I loved this book. This story felt very unique to me in terms of the magic world. It was an easy and cozy read (an incredible feat for a book that takes place in a 16 year long winter) with lovable protagonists and a heart felt story. I felt it hard to put the book down
Full review on YouTube

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book was 100% a cover request. I mean look at it! This has to be one of the prettiest covers that I have ever seen!

I still have not read the author's first book yet, but I could not wait to read this one because the cover is so pretty. I will definitely be reading any other books that this author publishes because the writing is just as beautiful as the cover.

I thought that Sofi was an amazing main character and I really enjoyed reading her story. I also thought that this world had a really unique magic system which I really enjoyed. I would definitely read more books set in this world.

I highly recommend this book!

This book was so good, I swallowed it whole in two days and didn't even flinch. It holds your heart in its hand, peels the layers back, filling your heart with love for it, even though you're hurting at the same time, would stitch it back altogether so you can never go back to your life without thinking about it every single day.

I will think about how Sofi found her muse in Lara, how Lara made Sofi open up, how they loved each other despite their differences and way of thinking, how Jakko and Sofi are best friends, everything about this book made me crave for even more, even though I read chunks of it altogether, it still wasn't enough. Sofi was not your perfect protagonist, she was flawed, she is broken and she would hurt you in return because of it, without regret.

I absolutely adored the significant role of music throughout the book. It was like a main character itself. Author holds a degree in Musical theatre and it is very visible in her work, Sofi and the Bone Song is a masterpiece which I would recommend every single time someone asks me for it.

Her world turned upside-down the day Lara entered her life, her rival in the competition. The one who stole her dream, her whole life, her title of Musik. But there were things that didn't sit right with Sofi about Lara winning, either she was blinded by her jealousy or rage or some other forces were actually at work. Sofi works her way through Lara. To unravel secrets she is hiding, Sofi gets close to her, maybe too close that she might end getting burned.

THIS BOOK is one of my top reads of this year hands down, queer-witches? Ancient curse? A doomed country to save? Grumpy x Sunshine trope? Enemies-to-Lovers? WHERE THE HELL DO I SIGN UP!!!!

A wonderful book! I saw it on TiKTok ages ago and was excited when it popped on to NetGalley!
This novel is a beautiful story and touches on the depth of music and self-discovery. And there is even a rivals to lovers subplot!

Sofi and the Bone Song is Adrienne Tooley’s sophomore stand-alone YA novel which follows Sofi who has trained her whole life to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a revered Musik – one of the only people in the land able to compose and play songs on her preferred instrument, the lute. The world building and the magic system was amazing. I highly recommend this one!

This musical ya fantasy standalone delivers an emotional story about finding unconditional love, valuing life beyond ambition, and challenging elitism that chokes creative expression. Sofi has trained tirelessly her whole life to apprentice with her father. He is a Musik of Aell, the only master lutist allowed to perform publicly. The five Musiks have the unique privilege to leave the kingdom and write music that will be heard and remembered for years to come. When the Musiks are pressured by the king to hand over their titles to an apprentice, Sofi is calm and determined. None of her father's other students can match her focus and precision. Following a unique, ascetic lifestyle and training regimen set by her father, Sofi's feelings are controlled and her imperfections ruthlessly crushed. However, when a vibrant girl walks in to audition with no concept of the gravity of the situation, her emotive performance stirs the Musiks despite never having picked up a lute in her life. Sofi is not only devastated to be passed over for her dream but also grieving when her father commits suicide soon after. Sofi must step in to help Lara navigate her unexpected new role as Musik while also privately investigating the magical means Lara must have used to defeat a seasoned, talented musician with no knowledge or practice of her own.

This was an engrossing, fast-paced read that still made time for the little moments that connect us to characters and their journeys. It's exciting, romantic, and dramatic. But it's also thoughtful, showing us a difficult realization about the harms of emotional abuse and self-harm. The sapphic romance develops believably alongside the rest of the plot, heart-warming and cozy. The commentary about the meaning of music is impactful and applicable to all kinds of artistic endeavors.

I enjoyed this read immensely and found it a wonderful escape from everyday humdrum concerns. Thanks to Simon Teen for my copy to read and review!

Here I am back in the world of YA Fantasy, and wow I missed being here. Adrienne Tooley has reminded me of why I absolutely love this space! Sofi and the Bone Song captivated me. It’s my favorite kind of story. One full of magic, beauty and just the right amount of heartache. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I started this book, but I’ll tell you right now it definitely did not disappoint.

We meet Sofi, a daughter who lives in the shadow of her father. She longs to become a Musik like her father, and create beautiful pieces of musical art to share with the world. However, underneath all of that, Sofi also longs to simply impress her father. She has spent her whole life training rigorously to take her father’s spot. Suffering for her art, if you will, in ways that someone her age really should not be. Sofi’s life isn’t an easy one, but the potential to live in the light of the music and the magic is what keeps her going. I immediately fell in love with her, which made the fact that I knew she had hardship coming her way all the more difficult for me.

What follows is a story of loss, of grief, and of deep and long healing. It’s tough for me to share too much without spoiling, but essentially there is a beautiful and budding relationship here that is just too good to miss. There’s a deep look at misconceptions, built by fear and competition. There are lovely depictions of learning to trust another person, and really allow them into your soul. Gah, it’s just all so GOOD. This book flew by before I even had time to really register that I’d almost finished. Sofi’s story is one that is easy to find yourself in, and the messages there are ones of love and empathy. I ate it up.

The only reasons I gave this four stars, rather than five, were mainly that the world building is a little less than I hoped for and it does have portions that are a little slow. However the magic system was perfectly rendered, so that I must give kudos for! Sofi and the Bone Song really flies by simply because it’s so easy to fall into and follow along with. The slow pacing also did allow for a really poetic writing style which I absolutely loved. So again, nothing really big! It’s all my own personal opinions.

The point is, that this book is absolutely wonderful. If Sofi and the Bone Song isn’t already on your reading list, please put it there! It’s well worth your time.

this was a very fun novel with a great sapphic romance and a well developed main character! sofi and lara were very cute and i adored their romance. this is a fantasy book so it's fantasy elements were very interesting to read about. i love music so this was perfect for me.

**I received an e-arc of this book through NetGalley**

Sofi and the Bone Song follows Sofi, who has spent her entire life training to inherit her father's title as a Musik. On the day of the auditions, however, her dreams are shattered in the form of Lara, a girl who has never played the lute, yet somehow was able to play her father's instrument perfectly. With Lara taking the title and her father dying on the same day, Sofi sets out to prove that Lara is a fraud and is using magic. But the more time she spends with Lara, and the more her beliefs become unraveled, Sofi realizes magic may be present in her life more than she ever realized, and her father's legacy may not be all that it seems.

This was a really solid standalone fantasy and I enjoyed it a lot! The relationship between Sofi and Lara was beautiful and developed quite naturally. The character development that Sofi goes through during the story felt very natural as well; it's a difficult thing to live your entire life believing one thing and then have to face that what you have been taught and what you strongly believe isn't the truth, or is even harmful to you. I think Adrienne Tooley did a fantastic job illustrating this conflict within Sofi - her desire to honor her father's memory and stay true to her beliefs while combatting feelings of doubt, anger, betrayal, and strong feelings of love. Another thing I enjoyed was the LGBTQA+ representation; a majority of the characters in the story fall under the LGBTQA+ umbrella and I appreciated that it was normal and never treated as something "other." The side characters had a lot of depth and impact on the story, which I personally think is a very important aspect of storytelling. I enjoy getting to learn about more than just the main characters, and I think Adrienne Tooley did a wonderful job with tying this story together and involving all of the characters, no matter how small.

The only downside for me and why this is a 4-star instead of a 5-star is that I did find 2 out of the 3 "twists" to be predictable. I was able to figure them out pretty quickly, something that I don't usually do because I'm terrible at it. However, this didn't take too much of the story or enjoyment away for me, which is why it's not too big of an issue for me. I loved following Sofi's story and her creativity that led to saving herself and her entire community.

We all deal differently with loss. Sofi was told how to deal with it from her father. She has a routine, with new steps that seem to have been added on the spot with each passing year. This routine of suffering is supposed to bring her closer to the Muse, to help her achieve a perfection in her art. But in truth, it's disguised abuse. When she realized that, it could've gone two ways: she could've continue in this path, because it's what she's always known, or emerge from this and create her own path.

I am a firmer believer that everything happens to us for a reason, and that we can overcome each obstacle that is put in our way. We grow stronger with each of those steps, with each of those achievement. In blowing up the walls her father made her build around her, Sofi tells a tale of hope: we all contain what is needed inside of us to achieve our goals. We just have to believe it.

Many thanks to TBR and Beyond Tours for including me in this book tour, in which I received a complimentary e-copy from the publisher, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Adrienne Tooley’s sophomore young adult fantasy novel, Sofi and the Bone Song, follows Sofi, a gifted young musician so dedicated to her craft that she is prepared to sacrifice just about anything to achieve complete mastery. In a world where only a few select adults, each an expert of their own instrument, are allowed to play music publicly and build a career around it, the stakes for Sofi, an apprentice of the lute, are overwhelming. On the day of the final auditions to determine which lute apprentice will become a Musik and enter the Guild of Musiks, Sofi is shown up by a performer who has seemingly had no training. Believing this could only be a result of the illegal use of magic during the audition, Sofi sets out on a tour around the kingdom with her new rival in order to reveal her deceit and reclaim the title that rightfully belongs to her. Along the way, she uncovers plots far beyond what she could have ever imagined and has to start questioning everything she thought she knew about her world, the people she loves, and the people she doesn’t.

On its surface, the novel seems like a fun, fantastical romp that pays homage to the power and beauty of music, but nestled within, ever so quietly at first, lies a deeply moving tale of overcoming abuse, unlearning conditioned belief systems, freeing oneself from trauma inflicted by a parent, and getting to start anew, to learn anew, to love anew. With enchanting, lyrical prose, a fascinating magic system, and thorough world building, the story becomes compulsively readable; it was so rich with secrets I desperately needed to know that I devoured the book at breakneck speed. Sofi’s relationships with her childhood friend Jakko and her love interest Lara are sweet, tender portrayals of young love, bursting with cute banter and bickering. The main characters seem exactly the right age, like teenagers with just the right amount of youthfulness, immaturity, and naivety without seeming too childish. By the end of the novel, I cared so much for Sofi and was so full of love for the entire book.

There were a few dropped threads and unconvincing moments for the sake of plot convenience, like Sofi’s near-complete lack of concern for Jakko when he disappears right before the audition, but overall these didn’t pull me too far from the magic of the story. I’d been counting down the days until this book’s release since the first day I saw its breathtaking cover; what I found within was just as beautiful. I am at peace knowing young queer girls have a story like this to read.

Adrienne Tooley has done it again. This is the second book I have read by her and I can't wait to see what she is going to publish in the future. She is masterful at creating fantasy worlds. Her queer representation is superb and I wish I had it around when I was younger. Adrienne Tooley has become an automatic read for me.

**I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

I really enojoyed this book. I loved that this book focused on musical magic. I also really was here for the hate to more Lgbtq+ story. I also really loved how this book had a mystry that was pushed the plot foward. This worldd was also so rich with all of the other magic elments in this novel. I also like this book had a complicted dyamnics between father and daughter and some important conversations about abuse and various types. I also loved the fast pace nature of this novel! But i really loved this novel and excited to read more by this author in the futute!

The myth of the tortured artist has turned real for many creatives all through past and present, like Vincent van Gogh who battled mental illness and secured his spot as the suffering artist when he chopped off his ear with a razor blade. But at the core of a creative world, the idea of suffering producing great art is absolutely false and often an overused justification of emotional abuse by something or from within. Apologies for subjecting you to some unfiltered thoughts but reading Adrienne Tooley’s recent release, Sofi and the Bone Song demanded such churning.

In a magical world where music is considered sacred and untouched by magic, only a few people are allowed to compose and perform. Each of these Musiks, respected and celebrated throughout the kingdom, are paired with a particular instrument. Sofi’s father is a lutist and has been training her since forever to take his place as a member of the prestigious Guild of Musiks in the future. Then he quietly dies and both the apprenticeship and his title are open to auditions. Still, Sofi is confident she’s meant for this. But Lara, a stranger, arrives unannounced to perform and wins hearts.

Sofi is convinced Lara was aided by magic, which is strictly prohibited. She wants to prove this beautiful girl a fraud and finally deservedly take her place as a Musik. Lara knows nothing about the workings of this community so she agrees. Over time, in a complex winter-ridden world, the two grow close and find what art individually means to them while secrets unfold. The story truly demands attention for how it brings together magic and music in the midst of ambitions and love. But the star of this sophomore novel is the exploration and dismantling of an emotional idea: that people should suffer for their art.

Rightly focusing more on the characters than the plot, the illusion of an upbringing and pain is torn away by the cries of truth. Sofi’s father believed in something she didn’t even have a chance to think about as a young girl simply learning for a destiny set for her—a title to take over, a genius to be cultivated. But it’d be a disservice to the passion that creation carries if Sofi’s music is simply described in the context of her childhood. Music is truly spotlighted in all its beautiful, evocative glory. Not just a driving force but a protagonist itself, the music evolves in the midst of Sofi’s inner turmoil and also influences the growing romance between her and Lara. This idea of a main character losing everything she thought the world had already planned for her and being forced to forge her path again shows the greatness of character-oriented stories, and also reinstates the comfort that art brings during distress and forever.

With a light romance, Sofi and Lara do give an interesting rivals-to-lovers trope but what impresses more are the opposite emotional personalities of the two: Sofi being more stern, objective, and determinedly grumpy while Lara being more innocent, softer, and simply easier to love. For a young adult fantasy, the romance does take a backseat and understandably so, but the story delivers on its promise of a girl whose plan for the future falls apart —and the journey she must make to uncover dark secrets and political deception while trying to not fall for the girl who stole her future. Also, it’s exciting to see a sapphic romance unfold in this story of queer characters where Sofi is lesbian, Lara is (probably) lesbian, and some side characters are non-binary and gay. Overall, Sofi and the Bone Song hits the right notes on euphoric creativity, a heartwarming love, rediscovering one’s path, and finding comfort in passion and people.

As a musician myself, I loved the premise of this book - the desperate need to be the best (particularly when everyone tells you that you're good, you're dedicated, but you could be better if you only worked that much harder). However, I found myself frequently questioning what happened to every single other instrument, especially as they're used throughout for smiles and metaphors. How can you compare something to a symphony if you've never been able to hear one? You wouldn't even know what it was. Why wasn't there a horn of some kind in the Guild of Musiks? Why these oddly specific five instruments? And how does the percussionist travel?

I found the third act fight between MC and love interest to be... A bit contrived and solved a little too easily. But beyond that, I loved how the two of them pushed and pulled throughout the story.

Basically, so much of the story is focused on Sofi and her internal monologue that everything else kind of falls flat and doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Still enjoyable but not a favorite.

Review posted at blog! I really enjoyed this.

I'd like to thank the publisher Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really interesting premise and a great option for fans of the Graceling Realm or City of Embers! Strong female characters, interesting focus on music, and excellent pacing.

As a musician, I am naturally drawn to stories that center music as a prominent driving theme. When I saw that Adrienne Tooley, a fellow musician and author of the fantastic sapphic story, Sweet and Bitter Magic, would be releasing a novel centering an overly-competitive musician protagonist, I could hardly contain my excitement! Sofi and the Bone Song more than met my high expectations, with fantastic chemistry between Sofi and Lara, and an incredibly interesting and well-developed world of magic and music. I would love to read more books set in this same world, because I'm kind of obsessed with the system of paper magic and Musik hierarchy that Tooley built on page.

Most of all, though, I loved Sofi as a protagonist. It's been a while since I've read a book with a protagonist that made me say, "Oh God, do I really do that?" Sofi has a fantastic competitive spirit and a single-minded drive towards her goals that sometimes makes her a little difficult to be around, which is a trait I could really relate to. It was wonderful to get to read about a protagonist with some of the same strengths and weaknesses as myself and to get to watch her cope with finding an ending different than the one she'd always worked towards. Sometimes happy endings don't look the way we expect, but that makes them all the sweeter.
My Recommendation-

If you love fantasy sapphic stories with strong characters and a Rivals to Lovers arc, you need to pick up a copy of Sofi and the Bone Song! I would especially recommend this book to musicians who might be just a *little bit* competitive deep down.

Thank you to Margaret K. McElderry Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

I am unable to provide a full list of content warnings since I was unable to finish reading this novel.

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// Quick Statistics //
Overall: 2/5 Stars
Characters: 2/5 Stars
Writing: 2/5 Stars
Setting: 4/5 Stars
Plot: 1/5 Stars
Memorability: 2/5 Stars

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// Quick Review //
While I had been looking forward to reading this novel, I was ultimately disappointed by the slow pace and could not get interested in the book. I didn’t finish reading Sofi and the Bone Song, but perhaps that’s because of a recent book slump.

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// Other Information //
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Page Count: 416 pages
Release Date: April 19, 2022
Series: None
Tags: Fiction, Young adult, Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQ+, Lesbian, Music, Magic

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// Review //
Recently I have found it very difficult to enjoy reading, so my thoughts on this novel may not be typical. I’ve heard great things about Sofi and the Bone Song and was very excited to receive an ARC. I looked forward to reading this book, but as I started to read it I became very disinterested in the story. The characters and plot did not necessarily hold my attention and I was very bored. However, it would not be fair of me to condemn this novel when I didn’t even finish it. This is why, unlike my other DNFs, I gave this novel two stars rather than one. It was very promising, I was just unable to get into the novel.

It is noteworthy that the setting and world that Tooley created are magnificent and clearly well put together. As I said, this book just did not hold my attention.

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// Wrap Up //
I recommend this to people who enjoy fantasy. Just because I wasn’t able to enjoy this book doesn’t mean you will be unable to.

Thoughts

I liked this book. It got off to a slow start, for sure, and I wasn't sure I would like it because of that. My reading experience dragged on a little bit, but I persisted because I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the characters enough. And those two things grew on me as more was revealed about the world and the characters living in it. It wasn't a fast read even when I got into it, but perhaps it is worth it for all of the careful revelations in these pages.

Pros
Lush Reading: The worldbuilding--the larger world itself, that is--might not be lush, but Sofi's much more intimate world is. Well, lush might not be exactly the right word. Her world is austere and deprived, rife with ritual and self-inflicted pain. It is the essence of asceticism, dark and gloomy and full of an intense undercurrent of want. But it is built up so well, so wholly, that it feels full and real and encompassing, as dreary as it might be.

Cruel Character: Sofi is cruel. She has the potential from the very beginning for cruelty in her austerity, her meanness. Once things start to go her way, she dives into that potential for manipulative cruelty. She isn't always cruel, and she isn't only cruel. And she does thaw a bit as the story continues. I do appreciate a character who has the capacity for such pettiness, though, especially as the lead. Characters like Sofi don't often get the spotlight, and I like that she does.

High Conspiracy: I can usually see an author's hand before she plays it, but here, the intricate plot points near the climax were so well hidden from Sofi--and from the reader, who was following along with her--that they really did only come out as Sofi was learning them. And I loved that. I loved being immersed in Sofi's world and Sofi's story well enough that I could get lost in the convoluted twists of character and backstory at play here.


Cons
Predictable Plot Stakes: Though there were nooks and crannies in this conspiracy that I didn't see coming, the stakes involved here were fairly standard. This book starts with a competition--Sofi's one chance to get the life she wants--and as soon as those stakes are set, there is a trajectory in place. Sofi can't win the competition. Sofi can't get the part. And that sets up everything that comes after. And that's all fine. It's just not a particularly interesting plot line when everything falls so neatly into line.

Fantasy Names: One of my personal peeves is when fantasy authors use complicated, linguistically off-putting names for the sake of fantasy. The characters here (thank goodness) don't have these stereotypical names, but the towns, countries, and other places of interest all feel a little too fantasy in this regard--to the point that the awkward-to-pronounce names distracted from the story a bit. These names, especially in this story that didn't need that particular fantasy crutch, felt a little too try-hard.

Communicative Conflict: The height of the emotional and interpersonal conflict in this book is pushed even higher by bad communication. And I hate that. It makes sense with Sofi--Sofi is, after all, a mean-spirited loner type (with no hate intended toward her)--but I still hate this type of conflict. I hate when the conflict could easily be solved with honest and open communication. It's a personal peeve of mine. That's all.


Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8/10

Fans of Rachel Hartman's Seraphina will appreciate the intricate and layered worldbuilding in this book. Those who liked the dangerous song magic of Kate Constable's The Singer of All Songs will like these new bone witch lute players.