The Bone Orchard

Abandonei no capítulo 8. O conceito é único e achei que tinha potencial de ser muito interessante, mas combinado com o plot/conflito do livro acabei não gostando. Sinceramente eu não faço idéia do que tava acontecendo maior parte do tempo e a escrita da autora não é nada de especial... Vi pessoas que tiveram esse mesmo problema então resolvi abandonar e partir para outra coisa. Tem muito livro pra ser lido!

This book had its moments...and its failures. In the beginning, I was expecting it to play out into a 1 or 2 star story, at its worst a dnf. But thankfully it evolved into something more enjoyable, and only got stronger until the end. But since first impressions are so vital, I'd settle on a 3 star at the highest. Still a good book, but not perfect (and thus I'll leave my thoughts at ~undecided~ because while I liked the read, I won't say I'll read it again, and I'm something of a chronic re-reader).

I was so confused by this book the entire way through. I didn't know what was going on all the time until the last couple of chapters, at which point I couldn't place any of the characters into context that would make the ending scenes meaningful. I think I missed most of the book in that way. The writing was okay and the story premise, once I got it, was actually quite interesting. My interest and opinion of the book changed so much throughout reading it that I cannot really give it any more of a rating then average and vaguely enjoyable. 

I think the best way I can describe The Bone Orchard is smooth.
The main characters are endearing if perhaps a little flat (aside from Charm and her ghosts which are understandably so a little one dimensional at times). The universe is just detailed enough to make it seems natural. Nothing about it comes across as jarring in any way, smooth. I think it just came a little short for me because the characters don't actually do much in the way of taking action and they do a lot of talking but otherwise it was a pretty fun read.

The Bone Orchard is an ambitious and inventive novel about the lengths someone will go for self-preservation amidst extreme trauma. 

While the main plot concerns a poisoned emperor and the subsequent whodunit - the real stars here are Shame, Justice, Desire, Pride, and Pain. These five “boneghosts” are richly drawn and complex characters who answer to Charm, our central protagonist. Their relationship to Charm is fascinating and evolves in unexpected ways throughout the course of the novel. And, once I could keep all of the characters straight, I really enjoyed the world Sara A. Mueller conjured up – even if sometimes it felt like the narrative could have been tighter. Bonus points for an outstanding cover!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.

This is a weird book. But I devoured Harrow the Ninth, so I'm prepared for weird books that don't really make sense until the final third.

The cover art and title drew me in, the synopsis snagged me, and the immediate concepts it introduced really got me. 

I'm a huge fan of anything even remotely necromancy related, and splitting ones self into multiple individual beings that inhabit lab-grown bodies to avoid (religious) trauma during an invasion of an objectively evil empire was right up my alley. I really liked the concepts of the characters, and keeping track of exactly who was who and what they were like was a little tedious. 

Despite being from the perspective of a sex worker (though much more disparaging words are used), there aren't any on-page sex scenes (thank goodness), only brief mentions of their activities — the few good and, unfortunately, the large amount of bad.

I'm not normally a fan of “whodunit” stories, but this kinda kept me guessing. The reveal of the perpetrator was satisfying and the deaths of the awful, awful sons felt like a genuine relief with how awful they are. 

I did like how it wrapped up at the end. I don't want a direct sequel whatsoever, but I wouldn't mind seeing more in this universe. Maybe exploring the magic system? Or a prequel from the perspective of Inshil?

Oh, and a map would be lovely.