The Bone Witch is the first book in the eponymous trilogy. It paints a world of necromancy, elemental magic, heartsglass and otherworldly monsters. I found The Bone Witch to be evocative of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time - both book series I immensely enjoyed. The world-building and the magical system are extraordinary and well thought-through. In a world of elemental magic wielders, Tea turns out to be a bone witch when she accidentally resurrects her dead brother during his funeral. Making her way to the Kingdom of Odalia, Tea is thrust into a whole new world. We tag along as Tea undergoes a rather demanding and rigorous training to become a dark asha. During her time, she makes the acquaintance of numerous people, all of whom are charming and add depth to the story. The relationship between Fox and Tea was wholesome. His resurrection turned Fox into Tea’s familiar and, as such, he accompanied her to Odalia. He is the best big brother any little girl can wish for - protective, thoughtful and genuine are only some traits to describe him. Opposing timelines guide the user to the heart of the story. The present is chronicled through the eyes of a bard who seems to be accompanying future Tea. The particulars are left deliberately fuzzy, raising the suspense a notch. Tea's past is revealed in fragments as she reminisces about said events and recounts them to the bard. The bard's narration was rather crude, making me question his qualification. The glimpses into Tea's past, however, were quite poetic. The world-building takes centre stage in the first book of the trilogy. Some might find this verbose, but I enjoyed immersing myself in the world and learning in great detail about the training involved in becoming an asha. A sublime first instalment!

Nach dem vielversprechenden Klappentext und der spannenden Idee einer Bone Witch mit Nekromantie waren meine Erwartungen an das Buch hoch, wurden aber durch den sehr komplexen und zähen Einstieg schnell gedämpft. Die vielen ungeklärten Begriffe und das umfangreiche Worldbuilding machten es mir schwer, in die Geschichte und zu Tea als Protagonistin hineinzufinden. Erst ab der Mitte konnte mich die Handlung mehr fesseln, vor allem durch Teas Entwicklung und ihre Herausforderungen als junge Dark Asha. Besonders positiv überrascht haben mich die queere Repräsentation und der selbstverständliche Umgang mit vielfältigen Lebensweisen, während das Magiesystem zwar spannend, aber teilweise zu langatmig umgesetzt war. Insgesamt blieb das Buch hinter meinen Erwartungen zurück, sodass ich noch unsicher bin, ob ich die Reihe fortsetzen werde.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley and Sourcebook. In exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you! 🙂 I enjoyed 3/4 of this book. I found the idea of using tunes in magic and that there are different levels of magic power. The heartsglass each person wears around their neck was a neat idea. The story moved along fairly quickly until near the end and then it just lost its cohesion a bit. In my opinion. It hints at other events that have happened but they aren’t gone into in the book. Also this will probably be a series.

<blockquote><b><i>“You can be the most powerful witch in the land, but you will always have a weakness, and that will always make you believe you have no power when someone exploits it. There is no greater strength than the ability to understand and accept your own flaws.” </i></b></blockquote>This book was a delightful mix of The Name of The Wind and Memoirs of a Geisha, but instead of telling the story of a famous, powerful hero, it seems we have a villain. We follow Tea, a scorned witch who tells a stranger how she came to be on an isolated beach resurrecting demons - how her magic was discovered as she resurrected her older brother who was killed on the battlefront, her training, and how she was ever scorned and feared by other witches and ordinary people, the mysteries surrounding the dark forces looming on the horizon, the boy she loved... - all while wondering: is she really that evil? And how did the naive, hopeful girl we see beginning her journey, become the sad, vengeful witch we find on that lonely, bone streaked beach? This first book covers the beginning of Tea's journey, while also hitting at darker times to come later on. The writing is engaging and it's very easy to like and relate to the characters, especially our MC. The side characters are also very funny and entertaining and it's nice to see Tea building these connections, even though we know that it won't last as we have intersped chapters of Future! Tea telling her story. The romance is also a tiny spec on the story, but it adds some flavor, especially in lieu of the revelation of the final chapter of the book. I also liked the whole magic system and the idea of heartglasses. There aren't many twists here, but I don't think they were needed as I was engaged in the narrative already. I like where the book left us because it's almost impossible not to want to pick up the sequel right away. Can't wait to check it up soon!