Why The Bone Season Is the Dystopian Masterpiece You’ve Probably Overlooked — And Why You’ll Obsess Over It.

Synopsis

The lavishly reimagined 10th Anniversary Edition of the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller.

The year is 2059. For two centuries, the Republic of Scion has led an oppressive campaign against unnaturalness in Europe.

In London, Paige Mahoney holds a high rank in the criminal underworld. The right hand of the ruthless White Binder, Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare and formidable kind of clairvoyant. Under Scion law, she commits treason simply by breathing.

When Paige is arrested for murder, she meets the mysterious founders of Scion, who have designs on her uncommon abilities. If she is to survive and escape, Paige must use every skill at her disposal – and put her trust in someone who ought to be her enemy.

Review

5 stars

“Knowledge is power, isn’t it?’ ‘Not necessarily. Knowledge is dangerous. Once you know something, you can never be rid of it. You have to carry it, always. Even if it pains you.”

If I hadn’t forgotten my read at home I wouldn’t have entered Waterstones on my lunchtime and picked The Bone Season!

But so many friends raved about it, it was a cheap paperback so why not?

Well I am so glad I did that because now I have a new series to binge read!

The only problem is that it seems it’s a seven books series and we only have five released so far…

What is the Bone Season?

The Bone Season is a dystopian story written in 2013 when the author was 21. This tenth anniversary edition has been treated to a full edit by the author who has now a decade of writing under her belt.

For whatever reason, I couldn’t help but think of Angelfall when I was reading the Bone Season. Yet the stories are very different but it was the vibes they conveyed and the emotions they made me feel that had me comparing them.

In the Bone Season we follow Paige Mahoney, an “unnatural”, a clairvoyant, someone who can see and manipulate the aether. It’s 2059 and the Republic of Scion has been hunting and killing clairvoyants like Paige for decades.

She has had to hide her abilities until meeting someone who introduced her to the syndicate, the “unnaturals” mafia. She is now holding a high rank as a mollisher and a dreamwalker, a very rare and coveted ability.

Her life is brutally disrupted when she is captured by scions. Hurt she is taken with other clairvoyants to a prison camp where she will learn the shocking truth behind the founders of the Republic of Scion.

I don’t want to give too much about the story but what you will find in The Bone Season is:

–dystopia as we are in a future on earth where two categories of humans exist, one hunting the other;

–found family. First Paige’s friends in the syndicate and later on, friends she will encounter in the prison camp;

–brutality. The prison camp’s life is extremely rough and the clairvoyant’s captors are extremely cruel, letting them struggle in the cold with little to no foods. That was very similar to the concentration camps of WWII;

–a brand new universe. In that future earth, divided between two categories of people, a third “race” is pulling all the strings: the Refs. Beings of another dimension, they made me think of the fallen angels of Angelfall but without the wings. They don’t have emotions and certainly don’t react as humans. They are horrifying and to be feared;

-a resilient heroine. Paige will get hurt a lot. She will be told over and over that there is no hope. She will be beaten. And yet her rebellious streak will rear its head and help her keep her pride and determination;

–enemies to maybe more. I don’t want to tell too much about that aspect but let’s just say that the building of trust and connection was very slow and organic.

–twists and adrenaline peaks! The stakes are high and I really was riveted to the story, heart beating fast, to know if Paige would succeed or not. And more than once she was caught in very dangerous situations!

I was totally immersed in that story from the very beginning, unable to stop reading and wondering why it took me ten years to read that series!

Thanks for reading.

Sophie