A Lot Like Dreaming

2.5 StarsI can see why there's so much hype around this book! There's a lot of action and drama and all that fun stuff packed in here. And I really like this novel, I do. The Bone Season held my attention for a lot longer than I thought it would, but unfortunately there is just so many things that I can't overlook and allow me give this book a higher rating. Nonetheless a lot of people will still enjoy this, maybe even love it. I'm just not one of those people who can overlook things easily.The first thing that I can't stand about this book is the abundance of information. And it's also not only a few pages long, throughout the book, I had to skip everything about Paige's past life and albeit important, information on all of the different types of clairvoyants and such things just to make sure my head didn't explode. There's just too much info-dumping which leads to the disorganized plot. A lot of things happen in the book, like I mentioned before, there's a lot of action but it's all over the place and a bit confusing at some parts. Another thing that frustrates me about The Bone Season is the protagonist, Paige because she's not only predictable but crazy as well. She is constantly getting into trouble for no good reason except to get killed, and then she gets everything handed to her. There's very little proof that makes me like Paige even in the slightest because of the way she acts and receives everything because she's 'special'. I really dislike her character.Samantha Shannon does a fine job building a believable world though. With everything that's happening, I fell in love with the setting and the atmosphere, everything feels like it's happening right in front of me and I couldn't stop reading. The story is also well written, it's smooth and exciting. I love the way that Shannon hooks readers in with simple yet complex writing. A lot of the characters are well-developed, especially Arcturus. He's really complex and layered with lots of passion. Even when I didn't want to, I felt myself loving him.The Bone Season is a novel many people will love, no doubt. There's tons of action and friendships and pain with a little bit of romance that takes the backseat. But there's a few things that stand in its way of being an amazing start to a seven book series. Still, I recommend this to anyone who likes a lot of action and a well-developed world and don't mind an abundance of information. Or are willing to skip half the book to get to the good parts. Hopefully there'll be a lot less info-dumping in the next book and Paige grows up a lot more.