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Emma Cathryne

https://www.goodreads.com/emma_cathryne

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Emma is Currently Reading

Emma Cathryne is currently reading

The Happiness Collector

by Crystal King (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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19 hours, 23 min ago

Emma Cathryne is currently reading

The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1)

by Samantha Shannon (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: dystopia, good-romance, ya, favorite, adult, should-be-ya, currently-reading

Reading for the 3rd time

read in December 2020

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Emma Cathryne said: " I've read this book at LEAST 3-4 times since it came out, and still somehow have never properly reviewed it.

Originally, this was a 4 star read for me. Yes, it has some rough edges. Yes, it contains some ~classic~ dystopia tropes. But, as evidenced b I've read this book at LEAST 3-4 times since it came out, and still somehow have never properly reviewed it.

Originally, this was a 4 star read for me. Yes, it has some rough edges. Yes, it contains some ~classic~ dystopia tropes. But, as evidenced by my MANY re-reads, it is also rabidly and compulsively readable. This fact alone is what I think bumped it from 4 to 5 Stars for me--no matter how many times I read it, the action is high, the twists are thrilling, and the plot and characters pack an emotional punch.

This novel follows Paige, a nineteen-year old woman living in a steampunk, futuristic London, working for an underground crime syndicate of "voyants", individuals who can see, interact with, and occasionally channel the mysterious aether of the afterlife. Voyants are brutally oppressed in this society, and Paige learns an even darker side of their situation when she captured and taken to a penal colony of voyants in Oxford controlled by a mysterious race known as the Rephaim.

The world-building is truly growing up to something spectacular. While we spent only a small minority of the book in Scion-controlled London, Shannon unfolds a brilliantly dark and convoluted world. I loved learning about the different voyants, their classifications, and their powers. This is a unique, creative book, taking old dystopia tropes and steampunk influence and combining them into something fast-paced and fresh. While we only touch the edge of what is clearly a massive, sprawling world, the amount of clever foreshadowing and well-placed Chekov's guns indicate a bombastic future payoff. This felt like a book within a book, a story that is only a small piece of a grander tale. I actually enjoyed that we spent most of the time inside the penal colony of Oxford: it allowed me as a reader to adjust to the rules of this society and magic system while also experiencing a controlled introduction to some of the major characters.

Paige isn't my favorite protagonist, but she grew on me as the novel progressed and she became slowly more relatable. Warden was perfectly brooding and witty and mysterious, though I anticipate greater depth from him in the future. My favorite were the glimpses we got into Paige's old gang the Seven Seals; particularly their earnest doctor slash oracle Nick and their morally grey, dandyish leader Jaxon Hall. I am excited for this group to play more of a role in future books!

Shannon has clearly started something marvelously ambitious with this novel. I've been following this series since The Bone Season first came out, but I don't think I've ever read it all the way through. As I re-read through the first three books in preparation for The Mask Falling, I look forward to picking up on more and more of Shannon's clever details and immersing myself more fully in this world. ...more "

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"10th anniversary edition baby…..I am ready to get hurt again" — Aug 23, 2023 04:17PM

Dec 21, 2020 02:15PM · see review