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A review by thefussyreader
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
4.0
The Fussy Reader
TLDR
Characters - 3.5/5
Plot - 3.5/5
Setting - 3.5/5
Writing - 4/5
Final Impression - 3.5/5
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Set on an island empire where earthquakes can sink entire islands, I found it such a fascinating setting. The writing was generally excellent. Pretty immersive and detailed. I was never bored or lacking something to visualise.
Jovis is life! His chapters were an absolute joy. I would read an entire book that was all Jovis and Mephi. I found Jovis the most compelling, but then that crazy plot twist happened. I didn't see that coming and it was so well executed.
Full Review
3.5*
Characters
5 POV characters. Lin, Jovis, Sand, Phalue and Ranami.
Jovis was undoubtedly my favourite and I loved him. I liked Lin but also found her a little bland in the beginning, though she definitely improved. I was invested in Lin's story perhaps a little more than her character. Again, Sand's story was interesting but like Lin, I didn't know enough about her to care for her personally. Ranami I cared little for, but Phalue I didn't care at all. I think Ranami had a lot more about her and I did enjoy her, she just wasn't my favourite. Phalue was really Meh for me, which is fine cause she probably had the least amount of page time with only three chapters, so I'm not bothered.
Jovis is life! His chapters were an absolute joy. I would read an entire book that was all Jovis and Mephi. I love a good antihero. Jovis is doing heroic things, but he's doing it for money, at least he tells himself it's all for the money.
Lin had a habit of reminding us 'I was Lin. I was the emperor's daughter.' Yeah, okay Lin. We get it. At times her POV felt a little YA unlike Jovis, whose story was very adult, and at times quite dark. The harsher realities of the empire are shown through Jovis's eyes and they were some of my favourite moments.
I half-read, half-listened to this one-- half-read because one of the narrators is Emily Woo Zeller and, no offence to the woman, but I really can't get on with her narration style. Her female voices are high-pitched, her male voices are comically low, and during the general narrative narration, she constantly sounds like she's muttering through gritted teeth. It's either too theatrical or too quiet. The other two narrators were fine, especially Feodor Chin, he was great and really brought Jovis to life. Man brought the fire!
Plot
Lin is the emperor's daughter, trying to regain her memories so she can learn how to wield bone shard magic and eventually take his place as emperor.
Jovis is a smuggler searching for his missing wife and then inadvertently starts smuggling children out the city so they don't have to give up their bone shards. Of the two main plotlines, I found Jovis's the more compelling. In the beginning, I felt Lin's plotline was starting to stagnate, but then that crazy plot twist happened and I was instantly paying attention. I didn't see that coming and it was so well executed.
The ending felt a little rushed. There seemed to be a bit of a time jump at the very end, but I don't know how long.
Setting
Set on an island empire where earthquakes can sink entire islands, I found it such a fascinating setting. Constructs, creatures made from various animal parts, work under the emperor's command and protect the empire. He uses bone shard magic to control them and these shards are collected from everyone within the empire when they're children. The downfall of this is that when someone's shard is in use, they get sick, their life draining away.
The bone shard magic is really interesting and explained in great detail. Even so, I still don't really know how it all works, but it's interesting enough for me to not really care whether I totally understand all the technicalities.
I definitely felt a sense of macabre horror every time I tried to picture a construct. Such a feeling of the unnatural.
Writing Style
Lin and Jovis's POVs are written in first-person while Phalue, Ranami and Sand's POVs are in third-person. I don't understand why and the regular shift between first and third kept throwing me a little. I feel like to write a book this way, there needs to be a special reason, but I couldn't figure out why it was written this way at all.
Besides that, I thought the writing was generally excellent. Pretty immersive and detailed. I was never bored or lacking something to visualise.
Final Impression
I liked this. It was a good, strong first book, and though I may not be invested in every POV, the ones I do care about I'm totally here for. I'll be reading the sequel for sure cause I want more Jovis and Mephi.
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TLDR
Characters - 3.5/5
Plot - 3.5/5
Setting - 3.5/5
Writing - 4/5
Final Impression - 3.5/5
-
Set on an island empire where earthquakes can sink entire islands, I found it such a fascinating setting. The writing was generally excellent. Pretty immersive and detailed. I was never bored or lacking something to visualise.
Jovis is life! His chapters were an absolute joy. I would read an entire book that was all Jovis and Mephi. I found Jovis the most compelling, but then that crazy plot twist happened. I didn't see that coming and it was so well executed.
Full Review
3.5*
Characters
5 POV characters. Lin, Jovis, Sand, Phalue and Ranami.
Jovis was undoubtedly my favourite and I loved him. I liked Lin but also found her a little bland in the beginning, though she definitely improved. I was invested in Lin's story perhaps a little more than her character. Again, Sand's story was interesting but like Lin, I didn't know enough about her to care for her personally. Ranami I cared little for, but Phalue I didn't care at all. I think Ranami had a lot more about her and I did enjoy her, she just wasn't my favourite. Phalue was really Meh for me, which is fine cause she probably had the least amount of page time with only three chapters, so I'm not bothered.
Jovis is life! His chapters were an absolute joy. I would read an entire book that was all Jovis and Mephi. I love a good antihero. Jovis is doing heroic things, but he's doing it for money, at least he tells himself it's all for the money.
Lin had a habit of reminding us 'I was Lin. I was the emperor's daughter.' Yeah, okay Lin. We get it. At times her POV felt a little YA unlike Jovis, whose story was very adult, and at times quite dark. The harsher realities of the empire are shown through Jovis's eyes and they were some of my favourite moments.
I half-read, half-listened to this one-- half-read because one of the narrators is Emily Woo Zeller and, no offence to the woman, but I really can't get on with her narration style. Her female voices are high-pitched, her male voices are comically low, and during the general narrative narration, she constantly sounds like she's muttering through gritted teeth. It's either too theatrical or too quiet. The other two narrators were fine, especially Feodor Chin, he was great and really brought Jovis to life. Man brought the fire!
Plot
Lin is the emperor's daughter, trying to regain her memories so she can learn how to wield bone shard magic and eventually take his place as emperor.
Jovis is a smuggler searching for his missing wife and then inadvertently starts smuggling children out the city so they don't have to give up their bone shards. Of the two main plotlines, I found Jovis's the more compelling. In the beginning, I felt Lin's plotline was starting to stagnate, but then that crazy plot twist happened and I was instantly paying attention. I didn't see that coming and it was so well executed.
The ending felt a little rushed. There seemed to be a bit of a time jump at the very end, but I don't know how long.
Setting
Set on an island empire where earthquakes can sink entire islands, I found it such a fascinating setting. Constructs, creatures made from various animal parts, work under the emperor's command and protect the empire. He uses bone shard magic to control them and these shards are collected from everyone within the empire when they're children. The downfall of this is that when someone's shard is in use, they get sick, their life draining away.
The bone shard magic is really interesting and explained in great detail. Even so, I still don't really know how it all works, but it's interesting enough for me to not really care whether I totally understand all the technicalities.
I definitely felt a sense of macabre horror every time I tried to picture a construct. Such a feeling of the unnatural.
Writing Style
Lin and Jovis's POVs are written in first-person while Phalue, Ranami and Sand's POVs are in third-person. I don't understand why and the regular shift between first and third kept throwing me a little. I feel like to write a book this way, there needs to be a special reason, but I couldn't figure out why it was written this way at all.
Besides that, I thought the writing was generally excellent. Pretty immersive and detailed. I was never bored or lacking something to visualise.
Final Impression
I liked this. It was a good, strong first book, and though I may not be invested in every POV, the ones I do care about I'm totally here for. I'll be reading the sequel for sure cause I want more Jovis and Mephi.