to be back in that world so badly. You will not find a lot of action, adventure, or romance in this book, but it is so beautiful that you have to give it a try. It will be so worth it.

I thought that I would like this book but I wasn't able to get into this book at this time. Sadly this book did not finish the book.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

* 2.75/5 *

What drew me to this book initially was NECROMANCY!!! That is not a topic that I can usually find books on, especially not YA. Also, that cover! It is stunning. A+ to the cover designer.

Tea is a witch, or an asha. Ashas control elements: fire, earth, water, wind. Bone Witches are dark, they can reach beyond the boundaries of the living, in to that of the dead.. Her magic is dark, and powerful.. People fear her power. Tea learns she is a bone witch, when in grief; she accidentally raises her brother from the dead.
Tea has to leave her home to train to become an asha, under an older Bone Witch, to harness her power to fight against the Daeva.. the monsters that rise from the dead to wreck havoc. Tea is actually telling her story to a Bard, years after she was banished.

One thing that was amazing, and kind of scary, were the Heartglass necklaces. Heartglass will change colour depending on what you’re feeling.. But the scary part is that you can give your Heartglass away. If the person you give your Heartglass to is unworthy, they can use your Heartglass against you, to control you. There are also Heartforgers, who can make Heartglass using memories. I do believe they will have a bigger role in a future book.


It all sounds very interesting, but the final product left me wanting more. The writing was good, but not great. It was light, and charming. It was mostly description with little plot. I skim read the last half of the book, as it was so info-dumpy. The ending hooked me back in though, I didn’t see it coming. So I will look out for any future books, see if that cliffhanger is cleared up!

Such a creative book, even though some parts were boring.

I recently read The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco. I am anxiously waiting for the next book in the series/trilogy/companion book. Rin has not made it clear as to how this story will continue on but hints at least a sequel. First of all I really liked the main character, Tea. She has skills and finds out how powerful she is by mistake. She panics and resurrects her brother when she finds out he has died. I love her loneliness, her isolation at times. I loved the author's descriptions of the world that she lives in. The somewhat ancient asian feel to her surroundings. I guess my only complaint is that I wanted more. I could have lived in this book for another 400 pages! I wondered why we hear nothing more about her family and friends. There are hints of things to come that I am pondering which is always a good sign! I liked the quiet humor that appeared from time to time like an inside joke between the writer and reader. I got swept away in the descriptions of the city and the relationships and too soon I came to the end. And so I wait......

This cover is amazing! Isn't it? I absolutely love it. The description of the book was so promising too. I love, love, love YA fantasy and this had all the makings of something that could be amazing! Unfortunately, I found it pretty boring. I just couldn't get into it. Every now and then I'd get to part with beautiful prose. The descriptions were just lovely and I could picture the entire thing perfectly. However, the story moved too slowly. It took a long time before I finally figured out what the plot was. I really wanted to love this book, but I couldn't. Now, on the bright side, it really is a great story! The characters are wonderful, the plot is well developed, and the overall storyline is original. If it had moved faster, then it probably would have gotten five stars from me.

I give it three stars, simply because the story moved so slowly that it was incredibly hard to get through.

This book had it’s moments with some corky.supernatural, weird fun kind of way. Loved the atmosphere especially around Halloween, it surely got me in the mood for that season.

The Bone Witch is an intriguing tale, rich in descriptions and full of unique settings. As we follow Tea, a girl of twelve years who discovers she is a Bone Witch after she raises her brother from the dead, we journey with her through training and knowledge until she is fifteen. There are daeva which are described as cursed monsters but seem like dragons, three types of Asha (Bone Witch is one), Deathseekers, and familiars (who can indeed be the dead). This novel is the story of how Tea got where she is at 17, though the second book will most likely continue this as we do not yet have all of the past. At least, not enough to fully understand why she is where she is now.

The story alternates between two voices. Tea is our voice in first person for the past (majority of the book) and an alternate character's voice also in first person is for for the present (short bursts in between each chapter). This allows readers to see inside the characters heads more, even if there is little to see.

Tea is very strong but also impatient, so we mostly see her struggle to learn more faster. She throws herself into some situations where she shouldn't, because she wants to test herself and taste more of that wondrous power she feels every time she uses dark magic. She is impulsive and doesn't necessarily think things through before she acts. We don't see much of her actual character however, because she was mostly busy with training and talking about which parts she liked and didn't like. We do get to see some relatable childish rebellion though, such as skipping lessons, playing little pranks of sorts, and keeping secrets. Granted, Tea's secrets are a lot darker and more dangerous than expected of a fifteen year old.

The premise of this novel definitely intrigued me, and the story started off strong. Rich details and a unique world enriched the reading experience, and one can easily tell how much a hua means to an Asha. While I enjoyed learning about the training and what it takes to become an Asha, I must admit that there was too much even for me. Most of the novel is training (as a maid, as an apprentice) of fighting, history, social behaviour by attending parties, flowers, proper appearance, magic, and dancing/singing. We learned of the different rankings in each and which Tea excelled in and felt little for. The issue with this however is that it is repetitive and gives very little personality for the characters.

As for romance, it's hard to say that there is any. Tea has feelings for someone yes, but that someone fails to notice and do nothing comes from it. We mostly see Tea stumble over words and thoughts in the character's presence. And by the end, in one of the bursts of the present, we see her with someone she calls "my love", though this has yet to be touched upon. Hopefully the next book will bring clarification.

While the writing is flowery and rich, it affects the plot. There is very little room for plot when most of the pages are filled with descriptions of pretty hua's and buildings and training. It may feel like a lot has happened, but it also feels like nothing did at the same time. There is definitely potential, so hopefully the second book focuses more on character development and plot.

Overall, The Bone Witch is an intriguing tale that is both unique and beautifully visual. While there are some issues for me, I still very much enjoyed reading this novel.

I had some trouble getting through this book and when I hit 68% complete I wrote my initial review, but I have finished it now. Since finishing the book, I cannot pin point exactly what it is about the story that doesn't push it higher up on my enjoyment list.

I like the characters enough, they are not all samey-samey. They have a personality but I felt it hard to connect with so many appearing and not spending much time with them.

I like the world, especially with the asha's, which has a Geisha feel to me and I'm all about that.

I don't mind the slightly intertwined stories and the fact that its more a recount of her story. I found it hard that her life skipped forward at a weird pace and there were so many different elements to where the story seems to be going?

The writing is nice. The descriptions are nice.

I like it enough when I'm reading it, I don't have reasons to roll my eyes at the character's bad choices and I'm not finding the writing to be cliche.

I just forget about it until I see it's on my currently reading shelf and I'm like, oh yeah I forgot about that book.

So overall, I cannot say it is a terrible book. I cannot say that I am disappointed.

So I guess I can also say, maybe give it a go?

Rin Chupeco has created something special with The Bone Witch. As what appears to be an opening gambit to a larger series (or at least I hope so), Chupeco has laid the groundwork for a sweeping epic.

Welcome to the world of Asha, Deathseekers and the Faceless. Chupeco does an amazing job of easing you her into very complex world of magic, politics and power. Like the geisha, the world of the asha is grace and deadly beauty.

Be careful of who you trust and don't turn your back. We follow Tea while she goes from a small village, to the centers of learning and culture in her world. Her tale is being told to a nameless Bard as we see both the past, present and hints to future even as we follow Tea's journey.

There are more twits and turns that a roller coaster and Chupeco's timing is perfect. I read this entire book in a single sitting. I am looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Such an interesting concept. Totally something I'd recommend to my students- I'm always looking for diverse books.

I enjoyed 3/4 of this book. I found the idea of using tunes in magic and that there are different levels of magic power. The heartsglass each person wears around their neck was a neat idea. The story moved along fairly quickly until near the end and then it just lost its cohesion a bit. In my opinion. It hints at other events that have happened but they aren’t gone into in the book. Also this will probably be a series.

I really struggled to get through this book, I wasn’t enjoying myself nor did I want to finish it. I finished only because it was a Netgalley read and I wanted to read it in order to review it. This follows a young girl, Tea, who raises her brother from the dead without fully understanding how she did so. By doing so she is classified as a bone witch and she is taking away from her village (I think, I can’t remember) to stay with another bone witch and learn how to grow into her power. The bulk of the book is told by Tea to another person, explaining what happened to her. I didn’t find the world building very strong and I found it lacking in a lot of ways. It took forever for anything interesting to happen and when it did it was the ending. It had the first book syndrome. It was just the platform for the series giving you the background you need to know before the series really begins. In a way like a poorly written prequel. I found the ending its only possible saving grace but I still don’t think I will be going forward with the series. It wasn’t enough for me to be concerned as to what happens to Tea and what she is going to do to that world.

Rin Chupeco has done it again. She has written a book I could not put down. The brother sister relationship hit close to home. I would recommend to anyone who wants something different to read.

The Bone Witch had a very slow pace, and felt more like a prequel disguised as a novel than an actual novel. It's like its whole purpose was to set up the next book in the series.

There are dragons. There are necromancers. There are monsters, and monarchs. The Bone Witch had a lot of potential, but didn't completely live up to it in my opinion. The switching between the present and the past could have been smoother, for example, because both gave me some very good insights to what might be going on.