I decided to read The Bone Season because I absolutely adored The Priory of the Orange Tree by the same author. There are some major similarities and I decided to read The Bone Season because I absolutely adored The Priory of the Orange Tree by the same author. There are some major similarities and differences between the two books. While I didn't love The Bone Season quite as much as , I enjoyed reading the book and I can't wait to see where the story goes next. I think, as a whole, this series has a lot of potential.
The major difference between this and Priory is that this is Samantha Shannon's debut novel. I can tell a difference in the maturity of the writing itself. Shannon wrote The Bone Season when she was just 19 years old. It's a great book, but you can tell it was her first. Other than the language itself, some of the scenes are unnecessarily melodramatic. Some passages, namely the flashbacks, read like an amateur writing exercise and others like a textbook on Britain's alternate history. None of this was too bad. Honestly, I'm afraid I've made it sound worse than it really is. The info-dumping portions didn't bother me much at all; I only mention it because I'm afraid others need to know what the book is like. While the melodrama gave me a good laugh, I also found it frustrating at times, particularly because I really wanted to love Warden but some of the conversations between him and Paige felt too cliche or unrealistic. My biggest issue, however, was those flashbacks. I felt like they didn't contribute much at all to Paige's character development even though it felt like they were supposed to. Frankly, I found them boring and unnecessary. Actually, that was one of the biggest differences between this and Priory: character development. Priory had amazing characters, but the characters in The Bone Season felt like generic cardboard cutouts at times.
That being said, I really did enjoy reading this book. I've been in a major reading slump and nothing seems to be helping. Read this review with caution, because it's possible I've been harsh because of my poor mood. However, I read this book fairly quickly over the course of a couple of days. It kept my attention and I was dying to know what would happen. I also enjoyed the world-building. Actually, the intricacies of the world (although still not as developed as Priory) are probably what I liked the most about the book. This book had a lot of world-building and plot progression leaving little time for character development in those 450 pages. It seems like there is a lot of potential here and I don't regret reading The Bone Season if that's what it takes to get to it. I think this is a great set-up for the rest of the series and I can't wait to read on.
I'm rating 3.5 stars because of this book's sheer ability to keep me turning the pages. Plus, I enjoyed the world it takes place in. I'm not giving five stars because I thought the writing was amateurish at times and because I didn't feel like there was much character development....more
Thomas Senlin is the headmaster of a school in a small coastal town. For years, he has dreamed of the Tower of Babel and taught his students about itsThomas Senlin is the headmaster of a school in a small coastal town. For years, he has dreamed of the Tower of Babel and taught his students about its many wonders. When the school year comes to a close, he and his new wife Marya travel to the Tower for their honeymoon. The two become separated in the Market before even entering the Tower, and Senlin makes it his mission to climb the Tower and find his wife. Unfortunately, his guidebook seems to be outdated or misleading or both, and the Tower isn’t quite what he was expecting.
Now, on to my review.
If I could use one word to describe this book, what would it be? Shocking. The content itself isn’t necessarily shocking, per se, but Bancroft kept me on my toes because new things were constantly happening. Some of these were plot twists, but others were based in world building as Senlin passes through the different ringdoms of the Tower. He is just as shocked as we are at what he finds there.
As a character, I can appreciate Senlin for his uniqueness. He is not so unique that he seems annoying or unrelatable, but just enough so that he is interesting and three-dimensional. Senlin has a clear character arc throughout the book, and I would love to see how he grows and changes in the rest of the series.
As far as the other characters go, I felt like there was a lack of diversity through most of the book. Of the primary characters Senlin meets, only three of them are women while the other nine are male. A reason for this is explained in the books (although I won’t say what because I don’t want to give away any spoilers) but I would have liked to have seen more representation.
Honestly, this book is a wild ride. It’s a fun read and I won’t go into details since they might take away from the shock factor, which is part of what makes this book so special. I’ve never read anything quite like this before. This also makes it hard to compare to other books, so I’m just going to say that everyone should consider giving it a read. It would particularly appeal to anyone who enjoys steampunk, of course, but I think it would be enjoyable to most people because of its excellent plot, world building, and Senlin’s character development.
Victor Vale is the brightest student at his prestigious university. Eli Cardale is his best friend and roommate. The two are fiAHH THIS WAS SO GOOD!!!
Victor Vale is the brightest student at his prestigious university. Eli Cardale is his best friend and roommate. The two are first and second in their class, although who is first and who is second depends on when you ask. When Eli decides to complete his thesis on EO's, or people with ExtraOrdinary powers, everyone thinks he's crazy for picking such a topic, and is surprised when the professor allows it. But, when Eli begins making progress with his research, Victor can't let Eli get ahead. The next step, Victor tells Eli, is making an EO. When the boys are successful, things change. Victor and Eli aren't the boys they once were, and now, they're pitted against each other.
"Victor Vale was not a ****ing sidekick."
Somehow, I’ve managed to go my entire life without reading anything by Victoria Schwab. I can’t believe I’ve been missing out for so many years. I read this book because I was looking for novels with ace/aro protagonists. While this wasn't really mentioned in the book, Schwab has confirmed on Twitter that Victor is ace and I believe it is mentioned in its sequel, Vengeful. Vicious is a weird mix of supervillains, blackout poetry, elitist academia, and ex-cons. It works beautifully.
I loved the friendship between Victor and Eli in the flashbacks. It was then that Victor seemed the most human. I felt a lot of connection with Victor between his desire to succeed and his selfishness. Sydney was my favorite character, though. She's the kid who gets taken in by Victor when he sees her walking on the side of the road with a bullet wound. She's only twelve, and she has a lot of growing up to do. I loved seeing her character development. I also liked Mitch, Victor's cellmate. With Mitch, Schwab essentially took the gentle giant trope and flipped it on its head. It was perfect. The only character I wasn't happy with was Angie, and that's just because I wish we would have gotten to know more about her.
"When no one understands, that's usually a good sign that you're wrong."
The writing style wasn't over the top, so it wasn't particularly noticeable. However, it wasn't bland, either. That is to say, it was perfect. It reminded me a little of Maggie Stiefvater's writing in The Raven Cycle, if Maggie wrote for adults.
The plot was good, although the style of storytelling was atypical. I didn't mind. It was done well. The first half of the story is told mostly through flashbacks to Victor and Eli's college years, while the second half focuses on the clash between the two during the present.
"There are no good men in this game."
I've been thinking about this book a lot since I finished it. I feel like I haven't quite done it justice, but it's almost indescribable. I loved every single thing about this book, and based on the other reviews it looks like everyone else did, too. You can't go wrong with this one....more
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