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A review by vivaldi
The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart
4.5
Aww I love The Bone Shard Emperor!! It's a heartfelt and engaging sequel to the excellent The Bone Shard Daughter that I've read back in 2020. Not only Andrea Stewart defied the notorious sophomore slump, this equally adventure packed and emotionally charged sequel made kept me highly invested in the different perspectives of its intricate East Asian-inspired worldbuilding.
Without giving away too much about what happened in the series (for people who haven't read The Bone Shard Daughter), I think The Bone Shard Emperor is a very solid sequel by its own merits. And it digs further into Lin Sukai's sense of self and her partnerships:
+ Characterisation: I must admit that I enjoyed reading about the side characters more in this book. While I liked the characters back in The Bone Shard Daughter, I felt like the secondary characters are more distinctive voices in the sequel. Personally I'm pleasantly surprised of how much I've enjoyed reading from Jovis' POV this time around!! The way he digs deep to find the hidden secrets of the empire and I also enjoyed his partnership (which is at times intense) with Lin.
But Jovis isn't the only character who has a level up in The Bone Shard Emperor. I also found Phalue, Ranami, and Nisong's perspective intriguing that it paints a more comprehsnsive picture of the worldbuilding. As well as their perception of Lin Sukai.
+ Political intrigue: Thanks to the excellent execution of the third person POV chapters, Stewart not only established a well drawn worldbuilding but also puts some page-turning political intrigue into action. And she accomplished this by exploring the different parts of the empire in great detail!
+ Magical system: While the concept of constructs were introduced in the predecessor, it's in The Bone Shard Emperor where some of the loose ends in the magic system were straightened up. Partially I think it's due to the more plot development in the sequel, the fitting backstories the drive the plot, as well as Lin & Jovis' relationship with their respective pets Thrana and Mephis.
+ Themes: Thematically The Bone Shard Emperor touches my heart through excellent storytelling revolving themes about self-identity, partnership, the notion of power, as well as betrayal. While the story is set in a fictional secondary world, what makes it a worthwhile read is that the emotions that I've felt reading this is very relatable in real life.
And I definitely struggle to name major drawbacks / weaknesses in The Bone Shard Emperor, though here's a disclaimer this book is narrated from many different perspectives and that there are some content warnings to be aware of:
Content warnings: blood mention, death, violence, corpse, natural disasters, and injuries
To sum it up, I'm very impressed. The Bone Shard Emperor is an excellent sequel that captures both my adventurous side as well as my heart. And now I'm very eagerly waiting for its finale which will be coming in 2022:D
(4.5 stars out of 5)
Without giving away too much about what happened in the series (for people who haven't read The Bone Shard Daughter), I think The Bone Shard Emperor is a very solid sequel by its own merits. And it digs further into Lin Sukai's sense of self and her partnerships:
+ Characterisation: I must admit that I enjoyed reading about the side characters more in this book. While I liked the characters back in The Bone Shard Daughter, I felt like the secondary characters are more distinctive voices in the sequel. Personally I'm pleasantly surprised of how much I've enjoyed reading from Jovis' POV this time around!! The way he digs deep to find the hidden secrets of the empire and I also enjoyed his partnership (which is at times intense) with Lin.
But Jovis isn't the only character who has a level up in The Bone Shard Emperor. I also found Phalue, Ranami, and Nisong's perspective intriguing that it paints a more comprehsnsive picture of the worldbuilding. As well as their perception of Lin Sukai.
+ Political intrigue: Thanks to the excellent execution of the third person POV chapters, Stewart not only established a well drawn worldbuilding but also puts some page-turning political intrigue into action. And she accomplished this by exploring the different parts of the empire in great detail!
+ Magical system: While the concept of constructs were introduced in the predecessor, it's in The Bone Shard Emperor where some of the loose ends in the magic system were straightened up. Partially I think it's due to the more plot development in the sequel, the fitting backstories the drive the plot, as well as Lin & Jovis' relationship with their respective pets Thrana and Mephis.
+ Themes: Thematically The Bone Shard Emperor touches my heart through excellent storytelling revolving themes about self-identity, partnership, the notion of power, as well as betrayal. While the story is set in a fictional secondary world, what makes it a worthwhile read is that the emotions that I've felt reading this is very relatable in real life.
And I definitely struggle to name major drawbacks / weaknesses in The Bone Shard Emperor, though here's a disclaimer this book is narrated from many different perspectives and that there are some content warnings to be aware of:
Content warnings: blood mention, death, violence, corpse, natural disasters, and injuries
To sum it up, I'm very impressed. The Bone Shard Emperor is an excellent sequel that captures both my adventurous side as well as my heart. And now I'm very eagerly waiting for its finale which will be coming in 2022:D
(4.5 stars out of 5)