Book Review: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Read: March 5-7  Verdict: 4.5 stars

I received a free digital copy from the author/publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

When Tea’s beloved brother Fox dies, killed by a demon like creature called a daeva, she discovers she’s a bone witch when she literally raises him from the dead. Now Tea has to learn how to be a proper asha (witch) and learn about her new skills which involve singing, dancing, runes and even necromancy.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It’s really unique and I don’t think I have read anything much like it before. I really love that Tea was so young when we meet her and start following her journey. She’s only thirteen so as a reader, we really get to see her develop into a scared young girl into a confident young woman. Saying that, she is still only 15 when the book ends so there’s still a long way to go which is exciting.

I loved the world and the world building. There was a lot of kingdoms, eight to be exact, and we do learn gradually about most of them and the rulers, as well as the Faceless - rebels who can use dark magic, much like the magic Tea has, to do terrible things. I found the world itself to be very multi-cultrured in how its described and the different people and where they all come from.

I thought the back and forth between each chapter was very interesting as we are seeing Tea starting out and then an older Tea who has done something wrong, been cast out but is obviously still extremely strong. So even though we see her struggle, we know she gets there in the to become one of the best asha’s ever.

I loved her relationship between her brother Fox. i had a total crush on him - I loved that he was able to take part in some of her lessons and the link they had. There was a lovely closeness between them that was also a nice teasing relationship the way you’d expect a brother to be with his little sister.

Tea’s constant references to her ‘dead love; got a bit annoying in the future parts of the book. While I understood her fury, I felt like we as readers didn’t need the constant reminder and learning more about Tea she would be doing what she was doing for more than just revenge. I also wasn’t surprised at the little twist when it came to that love - I was actually expecting it.

I can’t wait for the next book in this series, as it left off at a point where a lot of stuff was about to go down and i can’t wait to read all about it. This definitely has a lot of potential for a strong, unique YA fantasy series with a cast of great characters. Definitely worth a read!