I came across this book by accident and I am SO EXCITED THAT I DID. I love a good YA fantasy read and this one grabbed from page one and I was a goner.



Tortured teen who doesn't know who she really is? YES PLEASE

Give me all the angst and all the potential chaos and I am for it. We have not only one BUT TWO brooding awesome guys in this book and I am honestly shipping both of them. I know, its terrible. I can't help it though. You will see.

This book grabbed me like ACOTAR did. I instantly loved the storyline and was all for getting lost in it. If you like YA reads like The Iron Queen, Any Melissa Marr or Tempestuous, you will love this.

This is one of those books that you devour in one setting, I couldn't put it down even though I was bleary-eyes. 

Sage is a young girl whose mother was and addict and instead of staying in the foster system she chooses to live on the streets with her person she considers her best friend.  They've been befriended by a woman who works at a restaurant and gives them food instead of throwing it away as told to by her boss.  One night she invites them to a party, Sage really doesn't want to go but she is promised a hot shower and decides go just to get clean with hot water.  Turns out it's a trap, most of the guests? are Otherworders and they are need Sage because she is a princess who doesn't know who or what she is and after she accidentally hurts Ben one of the guests she agrees to go along and see what she can learn and she earns plenty some good and some bad. 

This is an amazing story, I love the Irish mythology and the authors creation of the Otherworlders who inhabit it without humans knowing.  There are some truly evil beings but there are also good ones and sometimes you aren't sure of some characters motives.  While I love this book and definitely want to read the next book, this is one of the reasons that I prefer to start a series once all the books are released; I dislike CH and having to wait months/years to finish a series that I like. 

4.75/5 STARS:  **I received a free digital ARC in exchange for a honest, unbiased review.  I sincerely thank the author and/or publisher for providing an ARC through NetGalley,.**

I was actually quite surprised by this book and the premise was a unique concept to me. I’ve never read a book with Celtic gods so this was a breath of fresh air for me.

The plot was engaging and it has me waiting for the next book and the world building was pretty solid.

One thing that I enjoyed was the fact that two of the main supporting characters were people of color. In YA people of color are rarely depicted, and this is even more common in YA fantasy so it was great that this author included them in the novel.

A gripe I do have is the constant switching of point of views. There were about three point of views throughout the book and sometimes it made it confusing to know which one was which and I would have to flip back to remember which point of view I was in. A tip for the next book would to either decrease the amount of point of views or to extend the period of time between each point of view to make it less confusing.

The relationship in this book was OK. It seemed a bit instalovey and it kept on going round and round in circles and became a bit redundant to me. There is potential for a love triangle in the next book and I’m not mad at it however I would say that it is very hard to pull them off.
Overall a great read and can't wait for the next installment!!
#TeamKiernan

A big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. First time reading this author. This was an interesting yet complex book. I enjoyed getting to know the characters. Sage is confused, frustrated, and overwhelmed but becomes strong. I liked it. Found the ending to be a bit confusing but maybe that means another book....

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
This book was a pleasant surprise and a really great story. I really loved this story, it has quite an interesting premise but it get so much more intriguing as the story progresses than you would initially expect based on the synopsis.
What really attracted me to this book was the whole Celtic mythology aspect of it which is a less used element in books and I personally know next to nothing about it. I hoped to gain some knowledge about it. Sadly I think the mythological part of it may be interesting but there is not much explaining to it, so it was kind of confusing in parts, not knowing who is who and such. It doesn’t help that things progress really quickly from the very beginning so you don’t really have breathing room to figure out the hierarchy and semantics of the godly world. Nevertheless the story is still enjoyable and this part was just a small hiccup in the scheme of things and if you are someone who is more versed in the world of Celtic deities then it’s no problem at all.
As I mentioned the plot is really fast paced and dynamic, really engaging. It has a darker and more sinister atmosphere to it than I expected. The storytelling runs on two parallel lines with different main characters, which is an interesting development. Generally I don’t like when there is jumping between timeline but in this case I enjoyed it. What I think I need to mention that I happened to discover and feel a lot of popular YA stories’ shadow in this one but with a clever and creative twist to them.
The writing style has a really interesting, poetic touch to it what I really like in my books especially lately.
As for the different characters. The present time’s protagonist is Sage and I liked her but she is not the best main character ever. She is resourceful and despite her less than perfect life she can apprentice the small things in life. However on one occasions she relies too much on others and I would have loved if she is a bit feistier. Still she handles herself quite well considering the circumstances.
Lily on the other hand I absolutely hated, no matter what the author did later on to try and redeem her character. She is a selfish, spoiled and whiny little girl and greedy to top it off.
Then there is Faelan, the removed and grumpy hunter and Sage newfound protector and mentor. I liked his character, he has an interesting storyline and a lot of potential, and however the whole romantic attraction that supposedly there between him and Sage I just didn’t feel. So I thought I’m going to be team Kieran when it comes to romance. His dark, dangerous and mysterious personality just sounded so much more appealing. And I even liked Sage character better when she was interacting with him, because in those occasions she took on a sassy bravado that I enjoyed more, she stood up for herself. In the end though, after finishing the story I need to admit but if I had to choose between the two men then I would choose Faelan, but I still don’t get the chemistry between them. Still the love triangle possibility is there because a lot of things left unanswered at the end.
Unfortunately when it comes to the secondary characters they are not just annoying but really cliché too.
There is a really cruel twist in the end of the book regarding the characters and I can’t wait the next story to discover how the characters handle and solve this twisty and choking snare they found themselves in. This was a great and intense first book for a series and I’m really glad that I got the chance to read it early.

I had never heard of this author prior to being given this ARC by her publisher in return for an honest review.
That said.. WOW. Just WOW. The story is incredibly rich in detail as it follows Sage's journey from a homeless young person on the streets of Los Angeles, to her entry into a world as unfamiliar to her, as it would be to any of us mortals. The world of the Demigods.
I have read a great many pagan/ancient Gods based books, and frankly, i was getting a little bored with most for just kind of regurgitating what methodology other writers had already done. That was absolutely NOT the case here. She created concepts that I'd never seen before, along with a completely fresh and unique storyline. Also, the author's writing itself was almost perfect. A talented editor could have perfected this book, frankly. That is just my opinion of course.
No matter what, Rachel Anne Marks has a new fan, not an easy task with someone who has as high of standards for books as i do. I would suggest this to any reader, with the exception of those who are not open minded in terms of religion and pagan symbolism.

Sage is a homeless girl, who lives on the streets of LA. She gets invited to a Halloween party, turns out there are no humans at this party.. Her she learns she is a descendent of a Celtic goddess and her whole life has been a lie.
All the different descendants of Danu, try to make their house the strongest. Sage must choose which house she wants to join. She has to choose between an attractive and grumpy hunter and a dangerous prince.
I loved that this book was based on Celtic Mythology in the present time! In the beginning of the book the mythology aspects were a bit confusing for me, but after a while everything became more clear.
This book did have some clichés but I found myself really enjoying this book and will definitely continue this series! Especially because of the big plot twist at the ending!

This book is PERFECT FOR FANS of Percy Jackson and TMI! itbis action packed and HILARIOUS

I received a copy of Fire and Bone by Rachel A. Marks from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the summary and really wanted to like this novel, but the storyline could have been more succinct. The overdone descriptions, bland characters and predictable plot lessened the impact of the writing or my enjoyment of it.

Intrigued and enthralled, I will be looking for book two. While I wish this first book was heavier on backstory, I look forward to getting it more slowly as this author hopefully continues her worldbuilding into a equally entertaining book two!

This book reads more suited to teens than to adults. There is little action to drive the plot along and, quite frankly, I wanted to smack Sage for being so sullen and unlikable. It could also be just the sheer amount of Celtic myth and legends that can overwhelm a reader who is not prepared for it.

Now, don't get me wrong - it is an interesting book, a nice summer-time beach read. It's just not one I can imagine going back to re-read multiple times.

Foster kid. Homeless. Changeling. Sage lives on the street with her only friend Ziggy. Unaware she has emerging otherworld powers, she is thrown into the magical world where she is sought after for her powers. One house in particular, Morrigan, thinks they own her. Her protector, the one who hunted her down to bring her into the fold seems to be the only one she can trust. Sage much choose soon, which house she will show fealty to. Her powers are erratic, fire can decimate them all if not under control. But there are secrets, and dreams plague her of another's life. I voluntarily reviewed this book from Netgalley.

2.5 stars! I want to give a shout out to this book, first of all, because the concept of it is really cool and even though I didn’t know anything about Celtic gods and goddesses before, I think its fantastic that other myths and legends throughout the world are being used as inspiration. I can’t say I’m entirely fond of how the idea was executed, however. First of all, it feels very intense and hardcore right off the get-go. Like, there isn’t a whole ton of build-up to the world and we are kind of just thrust into it, which is a very difficult thing to do without making everything feel like its overwhelming. The writing is pretty good overall, and I only found myself cringing a few times. Easily bearable enough to just ignore the cringey parts and continue on.

Right from the beginning you can tell that Sage and Faelan are going to become a Thing™ by the end of the book. I’m not crediting that as bad though, because that could very well be the intention to have romance play a central plot to the story. It did feel rather odd though, and it definitely reminded me of the whole Edward Cullen-Bella Swan thing when it came to the “I have these feelings but it would be very very bad for me to act on them” kind of thing, if that makes sense. I personally was not a fan of this “chemistry” right away, but that’s just me. I would have preferred that to come later after Sage has already gotten used to the world a bit.

Speaking of Sage though, she’s not exactly the most likable character. Again, not exactly a bad thing, but she’s quite defensive and hostile, something that I didn’t really appreciate because we are seeing this new world through her and all her emotions affect the way we are introduced to it as well. Her emotions are all over the place in the beginning, which is understandable, but gave me whiplash a few times when she couldn’t decide if she was going to embrace her new future or run away. I didn’t really like seeing from her perspective either, except for once in the beginning when Sage sees the house for the first time and we get a beautiful description that I could honestly read over and over again. Faelan doesn’t particularly care about that, so I am grateful that this particular chapter is from Sage’s point of view. One of the biggest things I didn’t like about Sage however was how much she hated Aelia. Aelia’s writing was all over the place – sometimes it felt like we were supposed to like her, and then the next moment Sage was having an inner monologue about how vapid and materialistic Aelia is. I had decided I liked her early on, and didn’t appreciate all the tearing down that Sage continued to do throughout the rest of the book. Sure, Aelia has some snappy responses and complains about things (like any teenager would!) but she does come to Sage’s aid a lot and Sage certainly doesn’t seem to appreciate that.

The world…is a bit strange. I had my own ideas when I read that it was about Celtic demigods and demigoddesses, but I am not about to hold that to the author. This is her own interpretation, after all. However, something that certainly didn’t come to mind while picturing this world was the feeding, which was pretty vampy. Now, I was never really into vampires growing up (I mean I had a Twilight phase like everyone else, but it was pretty short-lived), so my biasness will probably come through here, but it just didn’t seem to fit with the image that was being drawn up. Especially since the feeding becomes such an integral and common part of the story throughout the book, it just felt odd and cringey each time it happened. I never really fully understood its necessity either, but I am fully prepared to accept that I may have missed something while reading. On a slightly different note, I do appreciate all the different kinds of creatures this world has, although I wish there was a bit more of a description of them than what we got, especially more on the roles they play or might play in Sage’s future. Essentially, if we are to assume that this book is a great huge build-up to a bigger plot later in the series, I would like the world to be fully formed and described and I just don’t feel like we got that.

Faelan was a bit weird. And by a bit, I mean it was tiring reading his chapters sometimes. He is always arguing with himself about how he wants Sage but shouldn’t want her and how he feels these feels but needs to get rid of them. Of course, we find out at the very end why he is so keen to ensure he doesn’t get feelings for Sage, but I feel it would have been nice to introduce that tidbit of information earlier on in the book, so that it doesn’t feel like Faelan has zero control over his emotions.

I found a large part of the book to be a bit of a drag, and it wasn’t until the Sage’s Introduction that things started to get interesting. I mean, this whole book is a build-up really, but definitely the first half more so. We are introduced to Kieran early on, and we are definitely not supposed to like him and identify him as the Bad Guy.™ Except for me, who was mad at Sage and Faelan for having all these conflicting thoughts about each other, and decided that I was going to like Kieran because he was mysterious and moody and creepy and all things good about vampires (oops, sorry, demigods). (On a side note about Faelan and Kieran though – for some reason I kept picturing them as Thor and Loki, which is an entirely different culture’s myth but still highly entertaining if you picture Chris Hemsworth as grumpy Faelan). The confusing part comes at the end though, when we are told that Mara is actually the Evil One™, and Kieran is kinda-maybe-almost a good guy? This happened really quickly and I had to re-read to make sure I was understanding it right. We have nearly the whole book building up to what Kieran is going to do next to get his hands on Sage, and then we get no satisfaction for that whatsoever. Mara had always seemed like a moody side character, and then suddenly she’s centre stage.

I have a couple more notes that are more on the same topic, so I won’t repeat them in fear of making it seem like I’m making a mountain out of a mole hill. Like I said at the beginning, I think this concept of demigods and goddesses and Celtic lore REALLY cool, I just don’t find it to have been my kind of execution. The writing of the story is decent, and while I did take a break in the middle to cool my head because it felt exhausting to read, it is definitely readable and entertaining, if you are into it. The end is a little predictable when it came to Sage claiming her house, and I am totally interested to see what happens next, but I am not sure I will be reading the next book (if there will be a next one, which I assume there will be). I would probably recommend this, but I wouldn’t be raving about it or anything. Maybe if you had a TBR pile and this was at the bottom of it.

Also, I would just like to appreciate the Jughead Jones moment that Kieran has at the end with his “I’m a weirdo raven man” comment.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm sorry, I just couldn't get into this story. Not exactly sure why. I do, however, have a bunch of young adults who I think would love it. Thank you for the preview, it may not have been my cup of tea, but I know my kids will enjoy it.

I read and enjoyed the Darkness Cycle by Rachel Marks so was interested when I saw she had a new book but this time centered around Celtic Mythology which I has not been featured in a lot of the books i have read. The book takes place in current day Los Angles making it a unique combination in my experience.

I felt this novel started a little slow and used a fairly standard plot device where the main character, Sage, is clueless about her true origins and confused by her new powers. It turns out she's not human at all but the daughter of the goddess and holds considerable power. For me it really picked up around 25% in when the politics about her new world become a factor and Sage begins having strange dreams. Once that started happening, I was engaged until the very end. I am very much looking forward to where this book is headed. I don't feel like I can predict the path the plot will take and I find that very appealing.

I liked a lot of the characters in the book. Most of them were complex individuals and some of them straddled some shade of grey without becoming unlikable. There is a romance and potential triangle but it is a very unique take.

I would highly recommend this book to someone who enjoys the urban fantasy genre but is looking for something different.

Fire and Bone is now one of my favorite Urban Fantasy books. It's my first book from Rachel A. Marks and I'm now definitely a huge fan of hers. I got attracted to the book by the interesting premise and the beautiful cover and the book definitely delivered on the promise of fun. Rachel A. Marks has a unique and refreshing style of writing that breaths life into her characters.
Sage is a teenage girl who hasn't had an easy life, She's been struggling on the streets with her foulmouthed but awesome friend Ziggy for a while after running from a foster group home that's not really conducive.
But everything changes when she gets invited to a Halloween party by a friend and she accepts. She finds out (in a most shocking way) that she is a demigoddess and her powers are awakening.
Sage is saved by Faelan, a warrior and protector that claims to be from the House Brighid sent to keep her safe until her Emergence (When her powers will be fully awakened and she'll choose a House to pledge herself to). There are Five main Demi Houses, Lyr, Arwen, Cernunnos , Brighid and the most powerful Morrigan (Every Demi has to pledge their allegiance to one House on their Emergence day and it doesn't have to be the House they originate from). The demigods and demigoddesses are descendants of the gods.
Sage is the second daughter of Brighid and as such, she inherits great magic especially over fire. As a girl who has had a particularly hard life, finding out that all she's known all her life and the rules she come to live by is all for naught was not an easy transition.
She resists and fights Faelan and his charismatic master Marius at every step of the way. But she slowly begins to accept things as she gets close to Marius's Druid daughter, the worldly Aelia (With her love for the fine things life has to offer, especially partying with Hollywood's best, She's a very interesting and complex character who often spices up the story), gets more control over her deadly and destructive magic, begins to fall for Faelan despite their odd circumstances and also finds more about who she's meant to be.
There are many things that make Fire and Bone work so well, apart from the well written characters, tightly constructed ingenious plot and brilliant execution, There is the magic, the romance, the mystery, the action and a feeling of every single tidbit leading up to an amazing crescendo.
Every moment I spent reading this book, I spent it marveling on how good Rachel A. Marks is and reveling in the sheer deliciousness it has to offer.
There is a story in the story itself, it has to do with characters of the past and how it affects the present, it's intriguing and it's a web I enjoyed watching unfold (The deets are quite marvelous though some parts of it could be guessed but still prepare to have your feet swept from under you).
The romance between Sage and Faelan is intense and deep, watching their feelings bloom was something I wouldn't miss. It's easy to imagine it and feel for them as they jump through hurdles after hurdles, readers will definitely resonate with this characters. I love the direction the series is taking so far, It's pretty obvious it's going to be epic as all they players are being aligned for one big showdown. Fire and Bone doesn't lack villains, monsters, mythical creatures and rich lore, It is so lush it will whet the appetite of readers who are hardcore into stuff like that (I know I certainly enjoyed it).
The ending of Fire and Bone answered a lot of my questions and set many secrets to bed while also setting the foundation for more exciting future adventures, I am so excited to see what's next for Sage as she transverses this strange magical world.
I wait with bated breath for the next book in this phenomenal series, I happily recommend Fire and Bone to any reader looking for a good time, It's phenomenal.

P.S: Lovers of Rhysand (From A Court of Thorn and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas) or just dark princes, are going to love a certain handsome and devilish Prince.

This is a well-written and well-constructed urban fantasy. Though I wasn't too attached to any of the characters in particular, they were fully realized and existed in an interesting and thoroughly developed world.  If you are looking for a new twist on mythology and the average paranormal stories will enjoy this book.

An original take on Celtic mythology. The worldbuilding is well enough, and I really like the protagonist Sage. Though she sometimes thinks of herself as a coward for wanting to run away from situations, I call that self-preservation and there's nothing wrong with that, especially if you've been left to fend for yourself for so long. Faelan is likable enough, but for me he wasn't believable enough- he's over 700 years old, but still acts sometimes like a moody teenager which I find tough to believe. And the full extent of his powers weren't fully described which I found annoying. I like Kieran a lot more, and wish the author would've included chapters from his viewpoint instead of just at the epilogue. I don't like how it seems that Lily is overpowering, or at least sharing, Sage's consciousness. Is there a plan for Lily to get her own body down the line so they could experience their own lives individually? The ending left me feeling the same towards Kieran. This story was interesting enough that I will read the next installment.