owlsreads's reviews
3507 reviews

I'm not really sure to what to say. Marketing made me think this book was going to be heavier in fantasy elements than it was. I still enjoyed the historical setting, however, but was a bit disappointed when my expectations turned out to be wrong.

The first half of the story was paced in a weird way. The first few chapters with Òdòdó's kidnapping were intriguing, but her extremely quick acceptance of her situation was very odd to me. There didn't seem to be any emotion coming from her aside from passivity and that made it difficult for me to connect to her and her story. An event that was supposed to be tense and scary was just... flat.

The second half did pick up in terms of action, though! I found myself more engaged, if only to figure out what Òdòdó was going to do. I still found the writing emotionless, but the twists were interesting and I appreciated that O.O. Sangoyomi wasn't afraid to take chances with plot twists and the direction the story took. I'll definitely keep an eye out on their future works!

It was fun to finally have a happy ending for Winter! I really enjoyed her character development here and how she was focused on healing her relationship with Summer. Getting to know her side of the story was lovely, even more so with Theo beside her every step of the way.

Wasn't a bit fan of the pregnancy bit, though.

I'm too sick to be coherent, but this was great and hit home.

Anther engaging read from KA in this series! The small town vibes weren't as strong here as in the previous book, but I still had a lot of fun reading about Nadia's adventures in MP. I really liked that the mystery this time around was mostly external instead of deeply connected to the characters. The romance was also pretty sweet and spicy and without drama/angst! My one complaint: the final chapters were very choppy and rushed.

Ashley's review on Goodreads sums up my feelings: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4575939907

Very interesting and also very creepy, personally.

VERY confused about some of the things that went on, but still here for it! Kippa continues to be the sweetest and also the best. The final pages caught me very off guard, and I can't wait for the next volume!

A fun and engaging novella! I really enjoyed the world-building here and the characters, especially the relationships between them. The plot could have done with a little bit more development, but then this wouldn't have been a novella lol The ending was pretty satisfying if it still left me wanting more!

First read: 7-10 June 2016
Reread: 10-12 June 2024

What has changed from 2016 to 2024?

I actually found the first half of the book to be so so interesting and engaging and the second half to drag on a little too long. Still very much enjoyed the developing world-building! The romance was okay; I didn't really miss Warden as a character much since so much of the focus was on Paige and her (excellent) journey.

Original review:
 3.5 stars.
 
*
 

 
The Mime Order picked up right where The Bone Season left off, and it was a much smoother read than the first book. The world Shannon created was unique and absolutely fascinating, but this time around she didn’t get too caught up in the world-building and the complexity of this new universe. I think it helped a lot that I read the first book only a short while ago, so I didn’t have to play catch up to try and understand what was going on/remember all the complicated lingo. I could really focus on the characters and the story instead of trying to figure out how this world worked.

The first half of the book was kind of slow, and I found a little hard to get through it. After the halfway mark, though, the pace really sped up, and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. It was like all of the players were finally on the board, and it was exciting to see where they all fell as the story progressed.

We did get to learn more about the mime-lords and mime-queens, and how the gangs were organized. It was really interesting to see how Paige fit into all of it, especially after she came back from Sheol I, as well as learn more about the characters we got so little of in the previous installment.

The character development was also great. A lot of the side-characters that were introduced in The Bone Season were more focused on and had a little bit of their backstories revealed, some of which tied rather nicely with other parts of the plot. Paige also continued to grow as a character and work on her powers, and I liked seeing how what she went through in the first book changed her as a person and affected her actions.

The romance aspect was still a problem for me. I’m glad there wasn’t much focus on it, and instead the author really packed the last half of the book with action. There were so many plot twists and so many fight scenes, I felt like I’d run a marathon after finishing The Mime Order.

I’m really curious to see what the next installment will brings us, considering how things ended. There is much left to explore, and I’m sure Shannon will do a wonderful job of it.  

First read: 11-14 May 2016
Reread: 10 June 2024

Okay! Very glad to have picked up the revised edition since I had a wonderful time reading this. Apparently, very different from my experience in 2016.

I still loved the world-building and how detailed it was. Shannon did a fantastic job at introducing and developing all elements and I didn't find it as heavy this time around--I have years and years more experience with reading about complex worlds like this one :D This meant I was hooked instantly by the story and had a hard time putting the book down!

The time jumps weren't choppy at all this time, though I wasn't a big fan of them? I did appreciate that they gave us more about Paige and her story, but... eh. I wish we could have gotten that information in some other way.

The best thing about the revised text was that it totally changed Warden as a character for me! I liked him so much more in this reread and felt his journey and development throughout the story to be very intriguing and engaging. This leads me to my other big big positive about the new edition:

Shannon removed any and all mentions of slavery as part of the world-building and story. I'm not sure if I would have liked that to be addressed publicly in some way by the author (I don't know if she did clarify it or not), but it was still such a good call. That was my biggest problem with the book, its plot, and the romance and not have to read about a slave slowly coming to trust and like her master was A+. As such, I bump my rating to 4 stars for growth!

2016 Review:
3 stars.
 
*
 

 
The Bone Season was… a lot. It was almost 500 pages of this intense, incredibly complex, and dark story. There was just so much packed into this first installment, so many things to keep track of, that I had to be very careful with my reading to make sure I understood everything that was going on. That made this a rather heavy book for me, mostly because it forced me to really pay attention to everything. That said…

The world-building in this was amazing!!! It was so extensive and, while it was a bit hard to follow at times, it made the story so rich. And, in my opinion, it was done really really well, because there was not a moment in which I thought it was taking away from the plot.

It took me a little while to really get into the story, mostly because of what I said above. But as I learned about this new world and immersed myself in it, I was hooked. The Bone Season did an amazing job at grasping my attention and keeping me invested, even through the most difficult parts.

The jumps in timeline did seem a bit choppy to me, though. Some passages were in the present time, while others went as far back to Paige’s childhood, and there was a bit of how she came to work in the criminal Underworld. They disrupted the flow of the story a little, and a couple of them felt unnecessary.

A little bit about Paige: she was actually a great character most of the time. She had her strengths, which she was not afraid to use if it meant surviving another day, but she also had her weaknesses. One of those weaknesses was that she put her self-worth in the hands of other people. She didn’t think she was anything more than her gift unless someone else loved her. That was something I struggled a bit with, but hopefully that will turn into something she overcomes as her character develops throughout the series.

As for the other characters, Warden was probably the one I had most problems with. It was clear we were supposed to both distrust him and feel sympathetic towards him as the plot progressed, but I just disliked him. He was Paige’s master and he violated her privacy and stripped her of her agency so many times along the way that I honestly just wanted her to leave him to die, basically.

So you can guess that I also had a huge problem with the romance.  This was Paige, as a slave, who fell in love with Warden, her master.  I have no idea what made the author think this was a good idea. And I don’t know why none of her editors stopped her and pointed out why this kind of thing was Not Okay.

Overall, The Bone Season is a book that will take you to a whole new and imaginative world, if you don’t frustrate easily and have the patience to focus on the very extensive world-building. The ending is action packed, and despite the Very Bad romance, it is still an enjoyable read with a lot of potential. I’m curious about where this is going, enough so that I will pick up the next book: both because I want to figure out what happens, but also because I want to see where this train-wreck romance is going.