It’s been a long time coming.
With the wait for The Song Rising – the 3rd book in this series – being so long, I knew I needed to reread this book and the second one. Admittedly, I should have started my rereads sooner, since I still need to read the 2nd book and the 3rd book is now released. But still. Here we are at last.
Let’s dive into The Bone Season!
Title: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Series Status: The 1st book in the Bone Season series
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopia
Number of Pages: 560 (this edition includes a novella)
(Found on Goodreads)
For the past two hundred years the Scion government has led an oppressive campaign against unnaturalness in London.
Clairvoyance in all its forms has been decreed a criminal offence, and those who practise it viciously punished. Forced underground, a clairvoyant underworld has developed, combating persecution and evading capture.
Paige Mahoney, a powerful dreamwalker operating in the Seven Dials district of London, leads a double life, using her unnaturalness illegally while hiding her gift from her father, who works for the Scion regime…
*This is a reread for me*
This has been one of my favourite books for years, but in the wait for the third book, I had forgotten much of what happened in the first two. Hence, a reread was in order.
But I’ve always, ALWAYS said the same thing about this book. While I absolutely love it, I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. Why? Well, let’s see…
Everybody admits that this book is a complicated one. In some reviews, that’s the downfall. And yes, it IS a lot to take in. Not only does this world have a system we’ve never heard of, there’s the fantasy elements of clairvoyance. Within that clairvoyance, there’s different orders, or categories people are sorted into. There’s new phrases we’ve never heard of, and just as you start getting the hang of it, there’s slang brought in. Yes, it can be confusing.
But honestly? To me, the complicated detail of it all is why I love it so much. I’ve always loved books that are complicated, but not too hard to follow. The ones where little details are bought in, and I can’t help but appreciate the author’s cleverness. So while many can’t wrap their head around the world and it’s ways, I dive right in and embrace it all.
I mean, take the slang for instance. Some might deem it an unnecessary inconvenience. Something to confuse you more. However I see it as adding even more detail to this world. You can tell where someone is from in this world, because you recognise the slang. You can tell who they’re around, because they picked it up from them.
If I’m not selling it to you, worry not. You’re not just thrown into this world unprepared. There’s a map. A diagram of the orders. A glossary. A whole host of materials you can use to help you along, if need be. Me? I love looking through these things, but I don’t use them while reading. I just go with it, not worrying too much about what each new word means or trying to wrap my head around the orders. The story still works without a detailed understanding, I can assure you. It’s written in a way where you still know what’s happening, and so bit by bit you wrap your head around it all.
While this book follows a few tropes here and there – like “the goverment hates people who are born with powers and plans to punish them all” – it’s one of the most unique stories I’ve ever read.
There’s a dystopian London. There’s Clairvoyance. Underground gangs. A spiritual world. Weird humanoid alien/angel creatures (ok, what actually are they?). It takes troped and twists them into something new, so much so that I didn’t even realise there were tropes until long after finishing. I can’t get over how much there is to this world.
Even the characters. They’re all so developed, they all have completely different personalities. They all have faults, making them realistic and whole. And they all stand out on their own – I can’t even explain it.
I just wholeheartedly love this series and all its cleverness. In case you hadn’t guessed already.
Rated 5/5 stars!
Amazon
Share your thoughts!
Have you read this book? What did you think?
If you haven’t read it, is it on your TBR?
Let me know in the comments!
Until next time…
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Snapchat: frolic_fiction
A frolic through fiction 
Glad you enjoyed your re-read Ashleigh! It’s always satisfying to read a book for the second time and find you still love it as much as the first read. Have you managed to pick up The Song Rising yet? 🙂
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Thank you! It really is 🙂 And not yet – I still need to reread The Mime Order which I should be starting soon so it might be another week or so yet before I start it!
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Ah cool, well there’s no hurry of course! Rereading TMO first is definitely a good idea, as it means you’ll be refreshed on the entire story arc so far for going into TSR 🙂 Hope you enjoy once you get to it!
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Thank you! 🙂
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One of my favourite books of 2015 or might have even been 2014?! but I think think about it. I ordered the Mime Order (it came signed…fan girl!!!!) but still haven’t read it, like you I want to reread the bone season, hop into the mime order and read the song rising so I don’t loose track of anything 🙂 great review, I will never get over how great this book is!
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Thank you! I’m glad you love it as much as I do! You’re in for a treat with The Mime Order 😀
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So excited!!! Think I’m gunna ease myself into with reading a light contemporary first and then jump straight in with both 1 and 2 🙈🙈 so excited!!!
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I actually planned on re-reading The Bone Season and The Mime Order before reading The Song Rising, but then I got my copy and just couldn’t resist jumping straight in. Sometime soon I’m going to go back and re-read all three just to get the full experience of the whole series that we have so far.
I’m glad to hear this is a series you love as well Ashleigh, and actually I thought your reasons for not recommending this book were actually really interesting to read about. It is a complicated world and a lot to take in as well for a first book. However I do tend to recommend this series to everyone just because I love it so much I want everyone else to read it!
Great review, I hope you enjoy The Mime Order and later The Song Rising just as much! 😀
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I’m surprised I’ve had the restraint not to dive straight into TMO 😆 Did you enjoy TSR?
I did used to recommend it to EVERYONE, but I’ve had plenty of cases where people say they can’t get through it because of how overwhelming the world can be, so now I do feel the need to warn people about it first! Almost like with the Game of Thrones books – I wouldn’t recommend them to everyone just because of how long and detailed they are, even though they’re favourites of mine 🙂
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You’ve got more restraint from me. The second TSR arrived I was already flicking through it. Yes, I absolutely loved it!
That’s a good point actually, I have a few favourite books I recommend to people that I feel I need to warn them about beforehand, guess I should think about doing the same with this series in a way as well.
Ohh I don’t think I could recommend the GoT books to people, most people I know who read aren’t a fan of long-winded books like they can be! 🙂
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You described my feelings for this book perfectly! The world building is complicated but that’s what I loved about it in the end. When I first read it I remember being so eager to just dive in that I didn’t look at the glossary or anything but figuring it out over time was something I ended up enjoying. I recently reread both TBS and TMO before I read TSR and now I wish I had time for another reread. I can never get enough of this series. Great review!! 😊
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Thank you! I’m glad to hear you agree, it’s so good being able to understand a world this complicated. It’s all about the details! ❤
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Fantastic review!! I’ve been wanting to read this literally forever now, and I finally picked the book up at the store the other day! So hopefully I can get to it soon. I’ve heard so many awesome things about it, I just know I’ll love it too! 💕
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Ahhh I really hope you do!! 😀
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