I have to be honest. When I first picked this book up I came close to putting it right back down. It had a real rough start for me. But because I had read really good reviews about it I decided to follow through and finish it. I'm glad that I did.

The further I got into the book, the more the story pulled me in. There is so much of the story that I feel unfulfilled on but I think that is partly because there is more books but I cannot help but feel that the end was very unsatisfa...more I have to be honest. When I first picked this book up I came close to putting it right back down. It had a real rough start for me. But because I had read really good reviews about it I decided to follow through and finish it. I'm glad that I did.

The further I got into the book, the more the story pulled me in. There is so much of the story that I feel unfulfilled on but I think that is partly because there is more books but I cannot help but feel that the end was very unsatisfactory for me. There is much more to this story. That being said I need to read the next book in the series, I need to follow through and see what happens to the main character Tobin.

I also enjoyed the book enough to recommend it to my teenage daughter. That being said though I do not recommend it for young teenagers. Ms Flewelling handles the subject of homosexuality in a very sensitive fashion that I thought was good. ( )

This series is a great exploration into what is gender - how can it be defined and what does it do (or not do) to shape our minds?

The country of Skala has been ruled by Queen's from its inception, guarded by a prophecy stating that as long as a daughter of the royal line sits on the throne, Skala will not fall to outsiders. However, when the insane queen of the previous generation was disposed by her subjects, her son took the throne as his sister was too young to rule. But the taste of power is sweet and he refuses to give up his power as his sister grows, determined to pass on the title to his only surviving child, a son.

Misfortune is slowly destroying the realm, and the people cry for a female ruler, but the King kills any who might claim the throne from his son. Another prophecy gives hope to a select few: the King's sister is to bear twins - a girl child and a boy. In an elaborate plan featuring forbidden magic, two magicians kill the boy and bestow her form on the girl. For all purposes, Tobin is now a boy, his "sister" having died at birth. In this way, they hope to hide her, the only hope left for Skala, until she is old enough to take back the throne from her cousin.

This is Flwelling's second series in this world, this one set far before the first one, but you can read either series independently of the other without missing anything (other than a really good fantasy series). This is the first book in a trilogy.

Her characters are again, interesting and compelling, her magic system is fascinating, and her premise is fabulous and haunting. I recommend this series to fantasy readers but also to queer fiction readers as it explores gender in a really interesting way. ( )

I just finished reading the Bone Doll's Twin for the second time and was once again struck by the care and skill that Flewelling brings to her writing. This trilogy is marked by the careful crafting of all the characters, from our central hero/ine to the supporting cast. Her success in this area creates an emotional power which is the hallmark of good fiction and, sadly, rather uncommon withing the fantasy genre. ( )

The books I tend to keep are the ones that are different from the usual fantasy fare...this fits well. It is a great combination of horror and fantasy that grabs you from the start and keeps you. Set in the world created in her previous books but set generations earlier. It tells the story of a boy...who is not what he seems and the horror was what was done to protect him. I enjoyed the characters and the world explored in this story. The entire series is very good, but I must admit the first in the series was not surpassed. Good read and a keeper. ( )

I'm not sure what happened with this book. It came highly recommended, but my reaction was just "meh." In fact, the Amazon reviews are almost uniformly positive, and there are a lot of them (97 at the moment).

I don't mind being out of step with the majority, but it does make me look more closely, and I feel compelled to try to figure out why. I wonder if it's that most of the reviewers have read the entire trilogy, which, I assume, would make a big difference.

The Bone Doll's Twin begins with the birth of twins--one girl and one boy--to a princess. Because of a prophecy/curse that says the land will only prosper if a female descendent rules, the current king has been killing off all the royal baby girls. To fulfill this prophecy, a witch and a pair of wizards kill the baby boy and magically disguise the baby girl as her brother and call her Tobin.

Which drives the mother insane, and the dead child returns as a "demon."

The story follows Tobin as s/he grows, with the younger wizard and the witch keeping an eye on him, through the death of his mother, and his father, his introduction to his cousin's court--the current heir to the throne, until Tobin learns the truth, and then... it abruptly stops.

It is an interesting character study, I suppose, mostly of Tobin and her brother, but there wasn't much surprising, and there was very little in the way of actual plot. It's a very slow-moving story, as well, and not in a lush, dense way--more like a heavily padded YA story, except for the slightly gratuitous and almost creepily un-sensual sex.

A lot of the reviews cited the unusual magic, but I'm having trouble seeing that. Maybe I'm jaded, but it didn't seem all that unusual or all that well described. A lot of other reviews praised it for not being George R. R. Martin or LKH, which is undoubtedly true, but I can't like it just for that.

Mostly, it seems like a one-trick pony. A girl in a boy's body. Everything else in the book is there to support that concept. It's interesting, but not nearly enough to carry a 500+ page book for me. I won't be looking for the sequel. ( )