Review : The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Summary (from Goodreads)
 
Title : The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1)
Author : Samantha Shannon
Publication Date : August 20th 2013
Publisher : Bloomsbury
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It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine—a young woman learning to harness her powers in a world where everything has been taken from her. It also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

Personal Thoughts 

The Bone Season is probably one of the most hyped novels of 2013. As you can imagine, I was extremely wary of this book. Even more so, when I found out the series would be 7 books long. 7 books, you all! I barely have the patience for trilogies, so can you imagine what my face looked like when I found out. Finally, when I saw that Danielle at Love at First Page was planning on reading it, I figured I might as well join her for a buddy read. While I wasn't entirely in love with The Bone Season, the book hooked me in enough to make me want to pick up the subsequent books.

Firstly, I've got to hand it to Samantha Shannon for creating a loveable heroine in Paige. I adored this girl from the start. With her strength and resilience, she was the perfect protagonist for a story as dark and twisted as The Bone Season. She was definitely not a one-dimensional character and I enjoyed how the author slowly explored the complexities in Paige's nature. It was beautifully done and I can't wait to see what Samantha Shannon has in store for this smart and level-headed character. Paige was undoubtedly a fabulous character, but I clicked more instantly with Warden. Can you blame me though? He was super mysterious throughout the whole book, but when he slowly peeled off a layer of those veils of intrigue surrounding him. The more I got to know him, the harder I fell for him. The Bone Season also had a repulsive and rage-inducing villain in the form of Nashira, who I obviously loved because I enjoy my fair share of twisty and truly evil villain. I would have liked to learn more about the secondary characters, especially Paige's mime lord, Jaxon because they shared an interesting and intricate relationship. However, with the way things ended in this one, I'm pretty certain that the next book will delve deeper into his character.

What really inundated me though while I was reading The Bone Season was the world building. See, I knew going into the book that there would be huge amounts of info-dumps and that the world would be labyrinthine, but I was still taken aback by how drowned I fell at the beginning. Once I settled into the book, things did get better, but I have to say that by the end, I still wasn't sure that I had a tight grasp of the world. I'm hoping that as the series progresses, I'll feel more comfortable with it. For now though, I am very much befuddled by this world, although I do appreciate the complexities. Even though technically my inability to connect with the world building should have pushed me away from the book, it didn't. In fact, I found myself flipping through the pages because there was something about The Bone Season that was completely addicting. The romance too was a winner for me. It was slow, sweet and deliciously wrought with sexual tension that had my heart palpitating. The romance between Paige and Warden was really well-written, in my opinion.

Despite some rough patches with the world building in The Bone Season, I found myself thoroughly enjoying this novel. I will have to say though that this is a book that people will either love or be bored with. Thankfully, I'm finding myself leaning more on the former side.

Rating 

Cover : 3/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 3/5

**Overall Rating : 3.5/5**