Raising the Dead

A review of The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco.

Witches inspired by Geisha and their male counterparts who're similar to ninjas - they even dress in all black! Not to mention richly detailed tea houses and vibrant parties. This is one of those books that so beautifully descriptive it feels as if the words themselves have texture - the very descriptions demand to be seen, to be visualized in your mind's eye.

I was hooked within the first couple of pages, drawn in by both the beautiful writing style and the uniquely crafted world. Until all it became was description...of everything but the characters.

The protagonist, Tea Pahlavi, is a young bone witch, which means that she can control the dead. After her brother's death, she accidently brings him back to life as her familiar, and is sought out by another bone witch for training. This bone witch, named Lady Mykaela, takes Tea to the city to train to become a fully-fledged asha (witch).

This is where the book lost me...the years that she's training drag on and on, and nothing much really happens. Except for endless descriptions of the clothing that the asha wear. Honestly, after finishing this book, I feel like I know more about the clothes than I do the characters. Tea was pretty bland as far as a main character goes, and she didn't really stand out to me.

Another issue that I had with the book was the world-building - it was jerky and confusing. There were a lot of events mentioned so off-handedly it made me feel like I was reading a sequel without reading the first book. What's more, the world is very rich and diverse, with 8 different kingdoms. However, they're mentioned so casually I had trouble with the differences between them, and the map in the front of the book is super confusing as well, so that didn't help much with figuring out the world in which the story was taking place. I started out reading this book thinking it was going to be a 5 star read, but then just gradually lost interest with the book as it drug on and on.

All of that being said, though, the last 100 pages were INTENSE! The concept was unique, and I loved the concept of Geisha-esque witches. I'm excited to read the sequel, and hopefully figure out that plot twist at the end because it blew my mind!

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco - 3.5 out of 5 stars