it's complicated to explain why I loved this book so much. But there are a few components that can be pinned down: Their estate occupied something like a hundred acres of rolling fields and broadleaf forests in the Camden Hills. There were birch groves and fast-flowing streams, apple orchards and hard granite ridges like the fossilized spines of dinosaurs protruding through the turf. From the hilltop above the Gammons' palatial farmhouse, you could watch the sun rise over the ink blue waters of Penobscot Bay. And how much is the good of sociaty worth sacrificing? Your own freedom of mind? Your sanity? Your own happiness? Well, Charm is definitely complex, surprising character who is lost, madam, whore, witch but also a warrior, doing everything she can to survive! The emperor - all but immortal due to rejuvenating drugs - is dead by poison. He leaves behind several violent, potentially murderous, and completely unsuitable sons, and a final injunction to his mistress Charm: find my murderer. Remove my sons from the succession. Find a worthy successor. And then be free.

Denis, Ricardo Serrano (9 June 2022). "REVIEW: Lemire & Sorrentino's THE PASSAGEWAY sets up a terrifying new mythos". The Beat . Retrieved January 18, 2023. What if I told you we have a special rate for law-enforcement officers, Warden Bowditch?" said his father, studying me through yellow shooting glasses. Best described as Dario Argento’s Inferno meets Rosemary’s Baby in a claustrophobic tale of terror, perfect for fans of atmospheric horror. Massacre Pond is a tough act to follow, but Doiron avoids series stagnancy by placing Bowditch outside of the law-enforcement circle he once loved and treating readers to another round of top-notch outdoors-Maine descrition. Highly recommended for fans of C.J. Box and Craig Johnson.” — Booklist Mueller creates an intricate and richly characterized world in her gothic fantasy debut." ― BuzzfeedThe Bone Orchard was incredible. If someone were to ask me what this book was about, I would say it's about bodily autonomy and the things we're willing to do to protect ourselves. I would keep it vague because you have to experience this book on your own. That third act is amazing. But don't worry, if you're like me and aren't into dark or sad books, the ending is hopeful. Don't get me wrong, it's a heavy read but it doesn't have an ending where you regret reading it. The final scene is so wholesome and it’s well-deserved after what these characters have endured.

But now—Charm is also the only person who can keep an empire together, as the Emperor summons her to his deathbed, and charges her with choosing which of his awful, faithless sons will carry on the empire—by discovering which one is responsible for his own murder. Lemire and Sorrentino have fully fleshed out the mythology that underpins the The Bone Orchard Mythos universe, but they will not reveal it to readers, preferring instead to imply to foster a deeper engagement with the work. They are very careful in finding a delicate balance between giving readers too much or too little. [6] Collections [ ] It has literally everything in a book I could ask for. Witchery, murder, mystery, love, whore houses, sacred protectors, deep psychological themes and strong women hell bent on surviving.I really appreciated this one. It’s a very dark fantasy, and it definitely requires the reader to pay attention and slowly piece together what’s going on, but it rewards that attention. It’s a meaty plot with large-scale consequences and yet satisfying in a single volume. And it’s a unique exploration of trauma, exploring one woman’s coping strategies for a very dark past without ever becoming gratuitous. As a madam, Charm works hard to conduct her salon business, having powerful clients from high places including the Emperor. Now she’s summoned to the Emperor’s deathbed as his loyal mistress. He needs her help to find which bastard son poisoned him in exchange her freedom. Brooke, David (28 March 2022). " 'Bone Orchard: The Passageway' is the start of something truly special". AIPT Comics . Retrieved January 18, 2023. Political, historical, twisty, dark fantasy with sweet romance: just give me this book and leave me alone! This is so much promising than I expected! A boneghost with skin like milk glass and eyes the color of blood slipped into the solarium. Assembled from the bones in the orchard, their soft parts grown in a vat, boneghosts did not age. This one had looked eighteen since she’d risen from the growth vat in the greenhouse. If not for her coloring, she would have been the perfect image of Charm herself. Because the boneghosts had skulls identical to Charm’s, they all more or less shared her face.

The Lady helped her injured ghost to a stool. She tied on a full-sleeved rubberized apron, collected clean clothes and a bottle of antiseptic, then peeled the gory towel away from the boneghost’s face. Shame gripped the edge of the table as the Lady wiped away the blood. The slash ran from just ahead of Shame’s ear to her nose, laying open the length of her cheekbone. Her cheek drooped, showing the white flash of bone and the upper edges of her teeth. Gardner, James (17 August 2022). "Bone Orchard Mythos: The Passageway". No Flying, No Tights . Retrieved January 18, 2023.The Bone Orchard Mythos is a horror universe which features horror comics in a variety of formats. Over a series of self-contained stories, it will build up a horror mythology in a similar fashion to H.P Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythology. Sergeant Kathy Frost and her partner, Maine game wardens, are forced to shoot a badly disfigured Gulf War veteran, Jimmy Gammon, in self-defense ("suicide by cop"). I’m struggling to find a way to discuss The Bone Orchard, because I honestly struggled to follow the book while reading it. It’s an ambitious, wholly distinctive look at the mistreatment of sex workers under the guise of a fantasy story. The main character Lady Charm is the madam of a brothel who “employs” (used very loosely) girls created from fragments of her own consciousness. She’s equally as much a necromancer as she is a scientist. And if that sounds like a fascinating concept, it's because it absolutely is. But a creative concept does not make a brilliant book.