The Bone Witch Trilogy by Rin Chupeco

The quick cut: A girl discovers that she is a Bone Witch when she resurrects her brother from the dead. She's taken to be trained and finds a dark secret being kept across the lands. 

A real review: 

 We've all heard that power comes at a cost, but how much would you be willing to pay for it? Would you sacrifice those you care most about? Or would you sacrifice the power you have to make all magic go away? This is a question for Tea. 

 Tea is a girl from a small town called Knightcross when her power was discovered. With sisters who are witches, she always hoped that she would have powers like them. However, when her brother Fox is killed and his body is returned to them to bury, her power makes itself very clear when she raises him from the dead. In that single moment, Fox becomes her familiar and the type of witch she is becomes very clear: she is a bone witch. Bone witches are some of the most feared across the lands, as they are more likely to go dark and require being killed to stop their rampage. They also are the only ones who have the type of power that can bring the dead back to life. It's a rarity to have a bone witch appear though and as one, she is taken away from her home to be trained in her powers and become an asha - someone who utilizes elemental magic. Will her new status as a witch bring her new opportunities? Or only pain? 

 I listened to this trilogy via audiobooks and man do they pack an emotional punch! While the first book sets the scene and gives you the foundation for how Tea becomes an asha, the second and the third delve into the dark secrets that many across this fantasy world are keeping. These secrets very much affect who has power, who lives, and who is able to live a happier life. The more that these secrets come into Tea's awareness, the more she is forced to make decisions that quite literally affect everyone. 

 Tea really goes through it as the main character and primary narrator of the story. She's taken from her home, she's feared for her abilities, and somehow she keeps ending up in the middle of the drama through no real fault of her own. She often has power and responsibility thrust upon her, at a level that no one should be forced to take. It's fascinating how she tries to do the right thing and somehow gets vilified for it. Even when she continued to look like the bad guy, I continued to root for her to succeed. 

 This trilogy is emotional at its core and only gets darker the further in you get. I'm not a very emotional person on the outside, but this one routinely got to me. Hearing what Tea goes through rips your heart into pieces, especially when there's nothing else that could have been done to avoid the pain. 

 I definitely recommend reading this one via audiobook because the narrators do a great job at giving distinct voices for the different characters. A few have similar names, so it can be easy to mix them up. I highly enjoyed this series! 

 A dark, emotional fantasy thrill ride about the dangers of power. 

My rating: 4.5 out of 5