Great start for this YA fantasy book, I truly enjoyed reading this refreshing story, the world-building was fantastically done, the characters are terrific and I so need to find out what comes next. I definitely loved that the author gave us a different POV. Refreshing story with individual elements that makes this story so unique. The pacing was good you get dragged right from the start, and the ending, yes it's a cliffy so you will want to get the next one soon. I wish they do the audiobook it would be so good. Full of adventures, action, intrigue, and magic. You would love to get immersed in this new world.

This book was soooo good! With the synopsis being somewhat vague I had no idea what I was getting myself into... I'm happy to report that I loved it! Such a fun story. It was hard for me to put down!

I gave this book a 4.5 star rating.

https://gillyweedsreads.blogspot.com/2021/01/december-wrap-up-part-two.html

I’m not sure why but I found this book pretty hard to follow a lot of the beginning portion, but I do like that there was unique concepts. Overall it was an okay story...just not really my cup of tea I think

An an amazingly epic fantasy story that will take you on a wild fast paced journey. And phantoms..what?! This was definitely a new take on a world dying fantasy novel that really intrigued me! The characters were well developed, the world building was creative and the story grabs you and won't let go as you anxiously turn the page to immerse yourself in their herring journey.

Really well written! So atmospheric, the story just sucks you in. The perfect fantasy read to start off the year!

A debt fantasy story told in multiple POVs that has all those things a great fantasy is made of! It is an adventure following a cast of characters you can't help but to love that have big personalities providing all the banter and humor you need . An immersive world and story that has friendship, romance, a unique magic system/lore and epic fight scenes! 

I felt like Wilder spent so much time on the characters as well as the world. We get to be inside the head of multiple different characters and get insight on their inner thoughts as well as see the motives behind all of their actions. Ash is a non-savant that is best friend with the Heir, Marcus and a talented wordsmith. Ash is such a fun character, witty and smart, the banter between her “voice” and her is fantastic. She is definitely that sassy, independent character I enjoy so much and we start to learn might have secrets unknown to herself. Marcus is trying to prove himself as the Heir. I love his relationship with Ash and how much he cares for her as well as his relationship with his phantom. The two of them definitely had me laughing.The phantoms overall were so sassy that I was living for it!

I enjoyed that Wilder gave us an older cast of characters. So many time with YA the characters are 14-16, but these characters were between 18-26 (not all ages were mentioned, but closely around this range) It so interesting to read about characters at this age because they are older and more mature, but yet still have so much to experience and learn! Some of the side characters were some of my favorites especially Salina! I am hoping we get so much more of here in the rest of the series. We get multiple types of relationships as well, both some strong friendships and new growing friendships as well as some romantic relationships. Ash around Kaylin was too precious and loved their interactions! Kaylin's backstory is eluded to and I have my assumptions, but I look forward to learning more about him! 

This book was everything I needed to start 2021 off right! Besides the stunning cover, there is a beautiful map and glossary of terms that I absolutely adored. Wilder developed and brought to life a unique magic system that she definitely spent time on. I love that on her website is more information about bone throwers and shows how much of herself and love she put into this story and world. I am always a fan of when authors include additional material to add to the story! 

This story follows a group as they try to make their way to the Isle of Aku to train their phantoms! There are three groups of people, the savant, non-savant and marred. Savants raise phantoms which their are a variety of types with different skills. The non-savants have no phantom/magic and the marred are thrown into the Drop when children. We get to learn some of the history of the realm throughout the story as we are learning about the current political turmoil and following the travels. Of course the travel to the Isle comes with twists and surprises! 

Overall, I do not know what else I can say about this book. I am a complete gush over it and cannot wait to see where the rest of the series goes. It reminded my of Tamora Pierce's stories and just that good classic YA fantasy we all love, while still remaining fresh and unique! Multiple of the characters go through so much and inner monologues that we really get to see the growth and struggles. It was humorous and had so much banter that I was loving it! I felt like Wilder did a fantastic job breaking up all of the intense, dark scenes with those humorous, light, fun ones. I was fully immersed in the story, going through all the emotions with the characters and rooting for them along the way! The ending, although kind of how I saw this one ending, has me dying for the second book and what's to come for these characters. If you are looking for a fantasy book to lose yourself in this year, this is the one!

Review: Crown of Bones by A.K. Wilder

“War draws upon us. And if our enemies are infiltrating our lands, I may already be too late.”

Crown of Bones is a stellar beginning to a fresh epic fantasy.

We are introduced to a new world of phantoms, magic, and politics, and lit bit of romance!
Ash’s story is a powerful one, she has lived her whole life knowing that she’s a non-savant. Meaning that she can not raise phantoms.
Seamless narration that flows, along with multiple POV’s gives you an insightful overall perspective of what’s actually going on. A lowly scribe named Ash, who’s character is one I throughly enjoyed, and she is the driving force of this delightful fantasy. Little does she know that the fate has something different in store her.

This is a high stakes adventure with political power hungry individuals, and magic.
The book really centers around friendship, and hope. The friendship between Ash and Marcus is captivating and I am excited to see what the next installment has in store.
I tore through this one and stayed up lat to finish it. Needless to say that the cliffhanger at the end will have you wanting more.

A.K. Wilder writing took me by surprise, and I can kick myself for not pre-ordering this book for a giveaway.

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a non spoiler review, because you as reader need to read this book. Also, I feel sometimes I have in the past gave away to much of the plot line. This has diminished the pleasure for would be readers

What a great debut for a new exciting fantasy series.
A gripping and highly entertaining story that kept me hooked.
Excellent world building and storytelling, fascinating and well thought characters.
I can't wait to read the next installment in this series.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Crown of Bones was surely something. The characters were the best feature of the book, and I'm super interested in learning more about Ash and Kaylin. The dynamic of the group was fun to read, and I like how they all played their own parts. I also liked how some plot points the author gave clues about so you knew exactly where the story was going, but other things were completely unpredictable.

The fake curse words were exasperating almost to the point of being entertaining because I couldn't believe there continued to be new ones. I was not a fan of them. One or two would have been fine, but they just made the reading experience unenjoyable. Also the worldbuilding was clunky as so many new words and terms were just thrown at us without being explained until later. Finding out there was a glossary at the end probably would have helped me more even if it would have spoiled some of the book because I was truly confused with trying to keep up with everything.

Overall, Crown of Bones was an interesting set up for the next book in the series. I am interested in reading the second book because I did enjoy the plot of the first, and I want to see how the characters deal with everything that happened at the end of the book. I'm also interested to see if the tension between savants and non-savants is explored more in the next book.

Thank you so much to Entangled Teen and Netgalley for letting me read Crown of Bones early. Also, happy release day (January 5th) to Crown of Bones! I definitely enjoyed this book, but there were some parts that had me scratching my head- we'll see if any of those head scratching parts get changed in book 2!

Crown of Bones 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:
In a world on the brink of the next Great Dying, no amount of training can prepare us for what is to come …

A young heir will raise the most powerful phantom in all of Baiseen.

A dangerous High Savant will do anything to control the nine realms.

A mysterious and deadly Mar race will steal children into the sea.

And a handsome guide with far too many secrets will make me fall in love.

My name is Ash. A lowly scribe meant to observe and record. And yet I think I’m destined to surprise us all.

Let's start with the things I wasn't the biggest fan of- I feel like there were so many ideas in the book and so many different storylines/places the story could go that everything didn't seem like it was fully fleshed out. There were threads I thought the author was going to follow that seemed to just lead to nowhere, which was mildly jarring sometimes. I also got a little distracted by all of the different POVs that the chapters were told in. Besides those two things though, I liked all of the characters a lot. And the magic system was so cool! I love the idea of phantoms and the way you call them and how they're tied to people. I don't think the black robes were explained enough (what do they do besides casting the bones? why are they so special? why are people so scared of them?), but that didn't impact my reading too much. I also really enjoyed the way the book ended- the cliffhanger we were left on makes me want book 2 as soon as possible! Overall, Crown of Bones was a fun and promising read and I fully expect the sequel to be even better!</p>
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CROWN OF BONES was one of my most-anticipated 2021 releases, so my expectations were pretty high going in to this one. I'm happy to say that it delivered, though I must admit -- with a super interesting magic system, various realms on the brink of war, a hint of romance, and an amazing cast of characters, it was pretty much a guarantee that I would enjoy this one.

In this world, there are magic users called Savants that are classified by colors. Each color corresponds to a level of power, with red robes being the most powerful and black robes being magically gifted, but unable to wield it. Marcus Adicio, heir to the throne of Baiseen, has yet to harness his magic and call his phantom. He has one last chance to try or else he's destined to become a black robe and lose his position of Heir. His journey to the robe trials takes him and his friends on an adventure that crosses dangerous lands and even more dangerous seas...where the Mar lie in wait.

There was so much I loved about this book that I could probably go on for hours talking about each aspect, but I'll pare it down to the world-building and the incredible cast of characters. Wilder built such a unique and magical world that has so many intricate layers and so many interesting parts, each one filled with peril and hidden threats. There are humans out for blood and there are sea creatures out for blood, and these characters do an incredible amount of fighting for survival. The characters were also a huge highlight and I loved how dynamic each of them were. They had incredible strength, but were also incredibly vulnerable. Wilder also delves a little into prejudice with how the savants treat those deemed non-savant, though I wish she would've taken a different approach with that instead of ending it how she did. A small complaint, and certainly one that gets lost in all of the goodness of this story.
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Bottom line -- add this beauty to your tbr. It's such a fantastical mix of high-seas adventures, dangerous travels, feuding lands and magic trials, with a dash of romance, a delightful morally grey sailor, and deadly sea creatures that aren't as extinct as previously thought. The ending is tense and promises plenty of action and advenure in the sequel, and I can't wait to see what the next book has in store for these delightful kids.

3.5 stars. Crown of Bones tells the story of a group on a journey to reach the Sacred Isle of Aku where initiate savants train their inner phantoms, but unrest in the realms threatens their success. There are three main POV characters. Ash, a non-savant scribe with a mysterious voice in her head, is tasked to record savant training. Marcus, Heir to throne of Baiseen, struggles to control his warrior phantom and his inner rage. Kaylin, a sailor with mysterious motivations, becomes the group’s guide early in their journey.

This book has a lot going on. A unique and fascinating magic system, expansive and detailed world building, a daring journey, the mysterious Mar people, secret ancient texts, prophecies, telepathy, and war among the realms.

However, the story may have too many pieces that don’t quite fit together to form a bigger picture yet. I think Crown of Bones could’ve benefitted from a little more backstory and focus. The story jumps from one thing to the next without clearly connecting the pieces. I wish this book would’ve dug a little deeper into one or two big ideas and saved some others to be explored in future installments instead of lightly brushing on so many different topics. It’s clear that the author has a master plan for the series, but the lack of depth makes this book feels a little unfinished to me, and the cliffhanger ending just intensifies that feeling.

I enjoyed this book and I will definitely keep my eye out for book two, but on its own Crown of Bones left me with a lot of unanswered questions.

Thank you to Entangled Teen for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Crown of Bones is the first book in the new young adult paranormal fantasy series by A.K. Wilder. An intriguing story full of adventure, friendship, and romance with many twists and turns that are sure to keep you on the edge of your seat wanting more. Crown of Bones is a great debut, the cliff-hanger at the end is killing me, and I honestly don’t know how I will be able to wait for the second book since the first one is not even out yet.

WOW!!! This book may be published for teenagers but, personally, I think it will appeal to anyone who enjoys action packed sci-fi/fantasy heroic adventures. It is the first book in a new series and it is a series I really want to read more of (and I'm definitely not a teenager!)

The world building in this book is, quite simply, superb. The story is set in a world where savants are able to project and control a phantom. The phantoms come in different forms an have one or two special skills which only their savant can direct. Those gifted with this ability are identified as children and are encouraged to develop their control and skills.

This story centres around the young heir to Baiseen, Marcus, and his friend, Ash. Marcus struggles to get his phantom to form properly but once he does he is sent to the Isle of Aku to train. This is the start of an epic journey, one fraught with betrayal, double dealing, deceit and danger. It is one filled with friendship, strangers, secrets, knowledge and surprises. I found it very easy to relate to the characters and engage with the action packed story, turning the pages and not wanting to put the book down and, now I've finished it, I can't wait to read the next book(s) in the series, especially as I want to know what happens to Ash next!

Thanks to Entangled and NetGalley for my copy of this book which I have voluntarily read and honestly reviewed.

This one was definitely WORTH. THE. WAIT. Originally set to release in mid 2020 and pushed to January 2021, I can confidently say I am so glad this will be on readers radars during a fresh start. I fantastic; way to start the new year for sure. Described as a blend between Game of Thrones.. (love) and Harry Potter.. (obsessed) I knew I would be in for a real adventure with this one, and it certainly did not disappoint!

With the perfect combination of adventure, romance (yes, there’s romance), and all the mystery that comes with some sweet betrayal, the kind we hate to love and love to hate. The world building and character descriptions were also super unique and out of this world (literally). It almost gave me some Avatar vibes. It’s SO Good!

I am also very excited to know that this will be part of a trilogy!! CANNOT Wait!

Thank you to Entangled Teen and Netgalley for this free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Rating: 3.5 stars (between I liked it and really liked it according to the Goodreads scale)

Marcus Adicio is the Heir to the throne of Baiseen. He can only keep the title if he can reach the legendary Isle of Aku, master his phantom, and earn his yellow robes. No pressure, right? Along for the journey is his best friend and recorder Ash, a non-savant ward of Master Brogal who dreams of visiting all the realms of Amassia.

To be honest, I wasn't really feeling this book until the end. Here are some of the reasons:

- The lack of world building. Rules of the realms seemed to be revealed only for them to be broken in the next passage. For example, Ash wasn't supposed to be allowed to go on the journey to Aku because she's non-savant, meaning she can't raise a phantom. Then the next scene is her packing to go on the trip. We aren't shown how this came to be, and it frustrated me quite a bit to not know how she and Marcus convinced the Magistrate and Master Brogal to allow her to go. Also, the the tensions are very high between the realms and we're never given history on that. I have no idea why they're seconds away from going to war. Trade sanctions are mentioned as being a result of these high tensions, but we never find out what caused the tensions in the first place.

- The pacing. Almost 50% of this book is the journey to Aku, which happens over 11 days. Once they reach Aku, there's only a few scenes of Marcus training with his phantom even though they're there for weeks. It almost felt like he transformed from being the laughing stock of the class to a master fighting machine instantly. I would've loved to see more of his struggle and how he was able to overcome his difficulties with his phantom. If you're looking for a school-type book, this is not it.

- Insta-love. It's not the worst case I've ever read, but it's there. However, I do have to say the Ash/Kaylin scenes were some of my favorite.

- The characters are flat. Piper, Samsen, Belair, who? The side characters have no depth. Even Marcus and Ash are pretty insubstantial. Kaylin was the most well-rounded and he's not even the main character.

However, through all of that, I did really enjoy this book. It was an action-packed whirlwind of an adventure. Don't even get me started on the last 25%! I could not put it down. I didn't think I would want to read the next book, but there's so many unanswered questions that I NEED answered. Plus, a prophecy!? And you know... more of Kaylin wouldn't hurt.

The premise of this story sounded so interesting and I was immediately intrigued - this incorporates some classic elements of YA fantasy with a new world and fleshed out characters. While some elements were easily predictable and the story bought into some familiar tropes, it was still an enjoyable read. I did love the idea of phantoms and seeing the connections between person and phantom throughout the novel as well as the portrayal of friendship.

A world in which almost everyone has the ability to call their own individual phantoms from the earth. To make it even cooler, these phantoms have different abilities depending on what type they are: warrior, caller, etc. This novel follows multiple perspectives as a group of savants (those who are able to call forward a phantom) travel to Aku, the city in which they train and master their phantoms. The trip isn't a smooth one and the group manages to stumble across secrets that could shake the foundations of their realms and very likely lead to the end of days.

I liked this. It was a very different concept and exploration of the world. The characters did feel a little flat but with the multiple perspectives that is a risk you can run into. I was completely drawn in, especially towards the end. There always seems to be high stakes and burning questions with answers that just raise more questions.

Overall, it was very solidly written and the author seemed to have a strong grasp of world-building. No major complaints except for the fact that pacing could be a little wonky at times but it was necessary to the plot.

If you like darker fantasies with some violence and gore with a dash of relationships then I think you'll genuinely enjoy this one.

I think I probably would have enjoyed this story more if I had any idea what was going on. The problem with building fantasy worlds from scratch is that the reader enters the story with nothing familiar to ground themselves with, and the author needs to slowly introduce elements of the world and explain the rules of the world. I couldn't make any sense of this world, and things happened so quickly with little explanation or connection that I couldn't get into it or get to know any of the characters (of which there were too many we were supposed to care about, but none who seemed like real people). Some beautiful writing here, but not much of a coherent story.

3.75

This one took a long while for me to get into. I feel like there were way too many povs for me to really connect with any of the characters. The ending is really what did it for me because now I have so many questions that I need answered pretty much now.