isbn: 978-0316541428 | pages: 448

   publication date: September 08, 2020 | source: e-ARC

   genre: fantasy, lgbtqia+, diverse

   A M A Z O N   |   G O O D R E A D S   |   B O O K S H O P   

B O O K D E P O S I T O R Y   |   B A R N E S A N D N O B L E S   |   I N D I E B O U N D

The Bone Shard Daughter is an epic fantasy story that follows five different characters, each contributing in some way towards the impending downfall of the empire. Out of these five storylines, the two with the most page time are Lin, the daughter of the emperor who's trying to prove her worth and be named his heir, and Jovis, a smuggler in search of his missing wife. One of the strongest components of the story's writing is the incredibly distinct tone that each POV is written in. When following Lin, her ambition to win her father's approval is reflected by her character-focused narrative whereas Jovis has a more plot-driven center. 

With the two main perspectives written in first person and playing such a huge role, I'll admit that the other three didn't appeal as much to me which caused a small bias imbalance. While I still enjoyed reading from Phalue, Ramani, and Sand's POVs, I wasn't as attached to their side of the story at the beginning. Due to this being the first in a trilogy, there's a lot of plot development that is laid down and it does take a while for connections to be made - therefore making everyone's POV make sense in the grand scheme of things.

Andrea Stewart's writing style showcases her ability to seamlessly transition from one perspective to the next. This ultimately makes the story easily accessible, especially in regards to the magic system. For bone shard magic, practitioners (aka the emperor and his heir) carve commands into pieces of bone taken from the empire's population and are put into chimera-like creatures called constructs. 

One of my favorite aspects was learning about the magic with Lin herself. As the magic leans more towards a hard magic system complexity, this perspective-based approach saved me from a lot of info-dumping and instead made the learning process more organic. It also helped me to sympathize with her desire to prove her worth and create a personal connection.

As a huge element of the story is the brewing unrest within the empire and the fracturing of power, I became more and more invested as theories started forming. Within the novel, the five POVs narrow down to three specific plot arcs and each one managed to absolutely capture my attention. I honestly had so much fun reading this novel because it kept me guessing and invested. It is definitely a sort of excitement that I haven't felt in a while towards a fantasy novel. 

For the sake of personal enjoyment, I need to talk about how much I adored Mephi. While his exact species is unknown (I read a review that suggested he was some sort of dragon), I was stunned to see how quickly I became attached to a strange talking creature. He genuinely made me more invested in Jovis's side of the story and helped to flesh out his character as well. As far as creature companions go, he's definitely a favorite. 

Andrea Stewart is the daughter of immigrants, and was raised in a number of places across the United States. Her parents always emphasized science and education, so she spent her childhood immersed in Star Trek and odd-smelling library books.

When her (admittedly ambitious) dreams of becoming a dragon slayer didn't pan out, she instead turned to writing books. She now lives in Sunny California, and in addition to writing, can be found herding cats, looking at birds, and falling down research rabbit holes.

W E B S I T E    |    T W I T T E R

With all that happens in The Bone Shard Daughter, I honestly cannot wait for the sequel. It has managed to completely captivate me with its characters and unique magic system - 10/10 would recommend picking up once it releases on September 8th!