REVIEW: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

When I first started The Bone Season, we had a rocky relationship. Until I was about twenty pages in, I absolutely loathed it. There was a huge info dump and I found it so confusing to keep up with all the terms and I wasn’t sure how I’d manage to read through it all. Thankfully, things picked up and I then loved it.

The Bone Season is set in alternate version of Earth, where the government, Scion, monitor the population for those people with extraordinary powers: clairvoyants. A member of one of London’s clairvoyant circles, Paige Mahoney spends her life trying to act normal to her father, whilst hiding from Scion. Just by breathing, she is committing high treason. Just by breathing, Scion has an excuse to kill her.

Once the plot starts running, The Bone Season will be constantly glued to your hand. Its charms are irresistible! The overall plot is intricately planned and flows really well. There were so many twists and turns, I think I got whiplash. You couldn’t say that this was predictable in any way because I was constantly sat on the edge of my seat.

I liked Paige, but I didn’t love her. She got better as the book went on but at the start I felt like I didn’t know her well enough. I did, however, admire her determination and will because she certainly didn’t give up.

Warden. What can I say about Warden that will make him sound as amazing as he actually is? He was so intense and passionate. I really liked seeing him develop as the novel went on and as we got to know him better.  I need the second book now just so I can read more about him!

I did like the secondary characters and am looking forward to seeing them develop further in the coming novels. There was more of a focus on Nick and Jaxon and the other members of the clairvoyant group rather than the people in Oxford. I’d like to see more characterisation given to the Oxford dwellers in the second novel because I don’t feel as attached to them as I probably should at the moment.

I loved the writing style of The Bone Season. It really allows the reader to see into Paige’s mind and see how she’s feeling. This definitely wouldn’t have had the same effect were it written in third person.

I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series and it’s certainly not a novel I’m going to forget in a hurry. A highly recommended book by a debut author I can’t wait to see more from.