This is a spoiler free review.
The Bone Witch
Written by Rin Chupeco
Written by Rin Chupeco
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: March 7, 2017
Pages: 432
Source: Audiobook from Library
Source: Audiobook from Library
Places to Get this Book: Amazon Barnes and Noble Book Depository
Recommended Age: 13 and up!
Summary:
In the captivating start to a new, darkly lyrical fantasy series for readers of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir, Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price...
Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there's anything I've learned from him in the years since, it's that the dead hide truths as well as the living.
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.
(Summary from Goodreads)
Review:
The Bone Witch by Rin Cupeco is a book that I originally got an eArc for but ended up not finishing it because I couldn't understand what was going on. Then when I read a review of the audiobook, I decided to give it a go. I ended up loving the audiobook as well as the book itself which I am very happy about as the series was a highly anticipated one.
In the captivating start to a new, darkly lyrical fantasy series for readers of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir, Tea can raise the dead, but resurrection comes at a price...
Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there's anything I've learned from him in the years since, it's that the dead hide truths as well as the living.
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.
(Summary from Goodreads)
Review:
The Bone Witch by Rin Cupeco is a book that I originally got an eArc for but ended up not finishing it because I couldn't understand what was going on. Then when I read a review of the audiobook, I decided to give it a go. I ended up loving the audiobook as well as the book itself which I am very happy about as the series was a highly anticipated one.
COVER
The cover is really pretty and I think it fits the book well. I also really like the purple and the other dark colors that are used which contribute well to the darker atmosphere of the book.
The cover is really pretty and I think it fits the book well. I also really like the purple and the other dark colors that are used which contribute well to the darker atmosphere of the book.
WORLD-BUILDING
The world of The Bone Witch is very complicated. The Bone Witch is set in a world that is protected by asha who are beautiful, talented, fighters with magical powers. They control elements such as fire, earth, water and wind. Our main character is a bone witch which are dark asha or asha that tamper with death. Their powers are the most important job in this world but they are not very respected. Bone witches help defeat Daeva (demons that come back to life every so many years) who were created by The False Prince using death magic. Bone witches are the only asha who can defeat them until the next time that they resurrect. The fact that Daeva are created with death magic means that bone witches also get a negative connotation.
Another huge part of this world is that everyone wears heartglasses around their necks. These heartglasses are essentially a piece of you and they have to be protected. An interesting thing about heartglasses is that if you fall in love with someone then you can give your heartglass to them. However, you have to be careful because if that person ends up being unworthy, they can use it to hold a large amount of power over you. Your heartglass will change colors depending on what and how you're feeling, but will overall stay mostly the same color.
Green = Sickly
Yellow = Fear
Red = Healthy and Happy
Pink = Romantic
And so on...
The color silver indicates that you can draw runes which means that you are an asha if you're a girl and a soldier if you're a boy. Silver heartglasses are very important to the world and are sought after. Dark asha/bone witches can read other's heartglasses which come in handy during the book.
Then there are the characters (however for this book, I'm only going to talk about the main one).
TEA
Tea is a bone witch which means that she has the rare power to raise things from the dead. Tea doesn't start the book knowing that she could be an asha as her parents and sisters all have "normal" magical powers/elements and Tea doesn't have any. However, she discovers she's a bone witch after accidentally resurrecting her newly dead brother at his funeral. Tea is a very strong character and we can see that as she goes through her asha training. Even though she often doubts that she is able to become a full asha, she took all the training and challenges with pride and showed her abilities. Tea changed a lot over the course of the book both due to the manifestation/control of her abilities as well as the fact that she got older over the course of the book. Tea is written as very capable and independent even though she is still young and fairly inexperienced with the world of the asha.
The world of The Bone Witch is very complicated. The Bone Witch is set in a world that is protected by asha who are beautiful, talented, fighters with magical powers. They control elements such as fire, earth, water and wind. Our main character is a bone witch which are dark asha or asha that tamper with death. Their powers are the most important job in this world but they are not very respected. Bone witches help defeat Daeva (demons that come back to life every so many years) who were created by The False Prince using death magic. Bone witches are the only asha who can defeat them until the next time that they resurrect. The fact that Daeva are created with death magic means that bone witches also get a negative connotation.
Another huge part of this world is that everyone wears heartglasses around their necks. These heartglasses are essentially a piece of you and they have to be protected. An interesting thing about heartglasses is that if you fall in love with someone then you can give your heartglass to them. However, you have to be careful because if that person ends up being unworthy, they can use it to hold a large amount of power over you. Your heartglass will change colors depending on what and how you're feeling, but will overall stay mostly the same color.
Green = Sickly
Yellow = Fear
Red = Healthy and Happy
Pink = Romantic
And so on...
The color silver indicates that you can draw runes which means that you are an asha if you're a girl and a soldier if you're a boy. Silver heartglasses are very important to the world and are sought after. Dark asha/bone witches can read other's heartglasses which come in handy during the book.
Then there are the characters (however for this book, I'm only going to talk about the main one).
TEA
Tea is a bone witch which means that she has the rare power to raise things from the dead. Tea doesn't start the book knowing that she could be an asha as her parents and sisters all have "normal" magical powers/elements and Tea doesn't have any. However, she discovers she's a bone witch after accidentally resurrecting her newly dead brother at his funeral. Tea is a very strong character and we can see that as she goes through her asha training. Even though she often doubts that she is able to become a full asha, she took all the training and challenges with pride and showed her abilities. Tea changed a lot over the course of the book both due to the manifestation/control of her abilities as well as the fact that she got older over the course of the book. Tea is written as very capable and independent even though she is still young and fairly inexperienced with the world of the asha.
FRIENDSHIP/FAMILY
Tea leaves her family in order to train with another bone witch named Mykaela who acts as both a teacher and a mother figure to Tea. Tea is taken to train with her when she resurrects her brother and Mykaela completely takes her under her wing. Mykaela teaches her about ashas and bone witches as well as their duties, while putting Tea on the path to becoming very powerful. Tea does take her resurrected brother with her and they are very close, both due to sharing a very special bond and being family. I really enjoyed their relationship and I look forward to seeing how their bond grows and how it affects both of them.
Tea leaves her family in order to train with another bone witch named Mykaela who acts as both a teacher and a mother figure to Tea. Tea is taken to train with her when she resurrects her brother and Mykaela completely takes her under her wing. Mykaela teaches her about ashas and bone witches as well as their duties, while putting Tea on the path to becoming very powerful. Tea does take her resurrected brother with her and they are very close, both due to sharing a very special bond and being family. I really enjoyed their relationship and I look forward to seeing how their bond grows and how it affects both of them.
PLOT
The Bone Witch is about Tea who discovers she's a bone witch when she accidentally resurrects her newly dead brother at his funeral. Luckily for her another bone witch is in town and she takes Tea under her wing and promises her family that she'll train her. The plot is slow and showcases Tea learning to be a successful asha/bone witch. It is also told by Tea in the future which is really interesting as we get to see a little bit of what she becomes.
The Bone Witch is about Tea who discovers she's a bone witch when she accidentally resurrects her newly dead brother at his funeral. Luckily for her another bone witch is in town and she takes Tea under her wing and promises her family that she'll train her. The plot is slow and showcases Tea learning to be a successful asha/bone witch. It is also told by Tea in the future which is really interesting as we get to see a little bit of what she becomes.
ROMANCE
The romance aspect is barely there in this book. Tea is pretty young at the start of this book and while she develops a crush during her time training which spans over a couple of years, it doesn't develop. The author seems to be setting up a love triangle, which will be interesting for the sequel.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS
The audiobook is read by two different people: Emily Woo Zeller and Will Damron. I thought both of them did an amazing job at the narration and it really made me enjoy this audiobook a lot more than I ever thought I would. Emily Woo Zeller effectively did different voices for each character which I loved a lot and Will Damron did the voice of Tea's future apprentice. I am looking forward to listening to the rest of this series with these narrators.
The romance aspect is barely there in this book. Tea is pretty young at the start of this book and while she develops a crush during her time training which spans over a couple of years, it doesn't develop. The author seems to be setting up a love triangle, which will be interesting for the sequel.
AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS
The audiobook is read by two different people: Emily Woo Zeller and Will Damron. I thought both of them did an amazing job at the narration and it really made me enjoy this audiobook a lot more than I ever thought I would. Emily Woo Zeller effectively did different voices for each character which I loved a lot and Will Damron did the voice of Tea's future apprentice. I am looking forward to listening to the rest of this series with these narrators.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The audiobook for The Bone Witch is something I didn't expect to enjoy so much. I really enjoyed both the narration and the storyline and characters. While the storyline is a little slow, the narration really helps you move through it at a quicker pace then if you are trying to read it on your own. I recommend trying the audiobook, especially if you have yet to pick this book up.
Quotes from the Book:
“Then perhaps we should carve a world one day where the strength lies in who you are, rather than in what they expect you to be.”
“Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves how bitterness tastes.”
The audiobook for The Bone Witch is something I didn't expect to enjoy so much. I really enjoyed both the narration and the storyline and characters. While the storyline is a little slow, the narration really helps you move through it at a quicker pace then if you are trying to read it on your own. I recommend trying the audiobook, especially if you have yet to pick this book up.
Quotes from the Book:
“Then perhaps we should carve a world one day where the strength lies in who you are, rather than in what they expect you to be.”
“Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves how bitterness tastes.”
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Crowns
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