I admit, I had a lot more fun reading this book than I thought. I even recommended it to a couple patrons and fellow librarians for them to pick up a copy to read. It was a little cliche, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed the ride, the world building and the truly beautiful journey. I have requested the second in the series and am so hopeful I get to continue it!

I am a fan of anything A.K. Mulford puts out and A River of Golden Bones is no exception!

One of my biggest kkkm aways from this book was Calla's journey inward. As a non-binary author, Mulford does a great job of exploring the themes of discovering oneself when you do quite fit gender or societal norms. Calla discovers a term humans use vs the binary of wolfish custom which I thought was unique. I would've imagined it to be reverse but again, Mulford likes to twist and turn things to make her readers swoon but also think deeply about humanity.

As the first in series, I am interested to see where this story goes. It's got a bit of a twisted take on Sleeping Beauty which I believe is such an under-hyped fairytale story. I am here for more of Calla, Briar, Maez, and others.

My ONLY ick is I am not a huge fan of Grae, Calla's mate. I liked him in the beginning but after all the drama with his dad -- it just left a blah taste in my mouth. Alas, I shall learn to love him since Calla does ;)

We meet Calla and Briar as they are about to travel to the Golden Court to fulfill Briar's arranged marriage with the intentions to once again claim their lost throne in the Silver Court. Calla is resigned to being her sisters shadow and protector. The wolf shifters are strict in their traditions and beliefs at the expense of themselves and the humans living under their rule. But fate is a fickle mistress and soon Calla is faced with tough decisions about her own fated mate, where her alliances lay, and who she is.

I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into when I picked up A River of Golden Bones. Set in a new world quite different from A.K. Mulford's Okrith, I was pleasantly surprised at this character driven fantasy. If you are looking for something that falls into more traditional shifter or epic fantasy, this may not be your book. While it has all the elements of epic fantasy, the story is centered around the MC's discovery of who she is and can be, and the "save the world" plot is left a little more in the background.

With sleeping beauty vibes, we get a story full of sorcery, shifters, defiance of societal standards, discussions of societal equity/equality, and self-discovery. I've been following A.K. Mulford as an author for some time and this book feels like it embodies part of their own journey. It felt more personal than the Five Crown's of Okrith series and I loved the discussions around characters. I also loved the juxtaposition we see between three characters whose base goals are the same but who choose wildly different ways of accomplishing those goals.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I’m relatively new to the fantasy genre but I LOVED this book. I didn’t think I would but once I started I couldn’t stop. I loved the story and how it wasn’t completely centered around the romance. I loved how the FMC had her own personality and tried to separate it from the MMC

I loved this book! Calla was a terrific main character and I loved following her self discovery throughout her adventures. All of the supporting characters were stellar and engaging. I loved that they all formed a bond turned to family. The romance was beautiful Sleeping Beauty is a favorite of mine, and this is a retelling but with the main character being the one sleeping’s twin. Add in Werewolves and this was a creative masterpiece!

A beautiful journey of self-discovery and queer identity, filled with heart-stopping romance and page-turning adventure.

I do love a werewolf books, definitely ne of my favourites and I was drawn in by the concept of this book and I have to say I wasn’t disappointed at all, the story was really interesting and I loved the characters, I got a bit frustrated at times with their decisions, but I only get frustrated when I like the characters and I’m so looking forward to more

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This one wasn’t a favorite of theirs. I think it was the being in love with my sister’s man. I don’t like that trope but I wanted to give AK a shot!

I really like this author's other series, but this was just not it for me unfortunately. it read super juvenile/YA.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me an arc in exchange of my honest review.

This books was not bad but I was not interested. I'm not sure if it was because I not so long ago read a book with the whole "I'm in love with my sister's fiancé" that influenced my view about this book but I honestly do not enjoy that trope for which ever reason the engagement is.

I did like the idea of fox shifters and the kingdoms and the overall plot.

I definitely enjoyed this one. I liked the main characters and the story. I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I'm a big fan of fairytale retellings.

I was so happy have this in my hands. This was kinda everything that I was thinking it was going to be but it wasn't quite perfect to me. this was a 3.5 star read for me.

I loved this book! The world building and character building pulls you in from page one and you just can’t stop reading! This was a world I wish I could just climb into. A world I wish existed around me.

Grab a drink, comfy blanket, snack, a do not disturb sign and this amazing book. Set out on an adventure to save a kingdom. Meet a lot of great characters along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC for review. Minor spoilers ahead.

This book has a stunning bisexual cover and I will fully upfront admit that I was drawn in by that and the promise of a gender non-binary main character. And I can actually gladly say that for this title, I didn't mind the non-binary person being a shape changer, which is an overused character type.

My main problem with this title was the writing style. I am entirely new to AK Mulford. And this felt like middle grade at the HIGHEST. Fifth grade writing, reading, style. It was not something I could get myself through.

The plot itself was interesting enough, the characters were rather shallow but passable. The vibes were a bit bland, if I'm being honest. There is definitely fated mates in this one, if that's your cup of tea then congrats. I'm not a huge fan but I wanted to give this a shot.

I DNF'd at 30% because of the writing style. I probably could have pushed all the way through, but I felt no love for the characters, the world building, or the magic system. I don't think this should have been marketed as adult fantasy. I might give it another go in the future. But that's all I have to say.

This book started off really well and i was really enjoying it. and then it just draaagged. i found the love story to fall flat and honestly was just waiting for their adventure to get more exciting. At the 75% mark i honestly wanted to just stop reading because i didnt care how the story ended. i think there is a missed opportunity here of giving us more world building and more of a storyline. it started that way and then the author didnt continue that and had a focus on a couple that was insta love on a journey to save her sister and his cousin to defeat this witch.

A romantic, heroic, and sexy wolf-shifter x Sleeping Beauty fantasy that kindly and gently dismantles the gender binary. I thought the world building was really well done and the romance was the slowest of burns but so worth it in the end. I LOVE a fated mates story!

Thanks to Harper Voyager for sending me a copy!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the E arc!
An absolutely fantastic fantasy book with queer characters dynamic self discoveries and the perfect amount of romance. I think more fantasy books need to utilize queer characters to figure out their identities, whether that be gender or sexuality. I do wish we got to see more internally about Calla, but I really love getting to see this development on the page. This is an absolutely fantastic option for a Y a queer fantasy and I definitely think more people need to check this out!

Ugh i loved this queer story! Can’t wait to read more by this author. I found this title easy and enjoyable to read. It was my first book by the author, and I plan to read so much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this (late) review! I read the High Mountain Court and thoroughly enjoyed it, and honestly I thought this was going to be like that book: A solid 4 stars and enjoyable. This was so much more than that though! It was a new and fun twist on the fated mates trope that I hadnt seen before. I also loved the journey of self discovery that Calla went on throughout the book, finding who she wanted to be without being the shadow of her sister. Learning about her ancestors, her family, and everything about the Wolves that she wanted to change made me want to fight with her. Im also INCREDIBLY excited for a second chance Sadie and Navin romance, but I'm curious where this will go from here, and if itll be like the Okrith series with a different couple but the same world, or if itll continue following Calla and Grae. Either way, Ill absolutely be reading the next book!