Tea finds out she’s a Bone Witch when she accidentally raises her older brother from his grave at his funeral. Because Bone Witches are often feared and hated, she is sent across the kingdom to train with other asha and learn how to control her power.
*I just want to give everyone a fair warning that this review might get a little ranty.*
I started this book in early February and I did not finish it until March 15th. That is a very very long time for me.
Let me start by explaining that I read this book while also reading two buddy reads simultaneously. This was my go to book for when I needed a break from my other reads. I really enjoyed it during this time! The story is quite slow in the beginning but since I was only reading it in short sessions I didn’t mind it and I felt like I really got to savor all the world building and imagery (of which there is a lot of).
Then I had my readathon from the 14th to the 15th of March and I decided to finish this book since I was halfway through. And what a slog those last 200 pages were!!
I actually went back and re-read the cover blurb to make sure I was reading the book I thought it was. It promises action and political unrest with a kingdom in turmoil and honestly? I don’t know where any of that was. There was some action yes, but not enough that I felt that I got what I was promised.
I don’t know how anyone read this book cover to cover in a timely manner because it’s so boring. I got to the last 50 pages of this book and realized nothing happened and the characters hadn’t really changed all that much.
In this story, Tea (who’s name I realized I was mispronouncing until I got a phonetic spelling halfway through) spends most of her time at the asha-ka where she trains to be an asha. The side story where a bard is visiting Tea in her exile in the future is by far the most interesting part of the book but it’s very short and kind of jarring because Tea is a completely different person in these parts.
Rin Chupeco writes gorgeous descriptions, but I gotta say, there are way too many of them in this book. I heard it said really well on Goodreads that a reader could tell you what everyone in a scene was wearing down to the finest detail, but would have trouble telling you anything about them as characters.
This might be the most disappointing book I’ve read this year with maybe one exception. I really wanted to love this book the way I loved Chupeco’s Girl From the Well. That being said, I have hope that all the set up in this book will make for a decent sequel so I do plan on purchasing and reading The Heart Forger, but it’s not a high priority for me at the moment.
A Professional Bookdragon 
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