Sunday, October 27, 2013

The Bone Season- Review by Paige Espinosa





     Paige Mahoney is a gutsy 19 year old criminal with a high-ranking position in a wanted gang. Her rare ability to leave her body and enter the minds- or dreamscapes- of others around her makes her a valuable ally- and a dangerous enemy. In 2059 London, the governrment is now called Scion and it is searching for all people, like Paige, who have these special abilities. These clairvoyants are hunted and, when caught, are presumably tortured and put to death or given an option to join a law enforcement division dedicated to hunting other clairvoyants; however, option number two means being under the thumb of Scion, turning in your own, and being given thirty years to live before being "put down" like a sick animal. 

     When Paige is captured, all she knows about Scion is suddenly tested when she finds herself in a city that was wiped off the map 200 years ago after a devastating fire. Scion's secrets are unearthed with her discovery of an ancient race, the Rephaim, who value clairvoyants for their fight against the flesh-eating Emim. Paige's only options are obey the Rephaim and join their army against the Emim- leading to an almost certain death in the jaws of a fearsome creature- or to fight back and most likely be killed by her captors. Find out what happens by reading The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon!

     I enjoyed The Bone Season and gave it three and a half stars. The story was exceptionally original however the brief appearance of a love triangle took away from the quality of the story for me. The continuance of hinting at this love triangle after a shocking revelation that should have ended it also grew old and boring by the end of the book. Paige Mahoney was a likable character, similar to Katniss Everdeen (from The Hunger Games trilogy). Both are strong female roles, coming from livelihoods made on the black market to situations where you have to fight to survive and your sanity is pushed to its limits. Other characters, however, such as Warden, Paige's master, weren't quite as likable. Warden felt a little too cliche, almost like another Edward Cullen- dark, mysterious, immortal stalker. (from the Twilight series) Personally, I felt that most of the characters weren't developed fully throughout the story and at the end of the book I honestly didn't feel like I really knew much about most of them. Hopefully in sequels to come, Samantha Shannon will continue to develop these characters as they have the potential to be extremely intriguing- if not likable- characters.  

4 comments:

TheBookNurse said...

Good to see your review-- I had been wondering about this one, the first in a planned series of 7, I think. I like how you compared characters to some that are very well-known. So, would you recommend this book to others and are you going to read the next one?

Anonymous said...

I've seen this book around the shelves and racks, and I've heard good things about it! I don't think I've read a book that focuses on people who can do such crazy things with their minds, and I'd like to try it out. A book series of seven though...it'll have to be a really great series for me to read ALL seven though! Nice review, Paige!

Anonymous said...

Thesis a good review I like how you draw people in to read more and want to read the book.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely loved this book! The author had to have taken a lot of time trying to put all the groups together. I loved the character developments and I loved how original this book was. The author pretty much made a whole new world.