 Series: The Bone Season #3 Written by: Samantha Shannon Published: March 7, 2017 by Bloomsbury (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: The hotly anticipated third book in the bestselling Bone Season series – a ground-breaking, dystopian fantasy of extraordinary imagination. Following a bloody battle against foes on every side, Paige Mahoney has risen to the dangerous position of Underqueen, ruling over London's criminal population. But, having turned her back on Jaxon Hall and with vengeful enemies still at large, the task of stabilizing the fractured underworld has never seemed so challenging. Little does Paige know that her reign may be cut short by the introduction of Senshield, a deadly technology that spells doom for the clairvoyant community and the world as they know it . . . |
I have been waiting over two years to read this book. The ending of The Mime Order was incredible and a total plot twist and I couldn't wait to find out more and what would happen next. The Song Rising was a great next installment in a series that I am absolutely loving, despite it being a little bit of a bridge book for me.
The thing that made me fall in love with this series and the reason I still love it is the world. It's such a unique and interesting world that combines elements of fantasy and science fiction into one. In previous books we got to explore much more about the magical system here, and the clairvoyant powers that basically all of the main characters have. I love seeing them in action, especially Paige's which is super badass, but they weren't really the focus of this book. This book was much more about the societies of the world. In the beginning we got to explore more of the Syndicate while seeing Paige as Underqueen, but the real good stuff was the second half of the book where we learned more about Scion and how they are able to control everyone, especially the voyants. I'm all for political intrigue and it was a really interesting element to an already interesting world.
I also totally love the characters in this series. I loved Paige Mahoney from the start and I fall more and more in love with her with every passing book. The thing I like so much about Paige is that she is not your typical "Strong Female Protagonist TM." Yes, she is brave and selfless, and yes she preforms amazing and surprising feats of strength in the face of all kinds of adversity. But Paige is not perfect. She does things wrong, she makes mistakes, and she faces all kinds of consequences for her actions. In this book she is incredibly vulnerable and because of that I have more respect and adoration for her, especially because she came out of it stronger. I love a reluctant hero, I love a female protagonist who isn't just tough. It makes for a more likable and well-rounded character and I love that about Paige.
But Paige is not the only great character here. There are so many fantastic and complex secondary characters. First let's talk about the good guys. I know so many people are huge fans of Warden and I have to say, he's growing on me. I still don't really ship it (don't hate me!) but Warden is a great ally for Paige and I find him totally interesting and want to learn more and see more. I also feel the same way about Nick but I have more of an emotional attatchment to Nick. Here we learn even more about his past and it was so interesting and it made me love him even more. But the real strength of the characterization here is in the villains. Oh man, there are some amazing villains here. So many odious and devious characters. First and foremost, Nashira Sargas. We see the full extend of Nashira's planning and her attempt for control here and it is amazing. But the most brilliant character is Jaxon Hall. Finding more about Jax and his past was everything I hoped it would be and more. He was in rare form in this book and I loved it. But all the characters here are really fantastic.
And while I did really enjoy the plot of this book it didn't really blow me away. It was definitely interesting and really built to a thrilling conclusion but it honestly took it's sweet time to get there. I think my problem is that the first half of the book was totally different from the second and I just didn't love the first half. There was some good stuff towards the beginning but then the characters went on a travel monologue. And you know how I feel about travel. Now don't get me wrong, the travel here was fine, it had a purpose and we learned a lot along the way plus there were action moments but it just didn't hook me until it got to the third act. And by that point I was so emotionally invested I had to keep reading to find out what would happen next. But I think in general this book felt a little bit like a bridge book. There are three more books in this series and it felt a little bit like this one needed to wrap up things that happened in the first book and set up things that will happen in later books.
On the whole The Song Rising was a really good read with a fascinating world, complex characters, and an engaging plot. It did feel like were some things about the plot development and pacing that I didn't love but I did really enjoy the book. I think on it's own I don't think it's perfect but as part of the series I think it's a good addition.
I give The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon 9 out of 10 stars
Have you read The Song Rising? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!
*waiting as patiently as she can for the damned books to arrive in the mail already*
ReplyDeleteAt least I have time to finish my re-read of Mime Order!
I hope you get it soon! When you read it my DMs are open.
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