**I received a free ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
Release Date: March 7, 2017
My Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The beast raged; it punctured the air with its spite. But the girl was fiercer.
Tea is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy makes her a bone witch, who are feared and ostracized in the kingdom. For theirs is a powerful, elemental magic that can reach beyond the boundaries of the living—and of the human.
Great power comes at a price, forcing Tea to leave her homeland to train under the guidance of an older, wiser bone witch. There, Tea puts all of her energy into becoming an asha, learning to control her elemental magic and those beasts who will submit by no other force. And Tea must be strong—stronger than she even believes possible. Because war is brewing in the eight kingdoms, war that will threaten the sovereignty of her homeland…and threaten the very survival of those she loves.
okay I am going to try to fully express how I feel about this book...sorry this will probably be such a scattered review because I am so shook by this book tbh....
First off, I am honestly so surprised that this book has such a low average rating. 3.38 stars is pretty much unheard of to me (I usually don't even read anything under 3.80). Please know how inaccurate that average rating is and ignore it. This was such a good book, easily one of my fave books of the year and we're only two and a half months in!
A basic summary of this book is that Tea, the protagonist, is revealed to be a dark asha (essentially a witch), or a bone witch (although this term is considered offensive), when she accidentally raises her brother, Fox, from the dead. Luckily, another dark asha, Lady Mykaela, is in the area, so she takes Tea under her wing and brings her and Fox to the Willows to train to be an asha. However, this book is told in alternating POVS: one is Tea's while she is training, and the other is another person who is with Tea in the future. In this way, we see a Tea who is coming into her powers and a Tea who is now much changed from that of the past.
In The Bone Witch, we get so many diversity aspects that we usually don't get in a fantasy. The world building is exquisite, and each of the eight kingdoms is vastly different. There's the kimono-like huas that the asha wear. The women who wear covers that are reminiscent of hijabs. A caring prince but with him, his cousin who hates Tea for some reason. Many women who mentor Tea through her journey to become an asha. A strong sibling relationship between Fox and Tea. A boy who desperately wants to be an asha despite the fact that only women can be ashas because some of the things they do are considered too "feminine," such as dancing and singing.
Admittedly, this book did drag a bit for the first third, but it does pick up rapidly. And yes, there were some cliches, but I think they were well done? I got so caught in the plot I didn't even notice any of this much though.
Although a little confusing at first, I loved this book so, so much. I'm very excited for book two, especially after that ending! We know the beginning and ending of Tea's story, but we don't know how she gets to where she is in the future, and I'm already planning to reread when this book officially releases.
About the Author: Despite an unsettling resemblance to Japanese revenants, Rin always maintains her sense of hummus. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, she keeps four pets: a dog, two birds, and a husband. Dances like the neighbors are watching.
She is represented by Rebecca Podos of the Helen Rees Agency. She is also fond of speaking in the third person, and may as well finish this short bio in this manner.
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