I have no idea why I finished this book. Looking back at it it was pretty monotone the entire time and I didn’t really even get told anything about what’s going on history-wise, and yet here I am with it finished and I’m wondering about the second book.

The basic idea is that there are different kinds of magical people named asha. These people control all different kinds of magic: fire, water, air, wood, earth, etc. Female asha  are trained as geisha who can fight and entertain, male asha become Deathseekers who do out to find the daeva. The daeva are mystical creatures that awaken every so many years (each daeva type has a different schedule) and must be killed and sent back to the grave to start their sleep cycle over again.

There is a type of asha called a Dark asha. There are not many of them but they can raise the dead and control other minds. So Dark asha are used to summon daeva before they rise on their own, control their minds, command them to die, and then send them back to their graves without violence. This is done to the daeva whose locations and sleep cycles are known, some are not.

So our 17 year old heroine accidentally raises her dead brother from the grave and is discovered to be a Dark asha, aka BONE WITCH because people are fucking intolerant and cruel, and is taken away to be trained as a murder geisha. Things go badly, plots by a group called the Faceless come to fruition, and we discover that something has happened to our main character Tea to cause her to go into exile and plan the destruction of all the kingdoms.

I mean, I probably kept reading because shit was so complicated. I wanted to understand the world being laid out in front of me but at the same time I was invested in the characters because I love a good revenge story. This was also a story where I forgot that the majority of the characters were teenagers, and it could stand as adult fiction as well. It was YA but the writing was intricate and engaging. I feel like a foundation has been laid and something is about to happen; we are on the edge of a great awakening and a huge battle. I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

Don’t rush, but go get you some.