The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

By Marlow Tracy

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco, about a young girl named Tea who finds out that she is a special type of witch that can raise the dead, looked like an interesting book to read from the start. Judging the book by its cover and the inside flap, it seemed like a fun, detailed fantasy novel full of witches and character/world development, so I checked it out and began to read. Warning: prepare to be disappointed.

The book started out confusing, and I found it hard to keep track of the events that were occurring as well as all of the characters and different cultural elements, but I kept reading because most books tend to start out with a lot of information that is later clarified. The very beginning held a common fantasy trope: a vague prologue written in all italics that didn’t really give away any information. I read through it but skipped over most of the boring description. As I continued reading into the chapter, I noticed that the writing style was quite juvenile - most of the paragraphs took the form of bare description without being woven into the dialogue or plot, and the author often inferred that the reader knew certain things about the main character without stating them outright. At some point I just stopped reading the part in italics and simply skimmed over it, and so far it doesn't seem like I've missed any crucial plot points. 

One time where I was confused during the book was when Tea was presented a trial to become a more advanced witch, and simply refused to do the task. (Spoiler alert:) she later passed the trial, and her mentor said that the trial holders do a ritual cleaning of the space beforehand so that dark witches cannot pass the test. Tea says that she could have used another rune to help her pass that would have involved compelling one of the proctors to help, but they would not have liked it, and then says that she understands how she passed by refusing. I was so confused-- why did she pass without using the rune and just refusing to do the test, and why didn’t the author state it? The author included many scenes like this that just didn't make sense.

Another confusing element of the book was the culture and world building - it seemed to be a mix of like ten different cultures on earth, along with a few fantasy elements, and did not seem very thought out or explained. On top of trying to piece together a barely explained plot, I had to keep track of a bunch of made-up words that had no relation to the story and didn't add anything to the plot.

Overall, The Bone Witch is not worth it. If you want a fantasy book, pick up something else. This one will leave you more confused than when you started, and it is a complete waste of time. Do not read unless you like keeping track of obscure plot elements and are prepared to skim over large parts of the book. The only reason I haven’t completely abandoned it is because I am subconsciously invested in the plot and somehow want to know what happens even though it is incredibly predictable and probably won't end by giving away any information or twists. 2/10 do not read.