The Bone Shard Daughter

The emperor controls his land and people through bone shard magic. Each person in the empire is forced to give up a bone shard from their skull. But not all who undergo the brutal chipping survive. And even if they do, their shard may be chosen to give life to one of the emperor’s constructs. Lin and Bayan are rivals for the throne, and each has been learning to use bone shard magic, vying for the emperor’s keys which unlock more secrets and knowledge in the palace. But Bayan is steadily making progress, whereas Lin is held back. All she wants is to earn her father’s praise, but the emperor seems to favor Bayan over Lin. Determined not to fall behind, Lin steals keys to make copies. But as she delves deeper into the secrets of the palace, she will uncover unspeakable horrors the Emperor has kept hidden for years.

The evolution of Lin and Bayan’s rivalry was intense. They are nearly at each other’s throats constantly, yet there is a spark of chemistry between them. Lin’s greatest challenge is the loss of her memories, and because of this, she is held back from studying construct magic. But Lin will not let the emperor’s disregard hold her back. And while Lin is ambitious, she does not fully understand the consequences her actions will have. In her drive to outpace Bayan, she will put those outside of the palace in danger.

While Lin and Bayan’s story gives background information on bone shard magic and the degrading state of the emperor, Jovis opens readers' eyes to the common people. Hired to smuggle children away before their bone shards are taken, Jovis sees the everyday horrors. And after one job goes awry he finds himself with an animal companion named Melphie. Melphie is absolutely adorable and gives Jovis’ storyline a humorous balance. Jovis has no idea what kind of animal Melphie is, but their companionship grows throughout the storyline as they become further involved in the revolution of the empire.

And then there is the pairing of Phalue and Ranami. Phalue is the daughter of a governor, and Ranami is a rebel actively working with the revolution. The two have a complex relationship as they are on opposing sides but in love with each other. While Phalue wants to slowly fix governing from the inside, Ranami wants immediate action. Ranami is similar to Lin in her actions, where she does not see the potential consequences that may occur. Blinded by her need to do better for those she sees suffering, she will drag Phalue into situations they will not be able to come back from.

Then to add another layer of mystery to all the hints, and tidbits dropped throughout all the storylines, is Sand. A woman who one day falls from a tree and realizes she's been brainwashed and taken from her home. She lives on an island with multiple others who have had their past erased.

Each storyline, whether it focuses on the inner workings of the empire, ongoing unrest with the emperor’s rule, or even day to day life, carries dark undertones surrounding the use of bone shard magic and the disregard for humans as living beings. There are many character points of view, but each adds another intricate layer to the plot. And when the atrocities that are occurring are fully realized for the reader, they will be horrified. The Bone Shard Daughter is for those who enjoy characterization and richly developed plot lines.

Is it too early to say andrea stewart is a favorite author? Perhaps. But this book was so good!! Definitely a favorite of the year if not all time. I loved this book. The twists, the turns, mephi! Now to wait 5000 years to read the sequel bc that's what I do.

Unique magic system and fantastic characters
I've meant to read this book for a while now and am so glad I finally picked it up, I immediately wanted to read the second part.
The world building is done nicely, as the MC learn more, so do we but not in a scholarly or boring way. And as the story continues, we see the characters grow and learn - and find out more about the mysteries. My favourite part was the magic system: everyone gives up a piece of bone shard and the connected life delivers energy for whatever monstrosity the emperor designed, so we have magic, suffering and obviously a rebellion. There is also some sort of “familiar”/ spirit animal that has to be further developed in the next book, pretty please?
The plot had me guessing all the time (in a good way) and new elements kept changing my theories. I was definitely surprised by the ending as it felt a little too closed but then another POV opened the door to the next book wide open.
In this case, I read the German translation and it was a smooth read without linguistic hitches (thumbs up to the translator), I'd guess the English original is also a smooth and easily understood style.

(2,5(?)) That was... messy.

Again, this concept would be really interesting, if only it was executed well.

This book exceeded my expectations significantly!

I have never been a big fan of the “archipelago world” concept, but this book executed it flawlessly.
On top of that, we had a super original magic system (actually at least 2 of those) and a very dark atmosphere.
I also loved the characters of this story. We followed a few POVs - all multilayered and very surprising. They had flaws and blind convictions, but those were done skilfully and only emphasised the potential of each POV.

The story itself turned out to be way more complex and twisted than I expected, and while I managed to guess one of the big twists fairly early in the story, I was not prepared for the whole picture!

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to continue with the series!

A slow start the quickly picked up about a quarter through. By the halfway mark I was downing the story as it progressed. And by the final quarter, I was burning through pages to figure out where the story was going 

Definitely recommend this book to anybody looking for a darker, non-romance fantasy story with lots of twists and turns.

Objectively this was well-done but I found myself bored as hell cause it was all very predictable. I will not be reading the rest of the trilogy because I do not have the time to waste.

I’m someone who really loves dual and multi povs but multiple audio narrators… I’m still getting there. It is easier when there’s at least one male narrator to at least change things up at the risk of the female narrators sounding the same. But when you’re listening at double speed just about everyone sounds the same. It’s not the book’s fault that I rated it 3.5 (even though that’s not really a low rating). It took a while to get into the story and the characters. In fact most of the trilogy was me trying to fully understand the story and characters. The action was great, Stewart is good at letting her readers be immersed in the world and action. I found that she’s good at writing physical action and magic – which is great because not many authors can successfully balance the two. The magic system was confusing but also interesting! I didn’t expect myself to understand it by the end of the first book (although I didn’t really understand by the end of the trilogy either) and I’m glad it didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.

There’s five main characters and all of them have their own chapters. It took me awhile to like Lin, the Emperor’s daughter who’s trying to make her father proud of her. I think it was around the mid-mark (of the book) that I liked her a bit more and also further on (into the series). She’s a strong character who figures out what she wants and her place in the world – I liked that. Jovis was probably my favourite main character. He’s got that ‘accidental dad vibe’ to him which showed when he got an animal companion – who was absolutely adorable and basically my other favourite character. I almost immediately liked him and liked getting to his chapters. I had an issue where I’d started reading Lin as as Upper YA (like she’s 18 or a bit younger) and Jovis as nearly 30. So I side-eyed this book for a while until I realised that Lin = adult. I still don’t know her actual age but after that I felt better 😅. For most of this book she did feel younger but at least not actual teenager. Other than that I liked their relationship and was happy to follow it.

The next two characters (Phalue and Ramani) are in the same place so you get a lot of the same plots (but different feelings). It didn’t help that their individual character voices weren’t distinct in my opinion, though their personalities were well-written. I would’ve picked one, not both of them as a point of view – but I couldn’t tell you which one I would’ve chosen. My least liked POV is Sand, an outsider, and not much is really revealed about her at the start. She was an interesting character but I don’t think I ever really liked her.

Pemerintahan Kaisar telah berjalan selama beberapa dekade. Pengusaannya terhadap sihir bone shard untuk menghidupkan construct (yang dibuat dari bagian tubuh binatang yang telah mati) untuk menegakkan hukum & ketertiban. Namun kini pemerintahannya mulai goyah dan revolusi muncul di penjuru pulau-pulau kekaisaran.
Lin adalah anak perempuan kaisar, namun kaisar menolak untuk menunjuknya menjadi penerus tahta kekaisaran. Jadi Lin bersumpah untuk membuktikan dirinya dengan mempelajari sihir bone shard.
Construct dibuat dari bagian-bagian binatang mati berbeda spesies untuk kemudian dihidupkan kembali menggunakan sihir bone shard, yang masing-masing construct memiliki perintah tersendiri, tergantung pada perannya nanti, ada construct birokrasi, perdagangan, perang dan mata-mata. Setiap anak di kekaisaran ketika mencapai umur 8 tahun wajib mengikuti tithing festival, yaitu memberi persembahan berupa cuilan tulang (bone shard) dari telinga kanan untuk digunakan kaisar untuk menghidupkan construct. Penggunaan sihir ini dapat mengisap kehidupan pemilik bone shard, hingga kehilangan nyawa.
Selain Lin ada 4 POV lain, Jorvis, Phalue, Ranami dan Sand. Namun porsi terbanyak tentulah Lin. Ketika miss Stewart mengungkap fakta yang merupakan plot twist yang sangat tidak terduga, reaksiku adalah “apa-apaan??”. Keunggulan kisah fantasi miss Stewart menurutku, tanpa kata umpatan, tanpa adegan berdarah-darah, maupun kekerasan lainnya.
Secara keseluruhan buatku ini adalah novel debut yang sangat bagus. Aku merekomendasikan ini pada penggemar fantasi.

I thought this was going to be one of those slow political-y fantasy books, but no! This was an engaging read from the start with compelling characters and plot twists. And then there's Mephi in a tier of his own.

Very fun and enjoyable read! Easy to pick up, easy to get invested. I really liked both Lin and Jovis (the rest was good but also iffy at times). The idea with the constructs and the shards I thought was very cool. Was unfortunately also pretty invested in poor Bayan but alas. It made me want to read the sequel but apparently that one isn't as great so we'll see.

4.25

3.5 Stars. I enjoyed it enough to put the sequel on my TBR, but I might wait to commit until the final book is released before I continue on. This was a pretty quick read, pretty entertaining, with some enjoyably creepy (if sometimes hard to imagine) magic and creatures, but my main gripe was just that all I really cared about was Lin's plot, and therefore the other chapters often felt like chores I had to accomplish before getting back to the actual story. Also, unfortunately, I accidentally predicted the end twist that Lin and Bayan were constructs about 200 pages before it was actually “revealed”, so said “reveal” wasn't as exciting as it would have been in theory.

Like I said, still putting the sequel on my list, but will more be a thing to pick up if I don't have inspiration to read anything else instead of a book I'm chomping at the bit to read immediately.

This book is about an empire of islands led by an Emperor who uses bone magic to create constructs that help him govern and control everything. While it was given some detail, I still couldn't help imagining a bunch of skeletons running around

I have mixed feelings about this one, but on the whole, I enjoyed it. There are several character viewpoints that take their turns. There's Lin, the daughter of the emperor. There's Jovis, a smuggler. There's Phalue, the adult daughter of an island governor and her lover Ranami. And then there's the mysterious Sand. Of them all, I found Lin and Jovis's stories the most interesting. Didn't care much about Phalue and Ranami. And Sand doesn't make many appearances. The more the magic is explained, the more you find it repugnant – which was interesting! There are a few mysteries within the story, and a few surprises. But when all is said and done, it's obvious it's the first book in a series. I think the most telling thing for me, is how long it took me to finish it. Don't know if I'll get to book two.

My second Bone Shard necromancer in a year ([b:Gideon the Ninth 42036538 Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1) Tamsyn Muir https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546870952l/42036538.SY75.jpg 60943229] is darker and more enveloping) it does a fine job in its genre. The characters are well defined and I appreciate that they are not all what they seem initially. I enjoyed the book but hope that in the next installments some greater complexity comes into play

I was not expecting this book. It???s had a lot of hype in the past few months so it has been on my radar and I jumped at the chance to request an arc, but I had forgotten the blurb by the time it came to read my copy. I got to try and figure out the world and magic as it unfolded in the book and it made the experience all the better.

I appreciated how different all our point of view characters were in status; personality and political views. I found myself quickly attached to two characters but by the end of the book I was enjoying all of them equally. I can???t wait to know more about their plotlines.

The plot was fairly busy, with five points of view to balance and a lot of action throughout the book. It kept me glued to the pages. I struggled to keep the points of view separate initially, especially the names, but I had a clear idea by the end of the book. There was a surprise towards the end of the book that has me eagerly awaiting the sequel.

The magic and worldbuilding in this first book was something different. The magic uses bones to draw power from and can power constructs. I???d like to see more of the world built up in the sequel but I???m looking forward to picking it as it releases.

Woooooooowwwww. This book was incredible. I haven't read a really really good book in a bit, but this book shattered that streak.

This book follows multiple POVs. In this world, the emperor uses shards of children's scalps that they are required to “donate” to create constructs. He etches commands onto these bone shards and inserts them into bodies of different animals that are assembled together. We follow multiple people living in this harrowing world as they try to fight corruption.

I knew from the get go I would enjoy this book. Within the first few chapters, I was already invested in the characters, and as I learned all of their stories I became even more engrossed. The characters are all very different, but very relatable in different ways. The whole story was unpredictable and exciting. There was violence, romance, journeys, and heartbreak. I can't believe this is a debut novel. It is so well written and realized. I know this review is a little vague but I don't want to spoil a single thing! This is what fantasy is all about. Everyone interested in fantasy should definitely read this book!

TW: blood, child death, death of a loved one, drowning, experimentation (human/animal), murder, parental abuse, violence

this was an interesting world with an intriguing magic (?) system. the twist was predictable but still fun, and i really liked mephi's relationship with jovis. they were probs my fav lol. i didn't quite care about the characters though (especially ranami, ugh), but i blame that on reading in ebook form lol. i ended up getting a physical copy of this book from the library and found that made it easier to read.

I loved this book and cannot wait to for the next one. This was a wild ride with high stakes...in fact this felt like a thriller for me in some ways since I was having physiological responses because it felt like something bad could happen any minute. I loved the depth and complexity of the characters and the plot was 5 stars for me. Also, animal companions - yes please. However, the flow of the book took me aback sometimes and this is why it's not five stars in my opinion.

What a surprise! I'd heard good things about this book but wasn't expecting to enjoy it just as much as I did.

We follow Lin, the emperor's daughter, unraveling the truth of her lost memories. This empire is one of islands, and the emperor creates constructs (think Frankenstein's monster but with more animal parts) powered by bone shards collected from citizens. While it took a while for me to get into the swing of things with her storyline, I immediately loved Jovis, a smuggler searching for his lost wife, and Mephi, his.... cat-otter-frog thing companion, and would be perfectly happy to read a whole book of their (mis?)adventures. Other POV characters include Phalue, a governor's daughter, and Sand, a woman on an island with no recollection of how she got there. I was less interested in these plot lines but they took up less time and certainly have implications going forward.

Overall, very impressed at this debut and will be looking forward to the next instalment!

The only frustrating thing was not to find enough tile recently to read this book and dive in it.
The universe is quite unique with an incredible magic, but more than anything the author succeed to create this ambiance of magic and mystery. You want to unlock the secrets of this book as much as Lin want to unlock the doors of the palace.
Highly recommend.

A rich, carefully developed, slow burn of a build up to what I'm hoping is a sequel filled with answers. Get ready to be filled with a whole lotta questions at the end, but in a good way. This is a complex world and deserves the deep dive. It feels like the plot and subplot might meander a bit, but it comes together well in the end.

hi the magic system in this? slaps (a bit gross, but slaps). reminded me of isaac asimov's three laws but even better and more nuanced in a clever way that weaves through the plotline. will need clarification on the ending because either miss andrea stewart is galaxy brain or i'm peanut brain

I absolutely loved this book! It's compelling, dark, intriguing. Such an immersive read. The magic is very unique. The characters are fantastic. I love Jovis and Mephi. This is one of my new faves. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy. I'm just sad I have to wait for the next one.