I Wanna Be In Your Dreamscape

"I do not pity you. 
But I do know what it feels like. 
To be wanted only for what you are."
--Samantha Shannon, The Bone Season

Genre: YA Fantasy and Paranormal

Publisher: Bloomsbury, 480 pages

Publication Date: August 20th, 2013

Source: Received at BEA via publisher
Goodreads

Goodreads Description

It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.

But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.

Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

My Thoughts

First of all, welcome to the next stop on The Bone Season Official Blog Tour!! I am SO excited and honored to be a part of this phenomenal book! Not only is this book amazing, the Today Show started a book club and this book...THIS BOOK is their first official pick! Yay! How exciting, right?! Oh, and the author is pretty brilliant...I should point that out. Ok, so on to my review! I apologize in advance, my reviews are not normally this long but there is SO MUCH to talk and flail about I just couldn't resist.

Wow. This was unexpected. I got this book at BEA at the Bloomsbury booth after it was talked up by one of the publicists there. The synopsis sounded confusing so I held off on reading it just a bit because it intimidated me just a little…why?...WHY do I do this to myself and talk myself out of not reading books sooner?! THIS…THIS was one of those books I could kick myself for not cracking open sooner.

First of all, we all know I love books with maps or charts that open up a book and this one had a few…and it is way intricate. The first is a chart mapping out all the different types of voyants, or clairvoyant, people. I like to try and read through these types of maps and charts to get my bearings…yeah, don’t even try with this one. Too overwhelming, just start reading. Same thing with the glossary. If you don’t know a word, look in the back as you read them, there may or may not be a description. I tried committing the glossary to memory…too much. Don’t stress. Read the book. The rest will come in time.

That was the only frustrating thing for me while reading…I didn’t grasp everything immediately. I have this problem with ALL fantasy and dystopian books and it is expected. I don’t know all the rules, the details, the types of creature, or how the society runs. Don’t let the initial load of info scare you away. Again, keep reading, all will come eventually.

So the beginning definitely grabs your attention right away due to the fantastic writing.

This world is intricate, in-depth, fully developed, and detailed. There is just so much to know that I found myself taking a longer time than usual with the first half of the book to try and wrap my head around every detail. But that’s just me. I’m crazy.

We start off in London 2059 where people who are gifted with clairvoyance live in secret and are hunted. Paige is one of them and is eventually taken over to the city of Oxford where the Rephaim run things. The world of the Rephaim is brutal. There is a strict hierarchy between the Rephaim and the voyants and the humans, also known as amaurotics. They are treated little better than slaves…and some actually are slaves. The description and writing of this world is brilliant. We have two parallel yet separate societies going on and I LOVED the intricate workings of these two worlds. How they fit together yet stay apart was so interesting. The writing is amazing and vivid with descriptions without being over the top. The explanations of the voyants and the Netherworld and the last light is so detailed and amazing that you can just picture the story right in front of your eyes.

Our characters are another element that makes the story even better. Paige is a fighter and has been battling her whole life. Her bravery in the face of hopeless situations is beautiful. Selfless. Strong. Fierce. I really liked how she continued to stand her ground even when all the odds and then some were against her. She absolutely refuses to give up and take the easy way out. Due to circumstances of the plot I refuse to reveal...let's just say her badass appeal goes up infinitely as the story progresses.

When Paige gets taken to Oxford, she is kept under guardianship of the Warden.  He is someone to watch. Wowza.  The epitome of the strong and silent type that has a lot of secrets. He doesn’t really let his barriers down but the little glimpse into his inner self that we get gets your heart pounding. Their dynamic is one that is built through blood, sweat, and tears. They earn every ounce of trust and compassion for one another that they have. This was a slow burn that just grew. I LOVE stories like this!

This story has so many layers to it that trying to write my thoughts on all aspects will take hours! It is all amazing! But we can’t forget about the drama. The leader of the Rephaim is Nashira and ooooh boy, you better watch out for this psycho. We have a very well-written villain here because she makes you want to jump in the book and stab her. For serious. Bitch be crazy. Mental institution crazy.

And while the world of the Rephaim is cruel and their leader is a total beeyatch and likely Satan reincarnate, this book has SO much emotional depth. I found myself tearing up at multiple points because of all the feels. Paige brings such a vulnerability to herself that you feel everything she is going through. One particular situation from her childhood had my heart breaking. Sacrifice, bravery, and courage in the face of oppression is a constant theme that is explored. This was tragically beautiful to me and while my heart was breaking at certain points, I loved how this was presented. The oppression, the despair, the hopelessness, you feel it all. I loved this aspect of the story and I cannot get enough of Paige…and Warden…

OH OH OH! And the whole idea of the voyant world centering around a haunted London is SO unique and amazing! London is one of my favorite cities…mostly due to all the history of tyranny and the deaths that go along with it. I’m waiting for Anne Boleyn and the rest of the wives of Henry VIII to show up. We did get Jane Rochester—that made my day! I just love all the different categories and what they could do. It was especially interesting to see that they could fight with their powers.  

OK, sorry about ALL the fangirling! Bottom line, I LOVED the book. Such a unique premise with so many intricacies that SO much can be done with this story, can’t wait to see where it goes.

Should You Read This? YES! Information overload to begin with but keep on truckin'. This story is well worth trying to figure out the rules of this ghost world.