I'd give it a 3, but not a strong 3. I listened to the audiobook. The premise sounded like something I would like, but I just didn't care for the world and magic system. The descriptions of food and clothing was repetitious and boring. There wasn't that much action either. I would have rated it lower, but there were spots where I had hope it was hitting its stride and getting better. I don't know if I'll bother with the other two books or not. ( )

"Then perhaps we should carve a world one day where the strength lies in who you are rather than in what they expect you to be"

This was a slow read but not in a bad way, I just needed time to digest all the lovely details the author wrote about. As you probably read somewhere, this books is Geisha meets Witches and necromancy. Honestly, I saw the words "Bone" and "Witch" together and knew I had to add this to my to-read list. I liked it even more when it became obvious that Tea, the main character will eventually turn into an antihero. Now, what I mean by "eventually" is that the book is written in two parts. First, is the present, in the POV of a bard, where a vengeful Tea narrates her story, which is the second part. This book is YA so there are the usual tropes, aside from the "I did not know I have powers" there's the love triangle trope, but what I like is that it's not forced, they don't magically just fall in love in an instant and the story revolves around Tea's coming of age and power, not really in her relationships. If you like coming of age, supernatural YA and detailed writing , then I suggest this for you.

( )

"Would you sacrifice your shaxiat to retain your ehteram?"

That sentence above - the confusion, the odd words - the sheer amount of words that could replace the unknown ones (heart vs your head, heart vs your pride, leg vs your hand....anything!)- is exactly what I felt like was wrong with this book

There is a definite way a fantasy book can completely lose any interest from me and that's to include too many things - I can work with a whole new world and new creatures but then don't make me learn a new language. I can even deal with creatures I know but work with a new world and races and lands and even language. But to throw ALL of that into one book was just too much. It slogged down the plot and made its movement feel nonexistent. It also didn't do anything of those things well - the world felt over described but completely confusing. 90% of the words felt completely undefined and I was left wondering what whole sentences meant but the book had no problem reminding me again and again that she was a bone witch and exiled..... The removing of jewels with a simple "now die" was just odd and never did feel natural. The memory removal, magic, mind sharing and losing your own heart (but also having a heartforger but he can't make any and all hearts), the creatures with odd words, the simple fact that witches aren't called witches (that's insulting) and they are called all sorts of things to define what kind of witch they are - that was just all the tip of the ice burg and I still only kind of get some of it. For all the description, the love story felt completely undefined and a rush to put romance in the story.

all in all, this book just was not for me. I'm glad I gave it a try but I probably should have left this as a DNF and called it good. 1 extra star for the pretty cover. I wish I'd loved the inside as much. ( )

The story line is interesting, it's just a little slow. ( )

Really wanted to like this book more than I did. The technique of switching back and forth between preset and past is jarring, especially since the present Tea is much different than past Tea. Pronounced Tayuh, by the way, which we aren’t told until halfway through the book. At first I thought the “asha” were powerful magic users, and I guess they are, except they spend most of their time entertaining men at parties. We are treated to lengthy descriptions of clothing and hair adornments. I will probably read the second book out of curiosity about what happens to change Tea, but I’m not rushing out to buy it ( )