Book Review Monday- The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon| It'sCarenzaB

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In March I read the first book in The Bone Season septology (don't know if that's a word, but it's a seven book series). I had seen so many people rave about this series and when I found a used hardcover for £2 including postage on Amazon, I had to buy it. So I read it and I now have mixed feelings on it. Like all my reviews, I will be discussing spoilers, so if you have not read The Bone Season, you will not be able to read this review.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon- Contains Spoilers

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

I definitely went into this book with a lot of expectations and I have to say, this book didn't live up to expectation. I think that I am part of a minority who wasn't a huge fan of the book. I am continuing with this series as I am halfway through the second book and have seen a few spoilers for book three. I can see why people love this book, but it isn't for me. Once I have finished book three, I am going to be deciding if I will continue with this series. 

Cover Chat

I have to say that it was the covers that grabbed my attention. I have owned the paperback of The Bone Season for almost a year, but have never got round to reading it. The covers are really striking and the naked hardcover has the matching design underneath.

Plot

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant - and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine into the world of fiction. It also introduces Samantha Shannon, an extraordinary young writer with huge ambition and a teeming imagination, who has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

Opinions

Like I said in my non-spoiler section, I was disappointed with this book. I think it was because I went in with lots of expectations, which is something I never do. I had heard lots of good things about it, so I was expecting it to be epic and for me, it wasn't.

My main problem with this book was that it was filled with info dumps. As The Bone Season is a dystopian, you tend to get lots of information about why society is that way. I felt that around 70% of this book was information and I wasn't enjoying it. I felt that I learnt more about the society than our main character Paige.

I'm going to say something that may offend fans of the series and that is I don't like either of the main characters. I found them both quite irritating. I also wasn't a fan of the whole master-slave relationship. I really don't like it when authors romanticize slavery. Slavery is not a romantic subject. It is a horrible thing that happened to so many people, it's not a subject for romance.

I will say that I loved the character of Jaxon. Despite the fact that he is supposed to a bad influence, I loved the way Shannon had written his character. I could see the bourgeoisie influence on him. I liked how he was written to be a bad character and he fits that role so well.

I also liked the setting of London in 2059. 2059 isn't that far away, so I could see some of the things Shannon had written, happening in London. When I next go to London, I am going to try and track down some of the locations used in this book.

So that concludes my review of The Bone Season. Let me know if you had any similar thoughts to me.

Love,

Carenza x