The Bone Witch (Bone Witch, #1)

by Rin Chupeco

[paperbackjedi]

The Bone Witch, to me, was a perfectly executed book. I've seen arguments that the pacing is slow and I agree, but I also think it was done purposefully that way to allow for breathing room. This is a book that breathes well. You almost don't realize or notice all the tensions that are building and threads slowly fraying until you approach the conflicts and only then do you realize that your muscles have been locked for some time now, waiting for the powder keg to burst.

Tea will probably annoy some readers because she's not inherently likable. She's a bit rough around the edges. She feels young and naive at some moments, and stubborn and superior in others. This works well within the dual time periods this book covers (Tea before shit goes down and Tea after shit goes down, armed with a plan to fix it). The narrative shuffles from the present to the future, making up the ground between what was and what now is in a way that I found compelling and captivating. I couldn't wait to figure out how we got to where we are, though at times, I will admit it was frustrating. The other characters aren't given as much detail, but I enjoyed them. They do have their own subplots and arcs, but are not as completely rendered. I can tell that they were crafted lovingly, though, and with care-- just not quite as thoroughly. The romance didn't go where I thought it would go and instead forged a more realistic path when it comes to youth and love and idealization. I appreciated the depiction, but I'll caution readers who are super into romance that they won't find a meaty bone in this book. It does set up romance nicely for the following books in the series though, so you might want to stick around for the payoff in the end.

The magic system is different than anything I've read before, but explained in enough detail that it feels grounded with cost and consequence for everyone. You are constantly aware of the shifting scales and no decisions seem too easy or neat. The world-building itself is stunning in its detail. Everything is described from the landscape to the attire and those details all matter and mean something (in both smaller and larger ways). It lends well to re-reads, I feel, as you pick up on things more and more as plot points come into and out of focus and you realize the seeds have been planted since early on with room for both realization and surprise.

All in all, I personally found this book to be a master class in YA fantasy fiction and it's been cemented as one of my all time favorite YA books/series. I will be keeping an eye on Rin Chupeco and her work in the future.