Book Review – The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
The Sukai Dynasty has ruled the Phoenix Empire for over a century, their mastery of bone shard magic powering the monstrous constructs that maintain law and order. But now the emperor’s rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.
Lin is the Emperor’s daughter, but a mysterious illness has stolen her childhood memories and her status as heir to the empire. Trapped in a palace of locked doors and old secrets, Lin vows to reclaim her birthright by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.
But the mysteries behind such power are dark and deep, and wielding her family’s magic carries a great cost. When the revolution reaches the gates of the palace itself, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her throne – and save her people.
My rating:
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I heard the premise for this and was instantly swept away!! It sounded so amazing. And luckily, it completely lived up to it. I did find it interesting, if a little hard to get into, but once you get past the set up, it really spins up fast.
Plus the ending is all TWISTY and full of cliffhangers and I need book 2 right now omg.
I took a while to connect with Lin, but I loved her guts and sneaking around. I also really enjoyed her relationship with Bayan and the blacksmith. Her story is definitely central, despite Jovis having more page time. And the reveals are all around her. I am most excited to see what she does next, and am looking forward to seeing how she deals with one of the reveals that we know and she doesn’t!!
Jovis is probably my fave character (I lie, it’s Mephi!!) but it took me a long while to see the point of him. Before the stories started stitching together though, I did love that his perspective showed us so much more of the empire, as well as showing us a first hand account of the island sinking and the bone shard ceremonies. But his arc really revolves around the entirely wonderful Mephi, and I am completely HERE for that 😀
We then have three smaller main characters – Sand, Phalue and Ranami. Phalue and Ranami are a really interesting addition, as they end up interacting and playing into Jovis’s storyline, and again it takes a while to see what they add. But their arc around the shardless as well as the commentary on class within the society is fantastic, and that’s before you take into account that they’re together. They make a fascinating couple and I’d love to read about how they got together some day! They are super cute, and we also get to see their love tested in some serious ways, which I liked.
Sand is our final main character, and its clear early on that she’s very separate from the rest – I suspect that will change in book two though, and I’m very excited to see that! She’s harder to get to know for spoilery reasons, but I think will really come into her own more and more.
This story really is a slow burn to full on addiction. The magic set up is something I’d not seen, and completely loved. The world is fascinating and I think we will see much more of it which is great. And the storytelling is incredibly sweeping, making you read much further than you should into the night 😉
I definitely recommend this, 4.5 stars.
Buy The Bone Shard Daughter from Waterstones.
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