Emily May's Reviews > The Bone Season

I really, really wanted to like this book. It sounds stupid but I actually feel slightly guilty at how disappointed I was with it and I think the main reason is because the author is a British student of the same age as me and, as soon as I learned that, I really wanted her to succeed. I really wanted Shannon to be the next J.K.Rowling, as some are calling her. I really wanted her debut to take me out of this world and leave me desperate to get my hands on the next installment. However, I just didn't think The Bone Season was anything special or original. In my opinion, it shows definite potential for Shannon's future as a writer but the story is a regurgitated version of one that has been told countless times.

The Bone Season is a story I feel like I've read before in various other fantasy-lite novels - the one that first came to mind being Shadow and Bone. The author takes this familiar story and, basically, complicates it. She stirs it in a pot with a bunch of new names for old things ("voyants" for those with clairvoyance, amongst other new terms), slang that left my head spinning even though myself and the author are British (I ended up having to consult my Welsh friend), and world-building that sounds unique and complex because of the fancy terms floating around... but really isn't. What this is, for me, is an example of taking light, easily digestible fantasy fiction that is filled with uncomplicated excitement and romance, and turning it into something long-winded and overly descriptive just so you can attempt to call it original.

There are apparently seven books in this series and I'm betting only three or four will really be needed. This first book felt soooo long because it was so fleshed out with lengthy descriptions and seemingly pointless information. Plus, there is so much tell and so little show. Particularly in the beginning it felt almost as if the protagonist (Paige) was reading me a textbook on the world, people's abilities and Floxy (flavoured oxygen). Huge chunks of this novel are dedicated to info-dumping and the execution of these sections feels really awkward, like a movie cutting off in the middle to bring up a page of text that gives you some background information. It wasn't smoothly incorporated into the story.

The plot follows Paige who is a dreamwalker in the year 2059. Paige, and other types of clairvoyants, commit a crime just by existing. When Paige accidentally uses her abilities and kills someone, she is sent to a voyant prison which is controlled by creatures called Rephaim who want to use the voyants abilities for their own gain. She is assigned to a keeper called simply "Warden", a mysterious and dangerous dude who stares at her from the day she arrives (guess what happens, go on, guess). I feel myself once again comparing this to Shadow and Bone and the way Alina's powers are discovered by the Grisha and she is forced into their world and taught to harness her powers. The glowering looks and sexiness of the Darkling are also present here but his name is Warden instead. The Bone Season isn't terrible but I find it very surprising that words like "original" are being thrown around when it feels like this story and these characters are recycled versions straight out of many other paranormal novels.

This book, in my opinion, is simply a glorified, overcomplicated retelling of any other light, fluffy fantasy. But the descriptions, info-dumping and general wordiness do not make this a deeper and more meaningful read, but rather they made the book dull and tiresome for me. As much as I wanted to like it, it was incredibly easy to find distractions and every time it was a struggle to come back to it. The romance goes down a predictable route, as does most of the book. I feel bad for saying it, but this just wasn't for me at all and I doubt I will read the rest of the series.

Notes on the slang
Paraffin is Kerosene (paraffin lamp, paraffin stove, etc.)
Cokum - Google will probably be useless to you on this one. It means cunning/shrewd.