Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Saisons d'os

I started this series by reading The Pale Dreamer, and because I'm not a big fantasy reader, I found it to be the ideal length and scope for my taste. I enjoyed the establishment of a futuristic London called Scion London or SciLo, where there existed the Seven Seals. In The Pale Dreamer the reader gets to know the SciLo world and all its inhabitants, especially the main protagonist, teenager Paige Mahoney. The story was a lot of fun, with dynamic and intriguing relationships developing between the main and peripheral characters. Now let's jump ahead to my thoughts on The Bone Season.

This story really thrusts the reader into a new world, or at least that's the way it felt for me since I read The Pale Dreamer (The Bone Season #0.5) first. So, I already understand that young Paige is a clairvoyant and her skills are considered illegal in Scion London where she lives. She has, however, found herself belonging to a gang of clairvoyants who track dangerous people and entities, like murderous poltergeists. In The Bone Season, Paige is kidnapped from SciLo and transported to an alternate world known as Netherworld. She's sentenced to a penal colony run by a population of exiled clairvoyants called the Rephaim. Their objective is to train the kidnapped clairvoyants to defend the inhabitants of SciLo from a vicious enemy called the Emim.

While I like the fiery attitude and frequent acts of compassion shown by Paige throughout this storyline, I also found myself annoyed by and disliking her character more often than naught. And somehow, everyone ends up deferring to her and she's shown favoritism by her Rephaim keeper, Arcturus, who I think fell in love with Paige. But they're so different in being that I couldn't really understand the pairing and it fell flat for me. Regardless, I'd say Arcturus ended up being my favorite and the most interesting character in this book.

This book is over 500 pages and the author provided a lot of supplemental information that ended up being very helpful, such as maps, a listing of the different order of clairvoyance, who belongs to the Seven Seals, and glossary to reference the many different words and phrases used throughout the story. If you pay attention to the details in the story, I think it will be a fun read for most who enjoy fantasy because the author does a great job creating a unique world, though I am anxious to get back to the more compelling world of SciLo.

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pagesandplanets's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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electraheart05's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow… just wow…
4.5 rounded up to 5
I will write a review tomorrow.

01/08/2023
<Spoiler> involved!!
The first book of 2023 has been read. ‘The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. It’s a dystopian and urban fantasy novel the first in a seven-book series, currently, there are 4 out right now and the 10th anniversary of this book comes out sometime this summer. I loved this book, the magic system and the world-building were so well written. The one critique I will give it is at times it felt like a lot happened and was sometimes confusing. I recommend reading the prequel ‘The Pale Dreamer’ before diving into the main story. It gives context to who the main character is and a little bit of the magic and history of the world. I can't wait to read the next three books.

I love how we do get to see a little bit of enemies to friends to what is hinted at lovers. Warden is such a complex character especially since he is Rephaim, meaning he should be the main enemy but we see him gain the trust of Paige towards the last couple hundred pages of the book. Also, I enjoyed the whole “golden cord” that now connects Paige and Warden together. It reminds me of the red string of fate that is seen in Asian mythology. It’s also reveled that before Paige was even kidnapped that Warden had been watching her and rooting for her.

As a debut novel that was released in 2013 you do see quite a bit of the tropes that became quite popular around that time, especially in books such as ‘The Hunger Games’ and ‘A Court of Thrones and Roses’. I do not see it as a negative in The Bone Season I think it really pushes and deepens the world. It is clear to me this was a debut novel it shows in the writing but I actually loved it.

Can’t wait to read the next 3 books!!

P.S.

David’s character is a mystery to me and I don’t know who he really is and if he will be important later on.

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roisinmarie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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freyleong's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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annamorgan27's review against another edition

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adventurous tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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