Flash Reviews: Labyrinth Lost, The Bone Witch

Anyone else have this problem? You read some really great stories, don’t have time to write up the reviews, so you add them to the “list of books to review”. But life continues to be busy and before you know it, that list is quite long and you don’t see how you’re ever going to get through it all. This is the dilemma that I recently found myself in. After some thinking, I decided that maybe it was time to enact something that I am going to call Flash Reviews! Basically Flash reviews are going to be a be a segment where I do shorter reviews for multiple books. Today we’re starting off with two Fantasy books: Labyrinth Lost and The Bone Witch

Book 1: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (3.5 stars)

The Bone Witch is a fantasy story that centers on Tea, a girl who discovers that she is a dark Asha (or Bone Witch) with the power of necromancy. She accidentally raises her brother Fox from the dead and what ensues is Tea training as an apprentice for 3 years. The story has 2 simultaneous timelines, one in the future with Tea telling her story to a bard, and the second being the story itself.

What I liked:

The writing in this one is goooooorgeous! Rin Chupeco needs to win all the awards for her beautiful writing. This story is poetry in prose form. The characters are really enjoyable. I loved the way Chupeco writes the siblings, and there are so many strong, kick ass women in this book. The best thing though? They aren’t all strong in the same way. Strong has many definitions. The setting was lush. Because Chupeco writes so beautifully, her descriptions of setting are really quite stunning and you feel like you’re in the world. Pretty diverse representation

What I didn’t like:

It was a bit slow at times. The premise is exciting and I was really into this world that talks about politics and magic and good vs. evil, but I feel like book 1 was really a set up book, and that the action will be more central in the next story. Don’t get me wrong, that’s fine, but sometimes I need more off the bat. The ending: I definitely called who she was trying to raise from the dead at the end, and I was super pleased when I turned out to be right, but I wish that we’d seen more of what happens after she does so. Again, this goes back to me wanting more action in this novel.

Would I recommend this book:

Yes, absolutely. Especially as I think it sets up what will be a fantastic sequel.

Book 2: Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova (3 stars)

From Goodreads: “Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation…and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange marks on his skin.

The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland.”

What I liked:

Representation: This book has amazing LatinX rep and is written by someone in that community, which we are thankfully seeing more and more of. It also features some great American Indian (As in India, not North America) and LGBTQ* rep. It also features characters who make mistakes and redemption arcs-a-plenty. I like that no one is too perfect. You can better connect with characters because of it. The world building in this one is really neat. There is a good balance of magical creatures/settings vs. real world. I looooved the friendship /budding romance between Alex and Rishi as well as the friendship between Alex and Nova. In fact, I would say relationships in general are so important in this story and Cordova writes them incredible well.

What I didn’t like:

Despite all the amazing things that I loved above, I didn’t love the pacing of this story. I sometimes felt like there was too much going on or else not enough. I lived for the character dialogue. That being said, I don’t think that’s enough for me not to recommend this book to someone. There are plenty of books that I found to have slow paces (see: The Forgetting) that others absolutely adored, so I would definitely encourage people to pick this one up.

Would I recommend this book:

I think this story is really great for readers on the lower end of the YA spectrum because though it touches on some really important topics, nothing is necessarily risque: There isn’t any sexual content or detailed death. And though relationships are central, it reads like a quest story, which I think is a great way to transition Middle Grade readers into YA, because we see a lot of it in MG. So long answer short, yes, I would recommend it.