Spoiler-free
The Bone Shard Daughter is book 1 in The Drowning Empire trilogy and let me tell you, I had an absolute blast reading this! It felt so refreshing to me. I typically tend to read much slower books and this was an unexpected change of pace. It’s lightning fast and I blitzed through this in a few long sittings. Honestly, I struggled to put it down once I started so that says a lot in terms of enjoyment factor. Is it perfect? Far from. Is it a fun time? Oh, hell yeah! The weather has started to warm up a bit too, so I have spent a lot of this book sitting outside in the afternoon sunshine, Janna by my side, flipping through these pages, having the best time. Yay for me!
The Premise
It’s kinda funny to think back on the actual premise of this book, as I feel like it’s filled with twists and turns and it didn’t go in any direction I was expecting, but I will do my best to lay the groundwork. Essentially this is an Asian-inspired fantasy where the world is scattered with Islands, ruled over by an Emperor who harnesses bone shard magic. He creates constructs using this magic, which are basically amalgamations of different animal parts programmed to do his bidding. We follow a few different perspectives from all over these Islands.
Lin is the Emperor’s daughter (a fact she will incessantly remind you of), who is suffering memory loss from a mysterious illness. Trapped in the palace, she is basically trying to pick up on the pieces of her past, whilst also being in a rivalry with her foster brother to earn the favour of the Emperor, who gradually rewards them both with keys to unlock more rooms in the palace.
Jovis is a renowned smuggler who is travelling in search of his missing wife. Whilst being on the run, he is also somewhat of a people’s hero for saving children from… let’s say harm from the Emperor. Early on, he is accompanied by a mysterious kitten/otter-like animal companion. (Who is simply adorable).
These are the two main perspectives, but we also have a few side perspectives. Two of which focus on the relationship between Phalue and Ranami, who are sorta star crossed lovers, given their very different social standings. Phalue is the daughter of a governor and Ranami is from a lower class set on the path of making the world a better place for the people who live in it. Some good LGBT rep here, where their sexuality is never the focus but simply who they are.
We also have the perspective of Sand, who is on a mysterious island and doesn’t really have any idea why or what is even going on. Honestly. This is it’s whole own thing, so I’ll just leave it at that.
The Review
If you have read this premise and already feel overwhelmed, trust me when I say you have no reason to feel intimidated. This was such a fun, quick read, whilst still having some very cool and unique ideas. I read this as a buddy read with Chad and, since I started before him, I made a lot of notes after pretty much every chapter about where I thought this book was going. Looking back, I was never on the right track. It was as if something bat-shit crazy was happening at the end of every chapter and I couldn't get enough of it.
A big reason as to why this was such an easy read is down to how digestible the writing is. It’s incredibly simple and clear and you never have to focus too hard or reread certain sentences to grasp hidden meaning etc. If exceptional writing is imperative to you, then maybe stay clear of this one. It’s not bad by any means, it’s just very easy and safe. Expect a lot of ‘I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding’ and other such variants on this exact line. If you typically read a lot of YA and want to venture into adult fantasy then this is the perfect stepping stone. Or similarly, if you are currently experiencing a reading slump or having a break from reading then this would be the perfect fit to jump straight back in. It’s lightning fast, filled with twists and turns, and just a damn fun time.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding interlude
I felt the frown I hadn’t known was there dissolving
It came to her a little easier this time, like she was exercising a muscle she hadn’t known existed
The tremor I hadn’t realized had been building inside of me released.
Something seemed to fall away from him as he spoke, as though he’d drawn back a curtain I hadn’t realized was there.
End of Interlude
Despite my claim that this would suit YA readers, that doesn’t mean it doesn't get dark and we are still dealing with very adult characters and themes here. The world building is drip-fed to you and as more mysteries come to light, the more the darkness creeps in. Honestly, I was really impressed with Andrea Stewart’s ability to craft such a vivid world. Looking back, a lot of these twists and turns were actually bits of world building being introduced to us in exciting ways. There’s never any real info dumps, we are simply thrown in to pick it up as we go along. Yet, unlike other works of fantasy literature that do this, this somehow never felt overwhelming or confusing. If I was confused, that’s because I was supposed to be and I was even aware of this at the time. I felt as though I was very much in safe hands and could simply go along with the story and be taken on a wild ride.
The magic system is very unique. The way it works is revealed over time. As much mystery there is surrounding our characters, there is just as much involving the magic, so I’d rather not say too much in this spoiler-free section. The tone of this book was light and easy, but the magic and themes were dark and intense. This struck the perfect balance of enjoyment for me as it felt like a fluffy quick read, whilst still retaining the dark grit and horror of which I am accustomed to.
Andrea Stewart is not afraid to take this plot to places I have actually not really seen before. There’s a lot of interesting themes and unique ideas throughout this book and I found myself very much engaged in just about everything. There were certain plot lines that felt a little more generic and some theming felt heavy handed and on the nose, but for the most part it felt new and fresh. I feel like discussing any of these themes goes into spoiler territory so I shall save that for spoiler chat.
An interesting thing to note is that our 2 main PoVs from Lin and Jovis are both written in the first person, whilst our side PoVs of Phalue, Ranami and Sand are all written in the 3rd person. This is something that I don’t think I have ever seen before to this extent and it actually took me a bit to even notice. I just found it to be an interesting creative choice and I found myself really enjoying this style.
Anyway, I think I have gushed enough. There are some aspects of this book that I didn’t like and some parts I definitely rolled my eyes at but that’s all part of the fun. It makes it a kind of hard one to rate. Enjoyment levels were 5 stars and that's by far the most important factor, but if I am being honest with myself, I’d say this is a solid 4 star book. However, It was such a breeze to get through and I had such a fun time reading that I have no choice but to bump up the rating slightly.
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘 4.25 stars
As you probably expect, there’s LOTS to unpack in the Spoiler Chat below…
Spoiler Chat
So much happens, it’s honestly INSANE. There were so many occasions where I had to take a step back and process everything that just happened… So, let me get this straight… Jovis is a smuggler on the run, searching for his wife, only to flee from an Island that has literally just sunk (insane), but it’s cool he found a kitten, only it’s not a kitten but some weird mythical creature. Oh, and now he talks. Oh, and now he is giving Jovis supernatural powers. This is just one example, but honestly what the fuck. Maybe it’s just been a while since I’ve read something this fast paced, but it just felt crazy how much was going on.
I will try and make this spoiler chat as coherent as possible, but honestly I can’t make any promises. It will likely transition into word vomit, so enjoy that! Luckily, I have my buddy read notes to check on as I go, so that will help. Here goes nothing…
So when Jovis was fleeing the sinking island at the start, he was asked to take the boy, Alon, with him. I was expecting this to be the start of their father-son, God of War-esque relationship, but instead he got delivered to family and then we never saw him again… I was really thinking this was gonna be the set up for the whole book, but it actually never went anywhere and we got cute lil Mephi instead. A worthy trade, don’t get me wrong, but I’m still a little hung on why we even did that whole Alon thing. Was it just to show how Jovis is saving children from the Empire or will Alon have a much bigger role to play to come? Or am I just looking too deeply into something that really doesn’t matter? I think we know the answer here…
I was confused about these constructs for quite a while. The name sounds so mechanical to me that I kept imagining them as robotic beings even though that’s not how they were described at all. I understand the reasoning for the name as they are literally constructed, but using this mechanical jargon of ‘construct’ and ‘programming’ etc is such a contrast to what they actually are. Seemed like an odd choice, but whatever, I got over it. They are a cool idea and concept, it’s literally just the name I don’t like. The master of spies was actually kinda terrifying.
While we are on this topic, I am really interested in how other readers imagined Lin reaching into the constructs to retrieve the shards. To me, It wasn’t as if she was thrusting her hand into flesh, but much cleaner as if when she put her hand through their bodies it is a cloud of thin air in which she can move her hand freely to retrieve the shards. This is just what naturally kept coming to mind, but I feel like other people would have very different ideas of what this action looks like, so I am intrigued.
The bone shard magic is actually really dark. I’ll admit that it took me a while to figure out because I didn’t know what the word ‘trepanning’ meant and didn’t think it was important. Turns out, it was very important! So, my understanding is that when children reach a certain age, they attend the tithing festival where an area of their skill is chiselled to release a bone shard. The Emperor then uses this bone shard to animate the constructs. However the person, from which the bone shard was extracted, can experience ‘shard sickness’ from extensive use of their bone shard. This fatal sickness can creep up on you without you even realising sometimes. I wonder if the use for the bone shards has capabilities outside of constructs. We know that other magic exists in this world, we’ve seen that with Mephi and Jovis, so I am intrigued. Speaking of, I spent the whole book wondering what kind of magic was featured on the Broken Binding edition naked cover.
I realised this must be Jovis on the cover so was wondering what kinda magic he was wielding? Obviously, he can make things tremble (potentially entire islands), but this seems like a more traditional luminescent type of magic. When we got to this scene towards the end of the book, there was nothing of the sort that I could tell, so I'm curious as to what the art is all about. Pretty though.
Speaking of Mephi and Jovis. They are simply adorable together. When Mephi first started speaking, I rolled my eyes and thought it was so silly, but I was here for it. There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding who Mephi is. Is he a construct, who has somehow broken the mould and gained a personality? Is he a god? A spirit? The bloody Alanga? Or something else entirely? For a large part of this book, I was veering towards the path of a construct that’s broken free. However, with the introduction of Thrana, this theory is kinda blown out of the water. Assuming that Mephi and Thrana are both the same species, I feel as though Lin would be able to recognise them as being constructs instantly. That wasn’t the case. We don’t know much about the Alanga as of yet, but from what we do know, Mephi and Thrana don’t really fit. So, this is making me think they are some sort of God or Celestial being. This would also explain how Mephi is giving Jovis supernatural abilities. Thrana seemed to appear out of nowhere and it was such a surprise. There must be a reason why having two is necessary… Maybe a Yin Yang type situation. Oh, also it seems that whenever one of these creatures appears an entire Island sinks… Deerhead with Mephi and now Maila with Thrana. Coincidence? Probably, but it’s weird that it happened twice.
Jovis was a really fun character to follow and it was really sweet watching his bond with Mephi develop over time. Usually I tend to get bored quickly with these rescue mission type plots, but it never really felt about that to be honest. There were always bigger fish to fry at the moment. Heck, a whole island sunk right from the jump, so he’s been busy. It’s interesting how in the end he has accepted the fact that his wife, Emahla, is dead and he needs to start focusing on other things.
Unlike Jovis, Lin’s personality was severely lacking. To be honest, it didn't bother me too much because this was such a plot driven book and moved so fast that we never really sat with the characters for all that long. However, knowing what I know now her lack of personality was definitely intentional and makes so much sense. Right, I guess we are getting into this now. The reveal of Bayan being a construct was fucking nuts! I was absolutely gooped. This revelation threw everything out the window and sent my mind spiralling!
This was another moment where I had to set the book down and really take in what I just read, as it dawned on me that if Bayan was a construct, then that means Lin probably is too. This character who we have been reading from this entire time doesn’t even exist? She isn’t real. Insane! I don’t think I have read anything like it. It came out of nowhere and has changed the trajectory of the entire story. It must be absolutely devastating for Lin to figure out. Imagine if you suddenly found out that you aren’t real and are actually just AI or something like wtf. It’s interesting though, because whilst lacking personality, Lin has shown that she deals with emotions so I would be interested to see what she is programmed to do. Bayan has been programmed in such a way as to quasi become a replica of the Emperor with his implanted memories, so that the Emperor can effectively continue ruling long after his death. This whole ideology is nuts and taking dictatorship to a whole new level. This surprised me too, as I was under the impression that Bayan was acting as a catalyst to motivate Lin to become a better Emperor herself. However, now it has been suggested that Lin has in fact been constructed to become her own mother (and Emperor’s wife) Nisong. And to top it all off, Jovis claims that Lin has Emahla’s eyes, so could Lin somehow be Emahla? Or perhaps, just a construct made from Emahla’s eyeballs? Fuck knows. It’s Messy! Maybe, I have gotten the wrong idea, but I’m sure I’ll soon find out in the next book. I feel like we are only just scratching the surface of who/what Lin actually is. There'll probably be a few more plot twists till we get a solid answer anyway, so no point theorising too much.
I really appreciated how Phalue and Ranami’s relationship was handled. This is the kind of LGBT representation that I want more of. Their sexuality wasn’t even mentioned once. It was simply a relationship between two people in this world, which I guess is much more tolerant than ours. It was refreshing to have this perspective. That being said, I definitely had my issues with their storylines. The theming of class division was extremely heavy handed. Phalue being taken to the streets by Ranami and shown how the world really is for the everyday person. We’ve all seen this exact same arc dozens of times. It wasn’t handled badly, it just wasn’t interesting. It was necessary for Phalue’s character growth though and I’m glad that we’ve gotten past that now and she has become the new Governor, much to Gio’s disdain. He’s a slippery lil toad that one, so I’m gonna be keeping my eye on him. This always seems to be the case with these anarchist rebellions. Someone always gotta ruin it and take charge. Oh, and Phalue and Ranami are finally engaged, which is cool. I don’t think that this engagement had the desired emotional impact on me but I am happy for them. I have a horrible feeling that Ranami is going to become sick of Phalue’s privilege and turn on her at some point, but we shall see.
Right, I guess it’s time to talk about Sand. These chapters were always really fun to read. It was like an episode of Lost just on the side. We find out fairly early on that Coral is likely to be Emahla, since she arrived on a blue boat, but we don’t know that for sure. The mystery of this side plot was really interesting, as whilst I didn’t know what was going on yet, I knew it had to be something big. Far bigger than just Coral being Emahla (Sorry, Jovis). About halfway through, I was led to believe that Sand possessed Lin’s missing memories. This confused the heck out of me, because what the actual fuck is going on here. But scrap that, because Sand proclaims herself to be Nisong by the end. This actually checks out because instead of Sand having Lin’s memories, it’s Lin who has Nisong’s… The twists and turns of this book are insane… I mean come on. It’s just been impossible to predict what was happening for a lot of the time and that’s why it’s been such a blast.
This first instalment in this series rounded everything off in a very satisfying way and also has set itself up for the (hopefully equally as fun) sequel. We have Lin as the new Emperor. Phalue as the new Governor, with Ranami by her side as the leader (?) of the Shardless rebellion. Then, we have Jovis who is in cahoots with both the Empire AND the Shardless rebellion. On top of all that, we have Sand/Nisong/Who the fuck knows presumably on her way with… an army? Not to mention the possibility of the Alanga returning…? I mean, they have to, right? They've been mentioned far too much just to be historical lore to this world. Then again, we had that whole Alon thing that never went anywhere so who knows. I still feel like he may make a return though.
The main worry I have going forward is mainly to do with romance. I really really REALLY don’t want any sort of romance between Lin and Jovis and I’m scared that’s exactly what is going to happen. Whatever the case, I am invested now so strap me in and let’s go!
Chad Takes
It took me till around the 70-80% mark to become genuinely invested as that funky Westworld-y twist brought with it a hell of a lot of amazing possibilities and I'm really intrigued by what shape the next book is gonna take. But primarily I spent a lot of the time reading this kinda baffled by the almost comic pace of it all. Things move very fast in this world. I got some minor quibbles about the logic of hotwiring multiple constructs in the middle of a scrap to the death but I'll get over it. I'm kinda glad my predictions ended up being wrong. Still a bit indifferent about a few of the characters in this but looking forward to the next one.
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