Quickly after starting Only Ashes Remain I remembered how much I loved Not Even Bones and all the characters. This series has some of the best morally grey characters that I have ever read. I was so psyched to not only get a copy of the sequel, but to get a physical copy. Only Ashes Remain was one of my most anticipated releases of the second half of the year and I had forgotten just how much I liked the first installment. Even though the sequel moved away from the black market plot, I actually wound up enjoying it even more than the first book.

The characters are what made this book so great for me. Nita and Kovit are morally grey characters, but at times they were on the darker side in this book. Even though Kovit is a supernatural creature who feeds off of human pain, it wound up being Nita who had a hard time keeping her morals in check this time. I also don’t think I had mentioned this in my review of Not Even Bones, but Rebecca Schaeffer did a great job showing the reader Nita’s experience with OCD. When Nita gets anxious she struggles with compulsions to dissect bodies. While we did see more of her struggle with OCD in the first installment, because it focused on the Supernatural Black Market for body parts, we still saw how Nita struggled with these compulsions and her anxiety in this book. While Rebecca Schaeffer put a dark twist on OCD I do think that she represented it pretty accurately, but think that an own voices reader could tell you that better than I could.

The plot moved so fast and had me devouring this book in no time at all. I just tore right through this book, I had finished it in less than two days even though I was working those days. Rebecca Schaeffer balanced well written characters with the plot like a trapeze artist. Just when I started to think I might be able to set down the book for a second something else would happen and I found myself unable to set it back down for many more chapters. While I really enjoyed the first installment I feel like this book moved much faster and sunk its hooks into me much deeper. Maybe I had just forgotten how much I truly loved this series because this sequel was so much better than I had anticipated even though I was really excited for it.

Only Ashes Remain exceeded my expectations. I think that since it had been a while since I read the first installment I forgot how much I really did enjoy it, but I was reminded within the first few pages how much I love these characters. If you enjoy morally grey characters I highly recommend that you check out this series because these characters are some of my favorite morally grey characters that I have ever read. If you enjoyed Not Even Bones you will probably enjoy Only Ashes Remain even more. I also recommend this series if you are looking for something fast paced in between long reads or are trying to get out of a reading slump. I am so glad that this series is continuing because I am not ready to say goodbye to these characters just yet.

We left off in book #1 on a huge cliffhanger. Our main character Nita is coming face-to-face with the guy who she set free and then turned around and sold her to the black market. Or did he? I’m not convinced. But Nita is. She is reunited with her mother, only to truly see how slimy and irritating she truly is. Nita says no more and sets off on her own. But she reunites with our favorite Zannie–Kovit–soon and, of course, the dark adventures and terrors begin.
I wish I could truly tell you about this book, but I don’t want to spoil anything. You really have to experience it for yourself. I loved that the cast of characters expands in this book, and more than anything, I love seeing more of Kovit in this book! Give me a dark, moody book boyfriend any day! Although. Here’s the catch. This relationship reminded me of the…I don’t know what to call it…Edward and Bella…where she is the only female who is immune to his powers and is therefore more attractive to him. More or less. All of that being said, I don’t care, because I loved their fragility both together and separate. It made for such a dynamic book! There is the violence and the action and the chase…but then there is this questioning and moral greyness, and there is actual time spent to dissect it. Love it!

To be posted 9/14/19.

Ugh. ONLY ASHES REMAIN is so gray and so morally confusing and I love it. I don't think you really see this a whole lot in YA and it's rather refreshing to read. Usually it's a character making one bad decision and then ruminating on it for the rest of the book. But Nita's moral compass is a bit broken so she makes decision after decision based in part on rational thinking (in irrational situations) and in part on her EQ being rather low thanks to her mom keeping her segregated from humanity.

The big thing for me was the relationship between Nita and Kovit. Oh how extraordinarily gray and slimy that is. By gray I mean part of me was rooting for them to get together. The rest of me was having a boxing match about all the things wrong with the situation and all the things that matched with the situation, and all the things that made sense despite all these other bad things over here. Nita and Kovit do make a good couple. Except Kovit tortures people for fun in order to eat, otherwise he'll die. He doesn't actually have to torture people to eat, but he chooses to. He says its his own choice, but is it really based on the way he was raised? Meanwhile Nita's killing dozens of people without blinking an eye and has no problem going on a vengeful murder spree and the only reason she really holds herself back is because she needs to work out whether all of this will actually be better for her or not. By "this" I mean all this murdering. So they're two not great people made, in large part, from the nurturing they received as children. Does it make it okay? Does it make them a match for each other? I don't know. Yes? No? Maybe.

I just love how that situation alone made my brain whir and in a good way. But I also found myself trying to justify what I was thinking in this situation because I had such opposite thoughts for a couple like Juliette and Warner from the Shatter Me series. But ONLY ASHES REMAIN kind of addresses that, because we get to see a little bit of Kovit's former life with Henry. Henry who's very human and genuinely enjoys torturing people using Kovit as the implement of torture. Nita mentioned how much more disturbing that is, a human with no real reason to do what he's doing yet still does it and enjoys it. That's Warner. He won't die if he stops doing it and he does it just because he likes it. That's just a serial killer.

And with Nita, while Kovit is basically her first friend ever, and she's formed some pretty tight bonds with him, she still has her head on her shoulders despite a low EQ and she's constantly questioning her attachment to Kovit. She recognizes that she's basically ignoring his awful parts in order to just see his good parts (which Kovit hates) and she acknowledges that he terrifies her. But he hasn't tried to actually kill her. And Nita is not Juliette. So maybe I'm just trying to rationalize why Nita/Kovit is a better, more acceptable match than Juliette/Warner. I'm okay with it.

ONLY ASHES REMAIN made me THINK. A lot. It definitely has a racial subtext to it and not just because Nita's skin is brown. The concept of the Dangerous Unnaturals List, once that's really fleshed out, is eye-opening and horrifying all at the same time. The kelpie who helps them (whose name escapes me at the moment) really opens Nita's eyes (and mine) to what's really going on in their little world and the things pitched to protect people are really there to only serve a few (and to have those few profit from it). How apropos.

Such a great book. Such a great series. Politically poignant with some morally gray characters that really make you think without even trying. Unfortunately now I have to wait at least a year to get the next book. Damn it.

5

This series is such fun! Delightfully messed up, wildly entertaining fun. I was super excited to get back into the world of Market of Monsters (such a clever series name, by the by) after loving Not Even Bones , and this one definitely didn't disappoint!

What I Loved:

• How does the author make me adore such an antihero? By all accounts, we should positively loathe this character who preforms autopsies for funsies, who kills ruthlessly when need be. But I can't help but feel for Nita, even cheer for her, in some of the strangest possible ways. "I really hope Nita can find someone to dissect soon, girl needs some self-care and a scalpel, stat!" and "wow I really need Nita to fall in love with this other serial killer". I mean, it's weird stuff, and yet here we are.

• I said it before but it bears repeating: Holy gray morality. Actually, I don't even know if that's fair. Maybe there is no morality whatsoever. Nita is going to do literally anything to survive. Is that right? How many people is too many to kill to save yourself? I don't know, that's kind of the whole question. There are some very interesting distinctions that come up in the book, which I will be purposely vague about. Because I think these thought-provoking ideas are best answered on your own as you read the story. It's half the fun!

• It's full of excitement and high stakes! Okay there is not a dull moment in this one. I kept kind of hoping for Nina (and Kovit, I love Kovit more than I should probably) to get more down time, but alas. They were always either being hunted, or preemptively trying to eliminate threats. Nita had no idea who she could trust, if anyone, which makes sense because I don't think anyone in this world has a gold medal in loyalty. And half the fun is trying to figure out who we, the reader, thinks she can trust.

•New (and existing) side characters brought a ton to the story. I ship Nita and Kovit, hard. Kovit won me over in the previous book, and he continues to do so here. There are new characters full of moral ambiguity as well, some of whom I really enjoyed. And there's the elusive Fabricio, who I cannot figure out at all. Which is obviously highly entertaining! Is he the villain Nita thinks he is? Is he just trying to save himself too? Somewhere in the middle? I'm sure we'll get those answers!

What I Didn't:

The only thing I didn't love is that it does kind of feel like a middle book. And look, I don't mean that in a bad way even, obviously we need there to be some setup for the end, and the author does that incredibly well here. But I'd have liked perhaps a few resolutions? Regardless, it has made me quite eager for the next installment!

Bottom Line: Monsters, indeed! But whether the monsters are human, "other", or all of the above is the real question. Tons of action and fabulous characters, I will be anxiously waiting to find out how the story will end!

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC and the opportunity to read and review this book before its release date. This, however, does not reflect the opinions in my review.

First of all, let me just say… wow.

I read Schaeffer’s debut novel, Not Even Bones, on a whim from my library. The concept seemed interesting enough, but I didn’t go into the book thinking it would be my next favorite book that I would be shoving into my friends’ faces and begging them to read. For the most part, I was right. The plot was engaging, but the pacing of the novel felt off in places and I didn’t really connect with the two main characters, Nita and Kovit. But it was a solid read, so I gave it three stars. When the opportunity came to request the eARC, I shrugged and thought, “What the heck. It’ll be interesting, if nothing else, since book one left on a cliffhanger.”

I’m here to tell you that Schaeffer has DEFINITELY upped her game with her sophomore novel and sequel, Only Ashes Remain. From what I understand, she had quite a time writing it, having to basically scratch the entire first draft, save a few chapters, and completely rewrite it. Had I not read as much in the acknowledgments, I wouldn’t have been able to surmise as much. The book is THAT solid. Many of the qualms I had with the first book, such as the pacing, have been ironed out and are practically nonexistent now. The atmosphere is nice and gritty and her descriptions keep the reader engaged. I can definitely tell that she’s grown as a writer from book one to two – and wonderfully, at that.

What impressed me most about Only Ashes Remain, though, were the characters. In book one, I found Nita to be very confusing. It was hard to relate to her, as she was flip-flopping between her morals. One moment she was doing something empathetic and nice, the next she was gutting someone for the hell of it. It was just really distracting and, moreover, the relationship that Schaeffer was trying to set up with the male character, Kovit, seemed very forced – literally, since they were forced to work together or face death. I didn’t feel any sort of emotional attachment between them and so it made me not really care for whatever sort of relationship they might have.

In Only Ashes Remain, though, the stakes have changed and Nita and Kovit are free to act with a little more freedom. It was interesting to see how they behaved when they weren’t prisoners or in immediate danger of death. Would they finally see that killing is bad, not a necessary evil? Would the tentative friendship manifest into something else, now that they weren’t under direct threat of death? In some ways, they reminded me of the same characters as before – unsure and insecure. In other ways, they surprised me and showed a remarkable amount of growth – especially for teen/young adult characters. It’s hard to know who you are, as a person, when you are so young. It’s hard to stick to your convictions when your back is against the wall.

I feel the main theme of the book is both Nita and Kovit trying to determine what makes them human – or what makes them a monster. As well as coming to terms with and feeling comfortable with their own morals and that of each other’s. They each have moral lines they won’t cross and Nita, especially, is constantly redrawing these lines until she accepts that she might even be more of a monster than Kovit, who has literally only been used and branded as a monster his whole life. Both of these characters are QUITE LITERALLY the definition of morally gray and, if you’re a fan of such characters, you’ll eat this book up.

Further, Schaeffer’s descriptions, the amount of emotion she can invoke in a character by just describing their actions and not their dialogue, is astounding. Many of the characters in the book leave you questioning if you can trust them. Schaeffer uses this to her advantage and constantly leaves the reader questioning what will happen next – if this character is a friend or foe. The amount of mental gymnastics that went into even the minor characters is astounding and speaks volumes about her ability as a storyteller.

Overall, this book was vastly improved from her debut and, now that I know Nita and Kovit a little better, I’m eager to see where their journey takes them. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for book three! If you’re a fan of mysteries, monsters, morally gray characters, dark stories or just want something different than the usual YA, this is definitely for you.

Trigger warnings: blood, murder, torture, emotional abuse, a kiss between a 17 year old and a 20 year old, loss of a loved one

***I was granted an ARC of this by the publisher for the blog tour, put together by FFBC. All opinions are uninfluenced.***

NOTE: THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK
Is it the middle of the night? Yes. Am I sick as a dog? Definitely. Did I stay up until this ungodly hour struggling through coughing fits because this book was just that addictive? You bet your sweet ass I did.

Only Ashes Remain picks up literally right where Not Even Bones ends (like, literally with the final line of the first book being the opening line of the second book). Nita has escaped el Mercado de la Muerte (Death Market) and is safe in the custody of INHUP, the international organization that regulates, hunts and even protects unnaturals. But who else is in the INHUP’s protection? Fabricio, who sold Nita to el Mercado in the first place. Plus, everyone is on the hunt for Nita and her special healing abilities. With nowhere else to go, Nita will have to team back up with the torture-loving Kovit to take down Fabricio and everyone who wants her dead. If you can’t beat ’em, be better than ’em.

This series is absolutely incredible, guys. I won’t lie, the plot is a bit slow and not as fast paced or intense as the first book, which took place in el Mercado, but the character arcs are what keep you reading here.

Nita and Kovit are both such hecking interesting characters. Nita did what she had to do in el Mercado to survive but now that she’s out and seeking revenge, how far is too far? Even Fabricio, Nita’s mother, and the mob family Kovit used to work for are filled with contradictions and moral complications. Schaeffer does an impeccable job of making you fall in love with monsters and people who do monstrous things, and I cannot commend her enough for tackling such serious topics with such a delicate and nuanced hand.

Like I mentioned, the plot of this one is slower and less tense than the first book. We’re out of el Mercado and on the run (in Canada of all places lol), and ngl, a lot of hanging out and musing over what Nita has done to get to this point and the moral ramifications of that will be in your future if you pick up this book. And I usually hate slow-moving books. If shit isn’t happening, why are we here, ya know? BUT, let’s be real, we all got hooked on this series for the characters anyway, right? The world Schaeffer has built is incredible and the plot of the first book was killer, but we all remember the characters most of all. Our destructive, evil bbs are what stay with us and keep us coming back for more.

If you enjoyed Not Even Bones, you are going to fucking LOVE Only Ashes Remain. And if you read this whole review without having read Not Even Bones, sorry for the spoilers but you should still go read the series because it’s absolutely incredible. Definitely an all-time favorite and I cannot WAIT for the final book!!

Only Ashes Remain by Rebecca Schaeffer was such a great sequel to her debut novel, Not Even Bones. It continued to be gory and gritty, you know the typical aspects to any story involving black markets and body parts. It had a great story, new supporting characters that showcased even more of the unnatural population, and a small dash of romance that was both unrushed and unconventionally sweet. This series is so different from all others in YA fiction and that makes it special. I guarantee you have not read anything quite like this. This book deserves a 10/10.

But before I go any further I must warn you that this is not a story for the squeamish and whatever you do, do not trust a unicorn. They are not the fluffy, rainbow loving creatures we’ve come to love. This book showcased so many unnaturals that barely scratched the surface in the black market and all the lore associated with them was an excellent touch to this expanding world. Nita stumbles into a kelpie, a murderous horse creature that drowns their victims, a ghoul who feasts on flesh and discovers more about zannies and vampires who were introduced to us in the first book. The world became so much more dangerous with every single page.

What I love most about these books is Schaeffer’s choice to craft characters who are unafraid to take charge of their rather shitty lives and make something out of it. They are not perfect and they are not saints, but they have substance. They do not apologise for standing up for themselves and they certainly do not care for manners. You will not find cookie cutter characters here with cliché traits and fake personalities. Each one is crafted with care and work seamlessly with this dark world.

At the end of Not Even Bones, Nita was in INHUP’s custody and here we follow her and Fabricio to Toronto, Canada. She’s no longer a captive and yet she’s still running from those wanting to literally eat her. I was worried that the absence of the black market and that direct link to Nita would change things going into this sequel but it didn’t change anything. This book was just as good as the first and I devoured it, every violent morsel.

“Be rational, Nita. You can’t murder him with all these surveillance cameras around. Nita hated when her brain made sense.”

I fell in love with Schaeffer’s brilliant incorporation of Nita’s thoughts in Not EBven ones and I’m so glad she carried it on in this one as well. She’s isolated and a girl who hates people, so it only makes sense that she would have thoughts on what’s happening but have no one to voice it to. These were sporadic and perfectly placed to push the plot and provide a seamless display of Nita’s dark sarcastic personality. It was a great way to give this disturbingly cruel world some much needed comedic relief.

Let’s talk about romance. Not Even Bones pretty much had none to speak of, but here we see Nita and Kovit bond at last. Her unlikely ally turns out to be her only confidant and naturally she calls him to meet up moments after ‘meeting’ Fabricio in INHUP. I loved this newfound love between them. Despite being very different, they seem to switch roles where Nita is the one to be feared and he helps her see that monsters aren’t so easily defined by who and what they are. He actually brings her back from her killing frenzy and I started to see how hard he tries to keep his morals, even if they are grey. They had so many great, hilarious moments together and this is one that I will never forget.

“Nita found a wallet and cell phone, which she pocketed, and another gun, which she shoved in Kovit’s waistband. He gave her a look like, Why are you shoving guns down my pants? And she just shrugged like, Well, where else do I put it?”

They were so in sync that they could communicate purely on looks. Their joking around felt very natural and she never let herself forget what he did to Mirella. She didn’t forgive him but by the end of this, I think she understood more of what it’s like to be an ‘unnatural’ and how that changes one’s perception of you. Nita is an imperfect, morally questionable character and yet she grows so much and the people around here have a huge impact on that.

We learned so much more about Kovit in this book and that was one of the best parts. He explains how his ability really works and this shed a different light on him. He was no longer this evil and malicious sadist who literally gets off on others pain. He was an unnatural just like Nita. He proved how complicated they are. I really liked how he would never make excuses for what he’s done and he would never apologise for doing it either. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone and I can respect that. He reminded me a lot of Warner from Tahereh Mafi’s, Shatter Me series because he’s made to look like a bad guy but that’s not entirely true. Yes, he’s much darker than Warner and its very different worlds for them but their core character and morals seem to match up nicely. They are unlikely love interests with irresistibly, dark backstories.

Schaeffer knows how to play on your emotions and there are a lot of zingers here. Emotions are raw and when exposed they will definitely leave you feeling for every one of these murderous unnaturals.

Secondary characters become crowd favourites all the time and I must say the amount of times that Adair, a kelpie and acquaintance to Kovit joked about his murdering basement makes him a strong contender. He’s as hilarious as he is wise. He’s clever and interesting and honestly? Kind of threatening. He trades in knowledge and I can’t wait to see his role in the final book because he knows a lot about everyone.

Another surprising character was Diana, Adair’s friend and resident ghoul. She is probably the only unnatural who is willing to put herself in danger to stand up for what’s right. She is the moral compass to Adair, Nita, and Kovit and she is vital in saving their humanity. She was a great addition to the story and I can’t wait to see more of them all in the final book.

But Adair and his basement jokes weren’t the only source for humour. At one point, Kovit steps up to torture someone for information and when he threatens them with a cheese grater and they immediately respond so this became a running joke throughout the rest of the book. But now I’m curious, what the hell was he going to do with that cheese grater? Something disgusting for sure but I’m telling you, that mystery mixing with my curiosity makes this a compellingly, disturbing read.

“How was she supposed to inspire terror if she freaked out every time Kovit picked up a cheese grater?”

Do you see what I mean? It was a traumatising event for all those involved. Long lasting effects only makes me want to know more, which is definitely dark and unhealthy on my part, but that’s what these books do.

It’s deliciously dark and violent and that separates it from so many others. Schaeffer tore my heart out with the ending, no spoilers I promise! She is setting up one very dangerous conclusion and I need it right now.

[To be published September 4th on The Nerd Daily]

After the close of book one I wasn’t sure where this would take us...
Having escaped the Black Market and decided to try and rely on Kovit’s help, Nita is determined to try and avenge what happened to her.
Not quite sure who to trust, Nita ends up having to make some tough decisions. She wants her life back, but with certain people desperate to treat her as a victim, she needs to do something drastic to rectify the situation.
This book has Nita hiding out in Canada, trying to establish who she can trust and to what extent. There’s hints of murky business regarding her father and the Zebra who killed him. Her mother reappears, but the substantial part of the story focuses on both Nita and Kovit trying to reconcile their personal interests with their belief they could be friends.
I wasn’t wholly surprised by the revelation about Fabricio. However, there was definitely unexpected tension brought into the story towards the end. I liked the fact that Nita could be challenged in this story and I am very very keen to learn how this will all slot into place in part three.
Huge thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this prior to publication in exchange for my thoughts.

Oh my, this was such a fantastic read!! It's dark and bloody and doesn't really pull any punches at all . . . and that's the BEST thing about it. I cannot believe I would find such a well-crafted plot about monsters along with some of the best portrayals of the struggles real people face. This truly feels like a masterpiece series, and this sequel was not a disappointment. No slumps here! I also loved all the character interactions along with the gradual development of feelings between Nita and Kovit, which also opened up great dialogues into morals and psychological patterns. So overall, I am still reeling from the power of this book and I cannot wait for the finale of this ridiculously amazing series.

A perfect continuation of Not Even Bones. What does it take to become a monster? What happens when you become the monster you thought you were fighting? Nita has escaped Death Market, but her face is out there and she is being hunted. She not only has to find a way to escape being caught again, she has to find out who is hunting her and why. What has her mother done that has brought her family into peril? Can she stop it?

If you’ve been following the blog (or my bookstagram) for any length of time, you already know of my deep love for Rebecca Schaeffer’s debut Not Even Bones. It’s the dark, twisted, gory, relevant urban fantasy that my black little heart had been craving. I devoured it in two days—an impressive feat for me—and I immediately wanted more. My wait was cut in half when I got my greedy little hands on an arc of Only Ashes Remain, the second in the Market of Monsters trilogy, at the end of May…and devoured it in just a few days. Any trepidation I had about the sequel was proven to be fully unfounded. With Ashes, Schaeffer has done the near impossible by creating a sequel that honors the original while building on it and allowing both the characters and the story to grow. Oh, and it’s just as twisted, bloody, and unapologetically dark as the first.

Let’s get down to some specifics. First up, our anti-hero and morally screwed up MC, Nita. I very much enjoyed getting to dive deeper into Nita’s psyche and to see how she acts in a new and larger environment than the Black Market where we spent nearly all of our time in book one. Where Nita’s sole focus in Not Even Bones was escape and survival, in Ashes we see Nita shift to that deliciously gray area of vengeance. Getting to explore Nita’s single-minded focus and the slippery slope of her justifications was just delightful and, in my humble opinion, very real and relatable. In fact, Nita remains one of the most relatable female characters in YA, which is something of a feat itself considering she’s a dissection happy “unnatural” bent on revenge. She’s strong, but she has moments of intense fear and weakness, and she makes catastrophic mistakes that she often doesn’t learn from as much as she should. She takes charge of her life and owns her mistakes, and I just love her for it.

Speaking of love, lets talk a little bit about my creepy book boyfriend, Kovitz. Schaeffer takes a deep dive into Kovitz’s past and builds him up so much more as a fully fleshed out character. He is still super creepy and unsettling to be sure, but he’s also sympathetic. I love how he fully owns his decisions and refuses to let his hideous childhood make them for him. His actions are his and his alone for good and for bad. It’s impressive to have a character as viscerally unsettling as Kovitz be so sympathetic and scary all at the same time. Oh, and I fully ship Nita and Kovitz, and I refuse to apologize for it.

The world building is even better in Ashes than it was in Bones, partly due to the fact that we get to explore a larger swath of society. Schaeffer expertly layers in details about the political situations impacting our characters, as well as adding to and expanding the lore surrounding the various types of unnaturals. The unicorns, for instance, are especially stomach churning, and I don’t think I can ever look at them the same way again. I think I could read an entire book of nothing but the various myths and realities surrounding all of the different unnaturals, and every time another of them was explored it was a wonderful treat. The new characters as well as fantastic and add some much needed variety to the story. Adair and Diana are just as layered, dark, and unsettling as everyone else in this story, and I sincerely hope we get more of them in book three.

Finally, Schaeffer continues to weave her story around relevant social justice issues with a finesse and dagger sharp prose. I especially enjoyed every mention of the incredible gun violence and police brutality that are some of the hallmarks of United States culture. What is a monster, what makes a monster, what defines us, and what do our choices say about us are theme constant from Bones into Ashes, and I hope they continue into book three. Not many authors, especially YA fantasy authors are brave enough to dive into those types of problems, and Schaeffer looks them dead in the eye, making the story not only relevant, but stark, and a different type of unsettling.

I think it goes without saying at this point, but I adore this book. The pacing, plot, character development, and character arcs all shine without ever outdoing each other. It’s compelling, dark, morally messy, and unapologetically bloody and violent. Nothing is easy or simple in Schaeffer’s world, and actions always consequences…often bloody ones. I am already anxious to get my hands on book three, and it is going to be a long, infuriating wait to find out what happens after that cliffhanger.

“Saving you was the one good thing I did in my life, and I’ve paid for that kindness in blood and screams. I learned my lesson well. I won’t make the same mistake again.”

You know how sometimes when you read the sequel to a book it’s just not as good as the first? This is the opposite of that. I was blown away by how much I loved this book. I throughly enjoyed all of the machinations and cunning characters and backstabbing in this book, even more than in the first book. And I didn’t think that was possible.

Surprisingly, I remembered most of the important info from Not Even Bones. What I didn’t remember Schaeffer was able to put into Only Ashes Remain in a smooth way with no info dumps. I also really appreciate the creature explanations she adds into the story. It’s a nice bit of world building and it puts a distinction between the legends of our world and Nita’s. Like the unicorns (Or maybe I’m just reading about the wrong legends 😂).

Nita is such a complex and interesting character. We continue to see the parts of her that want to be good- like when she’s relieved about Fabricio- parts that don’t want to become the monster she believes her mom is. That being said, you can see where more and more parts of her mother are starting to come through as she becomes more determined to survive in her world. For example: “ “I will deal with the bodies.” Her voice was firm. “You will go and find Henry’s computer and get rid of all trace of those incriminating videos he was emailing you.”” This makes me like her much more as a character than if she had been a straight up villain.

I really liked Nita’s character growth regarding Kovit. It was lovely to see Nita start to accept Kovit as he is. I’m desperately hoping they’re gonna be the dark power couple I’ve been looking for in books.

I honestly don’t know how I’m going to wait for the last book.

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Omg love love love. Nita and Kovit feeling around their respective needs and desires but also how they feel about each other and the others desires is just SO MUCH LOVE. It’s so very dark and just so brilliant. And Nita’s continuing desire for vengeance and not thinking things through is so good as everyone keeps challenging her and she is trying so hard not to learn lol. I don’t know why but I love her so much.

And I love that we get more insight on what the different “monsters” are like and that they don’t all fit the stereotypes. It’s so brilliantly done.

Just read this series. Now.

My review will go live on my blog on 1st Sept

I enjoyed this one but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first one. Will still recommend and continue in series. 3.75/5 stars.

The second installment of the Market of Monsters trilogy is finally here, and it was so worth the wait. This is another fast-paced, blood-drenched installment that lives up to the promise of the first book in all categories. The characters continue their development in new and interesting directions, the action remains consistent and fairly constant, and the larger themes of monstrousness deepen in unexpected ways.

I loved Nita and her cold, analytical mind before, and another book spending time with her makes me love her even more. She's just as calculating as ever, and now she has to turn her keen mind to survival once again. Even though she destroyed the Mercado de la Muerte (aka the Market of Death or the Market of Monsters) that was keeping her and other unnaturals captive to sell off to black market bidders, she’s only in marginally less danger. Her picture has circulated online, making her a highly desirable target for anyone who wants to make a lot of money.

She desperately needs allies, and it isn’t long before she calls on her former ally from the market, Kovit. Unlike Nita, Kovit might not be a target for every get-rich-quick schemer with a gun and no conscience, but he’s still on the run from his own demons, his former employers known only as the Family. He was their pet torturer, and they want him back. Kovit doesn’t really want to go back, but he also isn’t sure what else to do. After all, he’s a zannie, an unnatural who subsists on human pain.

Kovit and Nita know how to survive and hide their abilities, but they don’t want to just survive. They want to have normal lives. Nita thinks that with a high enough body count, people will eventually be afraid enough to leave them alone, but Kovit isn’t so sure. Do people who worked for criminals ever really get free of that world? And do people with high body counts ever deserve to be happy?

Schaeffer has some really insightful things to say about what, exactly, makes a monster of the moral variety, and how that does or does not intersect with being (or not being) an unnatural. Now that Nita and Kovit are outside the Market of Monsters, they have a chance to interact with people who aren’t complicit in kidnapping, murder, and cannibalism (you know, little stuff like that), and their moral choices get a lot more complicated. What about hurting innocent bystanders, or people they actually know? What happens when they’re forced to reckon with each other, one a torturer and the other now a vigilante? They each have lines they won’t cross, but those lines don’t run parallel. At some point, they’re bound to cross and get them entangled.

She’s also clearly thought long and hard about how so-called monsters can cope psychologically. It’s not the simple hand-wringing and boo-hooing about “oh what a monster am I” that’s all too common in YA. It’s about finding ways to be okay or even proud of your survival even when the life you have doesn’t resemble the life you want. Nita and Kovit have genuinely done terrible things, some in the name of self-defense, but others with less clear-cut justifications. At what point is justification just an excuse? At what point does a person have to take responsibility?

But if we’re talking responsibility, who else bears responsibility for making people do bad things? Bad parents, corrupt governments, and public condemnation all play a part. It’s the classic nature vs. nurture debate, but amped up with a body count. None of this has a simple answer, and brava to Schaeffer for making sure that while Nita and Kovit come to their own individual conclusions, there isn’t any overall conclusion being forced on the reader. Life is dangerous and messy. Friends are hard to find and sometimes hard to keep. If there’s a moral to that, it isn’t good or evil, it’s just “keep trying.”

As much as this is about the black market and international law enforcement and racism and species-ism, it’s really just about the relationship between Nita and Kovit.

No, don’t roll your eyes. It’s not about a romantic relationship, although there are moments of quiet and intense chemistry between the two. Mostly, it’s just about friendship, and how two very damaged and confused people can still manage to have a healthy relationship based on trust and mutual support.

It might have been nice if Schaeffer acknowledged some of the humor of having people negotiating their boundaries in a very healthy way while waiting outside a torture chamber and after a murder spree. It’s not that the narrative ever descended into absurdity—actually, it was all quite sweet—but sometimes narratives just need a little humor to break up all the seriousness and tension.

That was part of why Adair worked so well. For someone who ate his victims after leaving them to rot and bloat in standing water, he was surprisingly lighthearted and humorous. He also worked well as an authority figure who could provide not just information but wisdom, in the form of reality checks and big picture considerations. His speech about always asking “who benefits?” was particularly striking.

He inspires Nita to start thinking of information as power, rather than as a means to other ends. For someone whose fondest dream is to one day attend college and do medical research, Nita is quick to lose sight of the big questions, and sometimes fails to think through every aspect of her plans. I thought this was quite realistic for someone with as many distracting challenges as Nita had—her dad was just murdered, the dark web knew her identity and abilities, and the INHUP was getting suspicious of her backstory—but still a little frustrating. But though she wasn’t terribly effective, Nita was always trying to act rather than react, and I can forgive a lot of mistakes when a character never gives up.

The ending had a few too many unanswered questions, but since the emotional arcs wrapped up so nicely I can’t be too upset. I also can’t be mad at Schaeffer for doing what literally every other YA trilogy seems to do, which is to have a mostly self-contained first book (in case the rest of the series doesn’t get picked up), and then treat the middle book like The Two Towers and end on a cliffhanger. (See also: The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy, The Nevernight trilogy, The Deed of Paksenarrion, etc. etc.) It does make me exceptionally eager for the third installment (and maybe more after that?). How can Scaheffer top herself? I can't even imagine, and I can't wait to find out.

This book was way darker then I thought it was going to be. And I have to say that I adored it page after page. The characters shinned though-out the story and I could not put it down. There is no book two syndrome in this one!! So if you are worried that this one will leave a bad taste in your mouth it won't! This is a must read and I wished it was longer.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first. Not enough action, not enough character growth.

I'm all for a villain or anti-hero who will stop at almost nothing to get what they want, but even Dexter (a comparison often made about Nita) had a code and though you may not have agreed with his methods, you could see why he did what he did. So, I expected more from Nita. She's not the hero and normally I love that, but many of her actions in this book felt unnecessary and unwarranted- not to mention her inability to learn from her mistakes.

Okay, whoa! I can remember that terrible cliffhanger at the end of book one. It was all kinds of wrong and made the waiting for book two so cruel.

This is even more intense and messier than the first. Disturbing? Yep. And I still love it!

The strength in this book is the location...which was one of book one's weaknesses. The black market got to be too boring and tedious. I knew why it was set there, but now that she's free, the story opens up and is far more engaging! This is essentially a thrilling cat and mouse chase/game.

With plenty of representation and diversity, this series is perfect for those bored of typical YA offerings. I cannot wait for book three!

A first purchase for all YA/HS collections (along with the first title if necessary). Shaeffer is an incomparable talent and has delivered something truly unique with this delightfully macabre series.

I was super ecstatic to get a review copy of Only Ashes Remain.
I devoured Not Even Bones in just a couple of sittings and was left hanging at the end. It was such a darkly compelling novel that I immediately went in search of the sequel. Only Ashes Remain did not disappoint.
Only Ashes Remain is just as compelling and stark as it's predecessor. Beyond the story, these books are amazing because there's no such thing as all good or all bad. Every character has layers and makes bad choices and good choices and is flawed in some way- including Nina and Korvit and their nemesis Fabricio. Each character justifies their choices in their own way showing that there is more than one view and sometimes those choices are terrible. And are not easy or comfortable or remotely nice.
I loved that Nina is not a NICE person. She's imperfect and justifies her actions to fit her perspective and tries to fit the world around her, but tries not to cross that line in the sand (thanks Korvit) to become a full monster.