It's set in a world where psychics, empaths, and other humans with strange abilities live. The entire premise of the story is really weird, and I had problems understanding what was taking place a great deal of the time. It’s a strange world where if there you have an emotion or a feeling that is too strong, you can push it out of your mind and send it to live in an artificial body next to you. Charm is the owner of the Orchard House, a place for gentlemen to eat, drink, play cards, and generally just have a good time. The woman that serves the men of Borengaurd with her other selves who represent a part of her that she doesn’t want to feel. After almost fifty years of being ageless and living in Orchard House, the Emperor who took her from her homeland and who she came to love, dies. With the Mindlock implanted in her head, he orders her to find his killer and to kill any of his sons that take the throne, but still needs to put a person that will take care of the realm; if she does all this, she will be free to leave. Some books catch the reader’s attention through the covers, others with the summary of the story. What caught my attention with this one was the idea of characters being able to harvest from a "bone tree". Not only is there the character of Charm but we also find that Pain, Pride, Desire, Justice, and Shame are also their own personas. At this point I was more than lost. I gave it 2 stars, because I simply didn't understand it enough to make a fair judgement of weather it was badly written or a bad story....but I don't believe I have ever encountered anything quite like it. ( )

It took me a while to finish this book because of work and school and just life in general. But this book is amazing. I loved it all the way through. It’s dark and violent yet light and hopeful. It’s messy like life is. ( )

There is something about March.. Again this year I read what will probably be my Best Book of the Year in March.

The Bone Orchard is exceptional for many reasons. It is a debut novel. It's complex structure holds up all the way through. At 418 pages it is complete. No doorstopper this.

I am thrilled to have been able to read this book as part of the Baltimore SF Society Compton Crook Award competition. ( )

Poetically profound in more ways than one.

The way the author weaves the emotion throughout the story, linking the characters to each other, and playing the five degrees of separation throughout the mystery is awe inspiring. As the pieces clicked into place towards the last half of the book, I couldn't put it down because I needed the answers. The ending is well worth the torment of the chaotic story.

Were her necromantic creations to her benefit or to her downfall? Was she doing herself a favorite by splitting her soul? This story explores the emotional depths of Charm, as she plots to solve the murder of her captor, while trying to stay sane as pieces of her past snap back into her mind.

There were so many moving parts to this book. Necromancy, heck yes. Deep dive into politics, 100% yes. Sentences dripping with double meaning, um, yes please. Women struggles in various aspects of society, it's here! This book twists when it should turn, and brings new complexities to the table when I was still reeling over the last nuggets dropped. It was a fantastic adventure.

If you loved [b:Gideon the Ninth|42036538|Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)|Tamsyn Muir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546870952l/42036538._SY75_.jpg|60943229] or [b:The Lies of Locke Lamora|29588376|The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)|Scott Lynch|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458646334l/29588376._SY75_.jpg|2116675] you're going to love the complexities of this story. It has many threads moving throughout a kingdom reeling from the murder of their emperor. I imagine rereading it will be just as much of a ride.

TW: Rape, Abuse, Trauma, child death. ( )

I actually read about 70% of this last year, but had to return the audiobook and wait for others to finish. I found this book to be very confusing and extremely heavy on dialogue. After speaking with a friend who had read it I got some more clarification and the ending 10% or so had some revelations that made things more clear, but in general, I'd say it's probably better to read this out of a book than listen to it on audio (even though the narrator is fantastic).

The little world building we get in this book was pretty interesting stuff and I would have loved to hear more. The "court intrigue" was great too, but I did get lost a bit with all the characters. Would have been great to have one of those "Dramatis Personae" pages (except I was doing it on audio, so I'm not sure how that would work).

There's so much conversation in this that I often forgot it was a fantasy novel. It seemed to be more about strange relationships (only some romantic) between the characters. There was some action and plenty of drama, but it seemed like a literature novel with some fantastic elements sprinkled in. ( )