Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
You know, I was looking at my reading history from last year, and this is probably going to sound repetitive coming from me when it comes to talking about Sarah Beth Durst, but is it too early to call my favorite book of the year, even if I’m only two months into the new year?
Seriously.
The Bone Maker is so, so good. I thought I loved the authors last book a lot, Race the Sands, (and I did, I loved the heck out of that book) but she keeps raising the bar on fabulous stand alone fantasy novels.
***
The story follows five friends, twenty-five years after they destroyed the evil of their time... or did they?
Kreya lost her husband at the final battle, where her and four friends confronted Eklor. Since then she has shut herself up looking for a way to resurrect her husband, a cost to herself that she is willing to make so long as she has him with her again, but the knowledge she has gained comes from the enemy she took down and it is forbidden for a reason.
As she works to finalize the resurrection of her husband though she comes across evidence that the evil they fought all those years ago may not be as destroyed as they thought it was and a new evil may be at hand. Is it time for a new, young generation of heroes to finish what they started or is it their duty to see through what they started?
***
It’s a story about costs, sacrifice, and knowing when one needs to keep going and when one needs to stop. It’s a story about balance and trying to both find it and stick to it. It’s a story about friendship, love, and fighting for the ones you love so they can have a better tomorrow, even if you may not get to see it with them. It’s about how your story does not stop at “the end”, but keeps going until you really do reach your end.
***
This story is so, so good. Can’t wait for it to be released so I can start putting copies into hands of fellow readers.

BONE MAGIC. WOMEN. STANDALONE.

If any of those don't pull you into wanting to read this story, then that's your loss. I love the approach Sarah Beth Durst took with this story. I'm a sucker for anything bone magic.

Read this!

This was a book that had some twists and turns in it for sure. The story seemed sort of streamlined but was well written without an overload of detail. The characters felt human and likable for the most part. They were flawed like most people but kept on trying to find ways to be better and to keep trying to live no matter the problems they faced. The story seems to take place in one country or land. Not much detail about any of this world but seemed focused on the characters mostly and what they are doing in the story. There three types of bone magic and they could have been explained more but for me I think I got a decent understanding of how and what they were. The various creatures and animals were different and interesting I thought. Would be happy if she ever wrote another book in this world. Some people will definitely like this book I think and the author has written another good book that she can be proud of now.

THE BONE MAKER asks what happens after the heroic actions, the adulation, and the fame and after the story should be ended. Five people defeated an evil bone maker named Eklor twenty-five years earlier and then went their separate ways.

Jentt, who was the thief, died during the battle leaving his wife Kreya who was the group's leader bereft but determined to get her husband back. Zera returned to the seat of power and used her talents as a bone wizard to become rich but not happy. Marso was the bone reader. He couldn't deal with his visions after the battles were over and is now struggling to live. Stren was the warrior who managed to build a new life with a wife and children after the battle was over.

Kreya was a bone maker who could use bone to animate the inanimate. Since the battle, she has been studying books about the bone makers art because she was determined to find a way to make her husband live again. She needs bones and her blood to work her spell. But bones are not easy to come by. In fact, there is a major taboo in the society about bones which causes all who die to be burned to ash.

Kreya knows one possible source of bones - the battlefield where they defeated Eklor. But she needs help to get there. She tracks down Zera to make some of the talismans she needs if she is going to get the bones to reanimate her beloved Jentt. But Zera and Kreya discover something horrible on the battlefield. Eklor is still alive and still making the monsters that almost gave him victory in the last battle.

They need to get their original group back together to convince the leader of the Guild the Eklor is back and that new heroes need to be found to defeat him again. Only there are major problems with this plan...

I loved the storytelling. The worldbuilding was intriguing and the characters well-rounded. I liked the mythology. I liked Kreya's willingness to pay any cost to get her husband back even it it meant defying every taboo and breaking any law. There was a lot of philosophy in this story about the costs of choices and the consequences of them.

Fans of intriguing fantasy about what happens after "the end" will enjoy this thought-provoking story.

4.5 of 5 stars

The Bone Maker is the sort of book you don’t see too often, in that it features an “aftermath” story. That is, the battle of epic proportions has already happened. The good guys prevailed, while the evil villain was vanquished forever. Everyone rejoiced and went home happy.

Or did they? Twenty-five years ago, a renegade bone maker named Eklor used his corrupted magic to raise an army of monsters against the realm. Five heroes, led by their leader Kreya, managed to defeat him but at a great cost. Only four of them came out alive, and the fallen was none other than Kreya’s beloved husband Jentt. As the rest of the world celebrated the survivors, celebrated their victory, Kreya retreated into solitude with her grief.

But what no one knew was that Kreya had a plan, one that could destroy her if she was discovered. For Jentt’s body had not been burned according to tradition, which was designed to prevent human bones from being collected and worked by magic. Any bone maker caught doing so would be committing the highest crime of their order, but that was exactly what Kreya had in mind. Before his death, Eklor had developed a method using human bone to resurrect the dead, and unbeknownst to all, Kreya had stolen away his grimoire and perfected the spell. All this time, she had kept Jentt’s body with the goal of one day bringing him back to life.

Still, human bones being so difficult to come by, she had never been truly successful, bringing him back for only days at a time. For the spell to last, she will need a large store of bones, and there is only one like that in existence—the very battlefield where Eklor was defeated all those years before. Problem was, getting there will be dangerous, not to mention an unforgivable violation of the law. For her to have any chance to succeed, Kreya will need help. But after so long, will any of her old comrades still heed her call, especially once they find out what she’s been up to?

Not too many authors can pull off a story like this, but I was confident that if anyone could, it would be Sarah Beth Durst. I’ve been a huge fan since The Queen of Blood, and once again she has shown me why I adore her work. One of the reasons why The Bone Maker works so well is its concept. Sure, the beginning of the book may have a “postscript” feel of sorts, but once readers are introduced to Kreya and her current dilemma, we are quickly made to care about her new purpose. For even though the great battle against Eklor happened a quarter of a century ago, the tale unfolding now is a more personal one. After all, we don’t often get stories about what the heroes get up to after the final showdown, but Durst explores a possible outcome that is not so glorious, where the winners don’t all get to live happily ever after.

Another reason why I think this story has legs is the way it flowed, almost like a great season of a TV show, in an episodic fashion. Once a conflict was resolved, another one would swiftly arise and continue the momentum of the plot. Past and present ultimately came together, filling in the gaps of the last twenty-five years and beyond, including world-building details and specifics related to the fascinating bone-based magic system. Gradually, it was revealed that maybe things hadn’t ended the way our heroes thought at all.

Of course, I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention the characters. A middle-aged widow, Kreya isn’t your exactly your typical epic fantasy heroine, though writing unconventional albeit ferociously strong and well-developed female protagonists happens to be Durst’s forte. Case in point, I didn’t always agree with Kreya’s motivations and actions, but I could understand where they came from, thanks to the incredible layers of nuance woven into her character. Along the way, we also got to meet her old team, in a process that was very reminiscent of Kings of the Wyld. While each member had moved on, achieving various levels of success and stability (or lack thereof), all of them were affected by the war in some way. As far as “old gang getting back together” stories go, this one wasn’t anything too different, but the unique backgrounds and personalities of all those involved kept things fresh and interesting.

I know that I say this about pretty much all of the author’s books, but you really must read The Bone Maker to experience the wonder and surprises for yourself. Sarah Beth Durst has managed to pull off a challenging narrative by putting her characters first, building a riveting story around their lives while imbuing past and the present with the weight of history and complex magic. Truly, I never wanted this journey to end.

Spoiler free review! This book is simply amazing. I enjoyed the suspense throughout the book and the way the author really brings out the characters. If you like thrillers, I would definitely recommend this book!

Received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 4.25 stars!

The Bone Maker follows Kreya, the protagonist who can craft and wield bone magic. Not only that, she became a legendary hero 25 years ago at a great and treacherous battle that came with a terrible cost. Now, she has to get her team back together to stop a rising evil...

Really loved the bone magic in this, it felt unique and awesome, though it made me hunger for more detail. The worldbuilding was lacking, it was more focused on the plot rather than the background.

The characters were OK, but I really didn't like Amurra, a wife of one of the characters. I thought she fell into the damsel in distress & generic worrywart wife trope. They're not *bad* tropes per se, but it was offputting to me when everyone else felt different.

Zera is a drama queen (annoying sometimes), Marso was sweet, Jentt had no personality beyond "thief", Kreya x Jentt had no chemistry (lack of conversations between them, alone), and Stran was my favorite. I kept picturing him as Dwayne Johnson, ha. Kreya, the protagonist, was actually my least favorite. I actually preferred her in the beginning when she was all alone and treating her creations like friends, but when she's with her human friends, she gets pretty bossy and dull.

The action scenes were perfectly written, I legit have no complaint there! It just felt like there wasn't enough action scenes and too many 'slow' scenes that dragged on. Lots of dialogue but not always meaningful didn't help with the pacing either. I do love how the characters worked well together and felt like a team, I think there just needed to be some extra scenes to help flesh each character out. Stran and Marso were perfectly fine though.

I hope there's a prequel book written and the characters get a chance to flesh out more, it'd be even cooler if the book was about their time learning about bone magic! We could see them develop their teamwork in the process. Still, an entertaining read despite my 948592 complaints, whoops.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this world, bones are power. They are read to tell the future, harnessed to infuse talismans with powers, and used to bring life to constructs. However 25 years ago, after a bone worker used human bones to murder thousands the use of human remains has been outlawed. Few break the rules as it is seen as a slight against nature, leading to neighbors burning neighbors to avoid evil. When the heroes who brought down this evil bone worker see signs that the necromancer has returned can they convince the world of his return or will the heightened fear leave the world defenseless? And what lengths will these heroes go through to be united with others they thought lost?

This story had it's ups and downs for me. There were large portions that felt overly drawn out, but then action sequences that were perfectly paced. The reintroduction of the heroes to each other takes half the book, this the story not really picking up until halfway through. If the beginning had been shortened to about a third of what it was, this would have easily been a 4/4.5 star read for me, but I almost gave up on it multiple times. Once the story actually begins, it's a great take and had me drawn in. I had a hard time continuing reading though as I was dreading the thought of it dragging again. Thankfully, this dragging never returned and I was able to enjoy the rest of this tale.

Overall, the characters are solid, they just take too long to come together. I recommend this story to anyone 16+ who is willing to power through the slow burn beginning. If you pick this up, let me know which bone specialty you think you'd have. I would love to be able to create the talismans.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I first read the blurb for this book, I was beyond excited to read it. Sarah Beth Durst is a new author for me, so I had no prior knowledge of her previous work, despite having a few of her books on my TBR shelf for years.

The premise of The Bone Maker was very cool, and I can’t compare it to any other book I’ve read. I thought the idea was original and unique, and I really appreciated that. Unfortunately, that’s really the only thing I loved about The Bone Maker.

The characters and world overall were lacking for me. The characters have been friends and fought beside each other for a long time, but the banter and conversations had between the core characters didn’t reflect that. There wasn’t a standout character or relationship for me, so I found myself not really invested in any one character more than the other.
There was also a TON of dialogue in this, way more than necessary. Usually that wouldn’t be a bad thing, but this was borderline too much a lot of the time, and I felt it definitely took away from some of the more intense moments.

The world building could have and should have been broadened a lot more. There weren’t enough descriptive details, and I found it very hard to picture what was happening at times. I wanted to know more about the past and what happened 25 years ago, but I was left feeling like we were missing key details or stories from the past.

I also never felt like any character was ever “truly” in danger, and the main conflict of the book was not nearly as epic as it should have been. I was hoping for more tension or problems in any sense to arise, but it just never did.

Overall I’m pretty disappointed I didn’t love this more, and it just didn’t meet my expectations. There was a lot of potential with this, so I’m sad to see this fall short of that. I’m glad this is a standalone and the ending ended the way it did, because I probably wouldn't read the sequel if there was one.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

I absolutely loved this book! It is the story of what happens after the heroes save the world.

We follow our heroes 25 years after their heroic act that saved the world and ended a brutal war.

I love following older protagonists, and I especially love how morally grey every character is! We really get to see how far is too far to save someone you love. What are lines that you won't cross, and what lines will you?

I also really loved the fact that I ended up empathizing with the villain in this story! to me, that makes a GREAT villain.

We get to see an exploration of grief and trauma and PTSD. We see the heroes so many years later, and it isn't hard to imagine they could be any of the heroes from any of our favorite stories.

This was a fantastic standalone, it wrapped up beautifully and the ending was beautiful and perfect!

Now though, I want the prequel. I want their young story and I want to see how we got here!

I would like to start off by thanking Harper Voyager for sending me over a beautiful finished copy of The Bone Maker for review.

I will admit that when I requested this book I went in without knowing much about the story. The cover was the first thing that caught my attention, and then the fact that it was a standalone fantasy story sealed the deal for me. The only thing I knew was that Sarah Beth Durst was known for creating AWESOME atmosphere in her books, and this book was no exception. I think that the atmosphere in this book was one of the shining points for me. It takes place in this dark fantasy world within the mountains, where there are tiers within the mountains and tons of cliffs. It adds that extra bit of danger when it comes to exploring the world. The second thing that REALLY made this book stand out to me is the characters. I absolutely loved our entire band of heroes. There's something about a group of middle-aged ex heroes having to band together and save the world again that I absolutely love. I felt like I knew every character so well and was in the story with them.

My only downfall with this book is that the pacing just kind of felt all over the place and kept me putting down the book and picking it up. A lot of that could be because I am personally a more plot driven reader, and this is such a character driven book. There was a lot of time spent just sitting with the characters, and less time spent when they were actually out on their adventure.

Ultimately I ended up giving this book a 4⭐️ and it will definitely be a standalone that I will recommend often. I think if you were a fan of Foundryside, Kings of the Wyld, or The Bone Shard Daughter, then this is definitely one to pick up!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Bone Maker took me a while to get into. Mostly because that I was doing so many things before I actually found something completely interesting that sucked me in. It didn't take long but once it happened, well, I couldn't put the book down.

In it, you will meet so many amazing characters. I absolutely loved the bantering that happened throughout the book. It just made me smile and fall in love with them all so much easier. Then there's the betrayal.. which wasn't that shocking but I was expecting more groveling in some places. Luckily, these two were fooled twice (or something) and finally opened their eyes to what was happening.

All I can say.. is it's about damn time.

In the end, this book so good and in a weird way it's a bit bittersweet for me that this is a standalone. Yeah, I know, it is weird because I just fall so in love with books that I would expect another one to be made. Then to find out that nothing will.. well, it's just sad. I guess I will learn to deal with it all and find another book to fall in love with.

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

The Bone Maker is a well written and fast paced adult fantasy novel that falls in that wonderful adult/ya crossover space. The setting was especially unique, filled with really interesting monsters and an intricate magic system I had never seen before.

The dark fantasy element was great and provided a wonderful overtone to the book. I just wished that we had been able to get to know a few of our other characters a bit better before the end. It almost left me wishing for a sequel or a series just so I could explore them a bit more. Overall, I recommend this book to fantasy lovers intrigued by fast-paced adventure and intricate world building.

The Bone Maker is a well written and fast paced adult fantasy novel. This is my third Durst book and as always, she excelled at creating a unique setting. There were gliIttering cities and so many cool monsters and creatures. I loved the magic system! I've seen bone magic before but not quite like this. For those of you who like your magic systems to have rules, I think you will be pleased with it.

The characters were likeable but flawed. We get the most time with Kreya and Zera so you are able to get to know them pretty well. I do wish there could have been a little more depth with the other characters. Especially the villain. However, I understand that this is a standalone book and there isn't as much time to flesh out every single character the way you can with a series. Overall, I really enjoyed this and I highly recommend it to those who love fantasy and don't want to commit to a series.

**Full review will be added closer to publication date!**

The Bone Maker was a very unexpected epic fantasy standalone that I had a lot of fun with! This story follows a group of aging warriors as they have to come together once again to battle a looming threat. I really loved the friendship and chemistry the existed among this group of characters, and I appreciate how well Durst managed to develop each personality and character. One of my favorite things about this book was learning about the bone magic! Bone magic is one of those ideas that always catches my eye, and I loved discovering how the magic system worked and how everyone used it and was affected by it. This is an adventurous fantasy that kept me engaged and I'm sorry to see these characters go!

It was a touch slow to start so it’s a weak five star but any stand alone in this genre deserves rounding up!
The characterization was very well done. All of us reading this genre know the heroes defeat the villain. That’s how the story goes. I know I’ve read a few other what happens afterwards stories but this one does a great job of showing the characters in the aftermath.
Also, it’s not good when someone with necromantic magic goes a little bit off the deep end... If you’re going to have necromancy in your world it would be best if they couple be calm and ethical sorts!

Written by Sarah Beth Durst, The Bone Maker is the sequel book with no prequel. What about after the war is over? After the hero's love has died and a wall is built so no Bone Makers can get to the field of fallen soldiers and their bones?

Well, Kreya found a way to bring him back, but she needs more bones.

This is a well written, enthralling novel. We get to see adventurers, 25 years past their prime, trying to rid the world of evil while also coming to terms with their own lives. And I loved this book. And I wish that I could read the story that happened 25 years ago, to experience these people grow into the team they are in this book.

I really enjoyed that our main characters are so different from each other, and to see how much they really do care about one another. Jentt I think is a really great example of what partnership means. He stands behind her, though he tells her when he doesn't agree with what she is doing.

Zera is an amazing person who has to work through her own issues, but really shows how we are all always works in progress. Marso has gone crazy and has to find his own way back with the support of his family. Stran is just a lovable giant who wants to believe that he isn't needed anymore other than at home, but willingly steps up to help his people, even if he doesn't believe they need his help. They believe they do, so he goes.

If you are looking for fantasy with a lot of adventure and twists and turns, this is a great choice.

I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Beth Durst does it again. The world she created is a fascinating one, with a magic system that has rather macabre costs. Want to run faster than the eye can track? Want to be stronger than ten men? Want to see into the future? You can, but it’ll cost in blood and bone. The system is well thought out and I always enjoy that in my fantasy books.

The heroes in this one aren’t shiny and brand new. They’ve already survived a great battle and now they’re older and scarred, both physically and spiritually, from the trauma of the war. I have to say, I love heroes who aren’t young teens fighting the system, but instead characters who have a deep history and know exactly what the cost of fighting is. Durst also delved into a rather deep question. What exactly would you be willing to do to bring back someone you love? What would you sacrifice? How far would you stretch your morals? Combining that thought-provoking story with action and battle against a villain who seems unbeatable created a story I thoroughly enjoyed.

“Some of us are better at hiding it than others, but we are all broken. You can’t live without breaking a few times. But that doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing. It just means you’ve lived in the world.’ […]’What matters is you keep living in it, despite your broken bits—or even because of them.”

A hero’s journey is always worth telling. A myriad of adventures, people to save, and evil villains to defeat; we all know how the story goes. But, what happens after their quest is fulfilled? Why do heroes’ lives seem to end once they have saved the world? And what happens when they grow old and people still hold them to the standards they met on their youth?

All these questions are explored thoroughly in Sarah Beth Durst’s latest novel, The Bone Maker, released March 9th 2021. In this standalone fantasy novel, we follow Kreya in her quest to bring her husband, killed in the battle against an evil magician, back to life. But that is just the beginning of the story. In her journey, she rekindles her relationship with not only her former crew of heroes—Zera, Marso, Stran, and her husband himself, Jentt—but also with one of her biggest enemies, who…surprisingly might be seeking redemption?

To begin with, the magic system is quite exciting. Divided into three guilds, Durst creates a bone-based type of magic that reads both as creepily eerie and darkly fascinating. Of course, due to the rather macabre form of magic, several ethical and moral barriers arise. Where does one set their limit? Is it okay to practice necromancy only once if it is to bring a loved one back? And should you make these decisions regardless of what the dead person may think?

Sadly, both the magic system and the fantastic environment of the novel seem a bit shallowly explored. As a result, the worldbuilding is a bit sparse and does not allow the reader to create a fully-fledged mental picture of the surroundings and background of the story. Of course, writing a standalone fantasy novel with an average page number is quite complex as it does not allow as much room to focus on small details as a fantasy saga or a lengthy fantasy book. To a certain point, that lack of exploration is understandable, especially considering the careful attention paid to the characters’ relationships, as we will discuss later.

Nonetheless, The Bone Maker is an astoundingly refreshing exploration of the tradition of the hero’s journey, as it is not common to see heroes go through maturity. Leaving your heroic past aside is one difficult task when people are writing songs and legends about you, and for Kreya, becoming a hermit is the only way to do so. Zera, on the other hand, relishes on her fame and past. Stran has swiftly moved on to become a father and Marso is completely broken. All of them show the many outcomes of the passing of time, and all of them are lacking something: each other.

The way the five heroes interact with each other is definitely the novel’s greatest strength. The five getting back together is so organic and realistic that you just can’t help but root for their relationship to flourish again. Friendly banter, brief moments of shock at how much they all have changed, but also instants of easy connection…the constant comparison of their past and present relationships show how they all adapt to each other again as a team and embrace both the traits they knew and the new quirks they developed over time. And still, the five of them still work together as the cogs of a clock. Their bond is so strong that some of them only begin to learn to manage their grief and heal from the trauma of war once they all come back together; and that is one powerful message to send.

Through the character development of Kreya, the main character, we also come to understand what it truly means to trust your intuition as you grow older, but also to compromise with other points of view. Time and experience truly make you wiser and for Kreya, that is an eye-opening revelation. While the five members of the crew seem to be stuck in the past, the only way for them to become better heroes is to accept the passing of time and understanding that their new lives—even if not ideal—add that little something that they lacked when they were younger.

All things considered, The Bone Maker is quite a fun read and a great way into the fantasy world for those who are not quite used to the characteristic density of the genre. As a light read that still maintains the best traits of high fantasy, Sarah Beth Durst’s latest novel is a great pick for older and younger readers alike as it shows that age is no impediment to life, but an asset of wisdom and experience. Life does not end at 25, on the contrary: maturity turns heroes into human beings. So, get ready. Test the limits people will reach to save a loved one and discover whether you would be willing to cheat death by killing another person… for your loved one to live. For fans of Morgan Rhode’s Falling Kingdoms saga, The Bone Maker is a wonderful, entertaining novel you don’t want to miss.

Five warriors—one broken, one gone soft, one pursuing a simple life, one stuck in the past, and one who should be dead. Their story should have been finished. But evil doesn’t stop just because someone once said, “the end.”

The low-key premise reminded me of Roshani Chokshi's Gilded Wolves—obviously I was intrigued by this fantasy novel because of that alone and overall, this novel wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be.

Generally speaking, it was not terrible. Nor great. In layman's terms—meh...?

There was great potential there and I am a little surprised the author decided not to expand this to a series considering how each character brought something unique and fresh to the table, and of course, the short description below that initially won me over when picking up what I originally considered a gem:
“You’ve all heard the legends. There were five of us, tasked by the guild master to eliminate the threat posed by the rogue bone maker Eklor.” She held up one finger. “Kreya, our bone maker, a rising star in the guild, chosen for possessing a power that could rival Eklor’s— if she lived long enough to hone it.” A second finger. “Zera . . . that’s me, my loves.” Her audience cooed appreciatively, and Kreya rolled her eyes. “Bone wizard. Unknown until then, but soon to be unrivaled.” Third. “Marso, a bone reader, with a unique gift of seeing the truth of the past, present, and future that far exceeded the skills of other bone readers.” Four. “Stran, a warrior with experience in using bone talismans to enhance his already prodigious strength.” And five. “Jentt, a reformed thief, who specialized in using talismans of speed and stealth to win his battles.”

“The legend says that the guild master tasked five, but he did not. He tasked only one. Kreya. She chose the rest of us. All that befell us is her fault. All the glory, and all the pain.”

That sounded good on paper, right? But the author, in my opinion, didn’t deliver. I felt like I was just going through the motions when reading this and truthfully, I was a bit bored by the halfway point despite finally meeting the rest of the original crew besides Kreya, Zera, and recently resurrected Jentt, who are each dealing with their own struggles/new lives after their disbandment and war.

More so, what made this a somewhat taxing read was the main character, Kreya. I honestly didn't care for her. And more times than not, my primary focus was on Zera, Marso, Stran and less frequently Jentt. I understand her husband died but for her to just abandon her crew/”best friends” after his sudden death (that she caused btw) and to then—after 25 years—go out to seek them for help/guidance in bringing back her dead husband and to save the world (again). Yeah no. I wasn’t feeling that. I would have gladly told her to fuck off.

Altogether, what I disliked—Kreya, slow-going storyline, lack of perspective of the other characters minus MC, did I mention Kreya?, lack of world-building, the abrupt ending (WTF was that?!) that could’ve been more fleshed out, and despite it being an adult fantasy (40’s + 50’s aged team), the strong YA vibes I got was not my cup of tea.

One of the few positives of this book that I really enjoyed was the concept of bone making, bone reading, magic, special use of talisman, etc. The magic system really intrigued me and it was something I haven’t seen in other adult *cough*YA with older characters*cough* fantasy books I have read thus far. I hope to see more of this in the future.