The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

In an empire controlled by bone shard magic, Lin, the former heir to the emperor will fight to reclaim her magic and her place on the throne. Bone Shard Daughter marks the debut of a major new voice in epic fantasy. The Sukai dynasty has ruled the Empire for over a century, their mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now the emperor's rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire's many islands. Lin is the emperor's daughter, but her father won't recognise her as heir unless she can recover the childhood memories she lost after a mysterious illness. Trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets, Lin vows to prove her worth by mastering the art of bone shard magic. Yet such magic carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace itself, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people