I just finished reading this book and all I can think is…Oh…My…God.

What an adventure!

This story had me hook, line and sinker. The first few pages roped me. I couldn’t get enough of this book and had I the opportunity to finish it in one sitting, I would have done so – gladly. And I am also glad that I don’t have to wait a year before the next one is out, because conveniently it’s recently been released to the public!

Anyway, I loved this book – if you didn’t already get that. It was imaginative. It was so different to every other fantastical adventure written. Instead of relying on the myths of vampirism, werewolf’s, magic powers, we had a story that was based solely on those gifts of people of our world – clairvoyants. Although the gifts might not be as substantial as those in this story, they have some truths to them. And because this story was teetering on reality – on stories we’ve heard about ghosts being able to affect us, our aura’s reflecting our emotions, of clairvoyants having the skill to talk to the dead and feel the presence of those that have passed – it made it believable and so easy to get caught up in.

Paige was the main character – in fact she was the be all and end all of this story. You only heard about the others through her. But the story was solely about her and her memories. It made the book fantastic. If it had been delivered in any other way – third person point of view, for instance – I think it would have lost many of its followers. We needed to hear the voice of Paige Mahoney. We needed to go through this journey with her, to understand how the “unnaturals” worked and with her being a part of the syndicate and having more information about the “order of unnaturalness”, Scion and Amaurotics we got a better look and understanding of their world. She was the crux of this whole story and her character pulled it all together. She was a modern day heroine. She had courage, compassion and a strength to rival any enemy.

Warden was an interesting character. He stayed in the background for most of the book. Or at least that is how I saw it. He wasn’t as prominent as Paige but that was fine. We, as the reader, warmed up to him at the same moment Paige did. That was a key thing – to go through their connection at the same time as them, to understand it and agree with it. At first I didn’t think much of him. I knew he’d be better than the other Rephaim, kinder. But I didn’t know to what extent until he really started to appear in the book more. He’s a character I quite liked in the end – and that ending is what has me teetering on the edge.

It’s fast paced, full of adventure and a fantastical type of read. It is one for those that would love to read anything to do with “magic” or even “spirituality”. It’s the right amount of thriller, action, emotion and adventure to please anyone that chose to read this book. I mean I’m an avid reader of all kinds of books, ranging from Matthew Reilly to Deborah Harkness, Amy Hatvany to Jodi Picoult. I enjoy reading. I appreciate an author who can write a story, make you feel everything the character is going through, to wrap you into a spell you really don’t want to leave. I won’t say I like all books but there are some out there I’d rather not review and wished I never read. But when I love a book. I really love a book. And Samantha Shannon has won my allegiance for I LOVE this book!

"I broke through the darkest part of his dreamscape, straining against the impossibly powerful barriers,aiming for the distant patch of light that was his sunlit zone, but it wasn't as easy as it had beenon the train. The centre of his dreamscape was so far away, and my spirit was already being driven out."

The Bone Season is a beautifully crafted dystopian novel set in near-future London. When the "plague" of clairvoyance first arrived, London became Scion I - a secure world where clairvoyance (the ability to interact with the spirit plane) is outlawed. Paige Mahoney is a special clairvoyant - a dreamwalker - who works in an underground criminal network of clairvoyants. That is, until she finds out what's outside the city.

I found the beginning of the book quite intimidating. To get to the first chapter, you must flick through a double-page spread explaining the seven orders of clairvoyance, then a double-page map. And if you're a book explorer like myself, you'll find a nine page glossary at the back. My shields instantly went up. Indeed, you're thrown into the thick of the world from page one. However, as the novel progressed I rarely found myself flicking back and forth. I checked the glossary twice, and the map and order of clairvoyance only a few more times and more out of curiosity than necessity. This stands as a testament to Samantha Shannon's skills in revealing details about this incredible world she has created. I've read some reviews complaining about info dumping, but other than the first chapter, this was not as issue for me at all.

The protagonist, Paige, is a street-smart girl with a badass exterior. She's head-strong and sometimes stupidly courageous, but she's also a kind and caring girl. It's an interesting combination that causes her to make some surprising decisions. Paige isn't fearless, as many characters in fantasy seem to be. She can be scared of her situations, her feelings and she's also scared for her friends. However, what she fears most is her own powers, which adds another gripping level to the action.

The worlds of Scion I and Sheol I (a later setting in the book) are fascinating. I had no trouble imaging how London had turned into this restricted society. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these worlds, especially Sheol I, is the logic behind the class structure. It will make you question whether those slaves at the bottom are actually downtrodden, or if they're better off since becoming slaves. This novel had me thinking through the whole read, which books rarely do.

There is only one major flaw in the novel - poor editing. It's peculiar for a novel with this much hype, but it seems as if Bloomsbury saved money on editing this first-time author's novel. There were no major errors - usually words switched (e.g. it is vs. is it) or sometimes there was dissonance between different movements of the characters (e.g. how did she do that if she was sitting over there?) - though it occasionally pulled me out of what was otherwise an absorbing story.

The Bone Season was an absolutely enthralling read. I was pulled into not only the dystopian world but also into Paige's mind. It was a beautifully written novel with a well crafted story that I could barely put down.