[ 396 ]

[katara]

Title: The Bone Shard Daughter

Series: The Drowning Empire #1

Author: Andrea Stewart

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, LGBTQ+, Adult, Magic Realism, Young Adult, Science Fiction, High Fantasy, Sapphic, Adult, Young Adult, Queer, Book Tok

Date Started: February 2nd, 2023

Date Finished: February 3rd, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 4/5

Sypnosis: The emperor's reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire's many islands.

Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people.

Review: This book was never on my TBR nor had I ever heard anything about it until I started going through Book Tok. Now I was hesitant about reading this book because a lot of the Book Tok books have been complete disappointments to me. This book was different.

Written from different perspectives, this book encapsulates you into this world-building and lush world of magic. Each character pulls you in with their story and keeps you hooked until the very last page. The characters are unique on their own and each one has a story to tell. These character points of view are perfectly layered and do not overlap with each other making sure each character is their own and each perspective offers a view of a different life.

You have Lin, the daughter of the Emperor and the heir to the Empire. A young girl who's missing pieces of her past and must find a way to gain them back.

Then there is Jovis, a young smuggler with a heart of gold. He saves a young Alon and Mephi, a sea creature that becomes Jovis' companion. This little creature should have his own book. He is the cutest little thing and what has made the book the best.

Phalue is the daughter of a governor and her girlfriend/rebel activist called Ranami. These two are cute. I love how Phalue does anything for Ranami even going against the rules to help.

Our last character is a woman on the island of Sand.

The biggest interest in this story is the constructs. Each one is built from dead animal parts and given bone shards that make them come alive. That really threw me for a loop because I was not expecting that KIND of magic. For me, that was both creepy and interesting especially after learning they have thought and souls. I am not sure what to really think of them. It's just weird.

This story is worth the read but it may not be everyone. There are triggers within the pages from human trafficking to body horror to death. This can turn off a lot of readers so please make sure to check the triggers that will cause this book to be a turn-off for you.