I won’t lie, this was tough. I wanted so badly to like this, with the characters and the King Arthur tie ins, but… It was so slow. The tie ins that I expected just didn’t come to play at all. It feels like false advertising almost? Granted, I didn’t finish this, I got to about the last 100 pages and said goodbye. I liked the characters (Tamsin is delightfully bitter and hard edged in a way that a lot of MCs just aren’t lately—she is MEAN and I loved it), I liked the setting, but the writing and pace just weren’t working for me. I was jumping through pages just trying to get past the dialogue. If you’re someone who likes character-focused moments that don’t really drive plot but still develop the characters (sometimes; occasionally, I felt like the characters were just talking to fill the silence), this is for you. If you’re looking for action and plot twists, this might be something I recommend pulling from the local library or borrowing.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

**Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Silver in the bone was great! I loved the society and magic that Tamsin lived in. I loved how strong she is and what obstacles she overcame.

Alexandra Bracken is back with the start of a new series - Silver in the Bone. The plot revolves around mystical powers and Arthurian legends and has lots of twists and turns. The MC is a brass and headstrong girl (classic YA heroine, am I right?) and the love interest plotline is an enemies to lovers and a bit of a slow burn. I look forward to seeing where the series goes from here.

Alexandra Bracken’s “Silver in the Bone” takes Arthurian legends and mixes them with an action-packed treasure hunt reminiscent of “Indiana Jones” to weave a nail-biting story of found-family, dark magic, and nearly-forgotten myths.

Tamsin Lark was never supposed to be a Hollower. She was a mortal and lacked any magical talents, something necessary to break into ancient crypts in search of treasures contained within. That was something her brother Cabell could do, since he posed the One Vision and could see through the magics and break the curses placed by sorceresses.

But when their ne’er-do-well foster father abandons them without warning, Tamsin has little choice but to join her brother and become a Hollower and figure out how to survive on their own.

A decade later, new rumors begin to circulate about Tamsin’s long-gone father figure. They say that he abandoned them after acquiring a powerful ring from Arthurian legend, one that Tamsin sets her sights on in hopes it could free Cabell from a terrible curse.

Tamsin isn’t the only one after the mythic ring. Once the rumor begins to spread, rival Hollowers also hunt for the ring, leaving Tamsin with little choice but to partner with her rival, Emrys. The pair form an uneasy alliance and fall into a conspiracy of dark magic and deadly secrets about ghosts from a long-forgotten past as they try to claim the ring.

All of Bracken’s characters were solid and had layers of personality and secrets that the reader got to slowly uncover as the book progressed. Each did fall into the occasional rut of cliché, but clichés exist because they’re tried and true. The main character, Tamsin Lark, was an especially compelling character with her prickly personality and fierce loyalty to her adoptive brother, Cabell. Bracken did an excellent job showing the reader how Tamsin’s upbringing and betrayal from her foster father, Nash, affected how she mistrusted others and viewed the glass as perpetually half empty.

“Silver in the Bone” had a compelling plot that keeps the reader telling themselves “just one more chapter!” Bracken maintained steady pacing and kept the characters moving forward but also provided just enough downtime for the reader to get to know the characters. Towards the last quarter of the book, the plot started to seem a little muddled, but at no point was I bored or too confused to keep reading.

Bracken has great writing chops, which is unsurprising since she wrote several books before this, including the New York Times #1 bestseller, “Lore.” I have a feeling that “Silver in the Bone” will also top some lists when it comes out. Bracken wrote an interesting fantasy story that utilizes Arthurian legends to tell a story full of magic and dark twists and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat the whole way through.

Do yourself a favor and move “Silver in the Bone” up your TBR!

What a fantastic book! Absolutely loved the plot and characters. This story had me hooked and that cliffhanger has me begging for more already! Beautiful writing, yay! I feel like some characters (the guys) could've been more fleshed out, but hey what's book two for?

Another good one, from Alex!

Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars.

Wow, now I've gone and made the wait for the sequel even more difficult. I need it...

Truly the only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because it was a long book and some moments seemed to drag a bit, but overall this is a great opening to a new series. And the ending...I'm devastated. Actually the entire like last 100 pages. Please someone sedate me.

Tamsin Lark is a "Hollower," the term for people who search for magical artifacts across the globe, but the problem is that Tamsin was not born with the ability to see magic. She and her adopted brother, Cabell, were left to fend for themselves when their adoptive father disappeared searching for an artifact. Years later, Tamsin is offered too much money to refuse to find the same artifact: the Ring of Dispel, also a ring that can break any curse - including the curse on her brother which causes him to turn into a massive, hungry, deadly hound. Unfortunately, Tamsin's bitter rival, the handsome and rich Emrys Dye, is also searching for the Ring. And a powerful, if annoyingly optimistic, sorceress, Neve, is ALSO searching for the Ring.

They team up to travel to Avalon, an Otherworld realm that was separated from the mortal world, and the very same Avalon connected to the legend of King Arthur. Once there, they realize a deadly curse has been set on the land, and the stakes for the Ring get ever higher when the group slowly learns who set the curse, why, and the threat posed to the mortal world.

I love Tamsin so much. She's got abandonment issues, and a big heart and she wants to protect her brother, but she also pushes everyone else away and she's a pretty pessimistic person. Bracken served rivals-to-lovers with only one horse and betrayal trope with Tamsin and Emrys and it's killing me. She also didn't hold back when killing off characters...like a LOT of characters. Good luck everyone!! I seriously need the sequel.

Silver in the Bone was a unique blend of Arthurian legend and Celtic mythology. I love a good magical odyssey, so Tamsin and the other Hollowers embarking on a quest through Avalon to find a powerful artifact that was last in the possession of her late guardian appealed to me, especially because it meant they would encounter dark creatures, curses, and cryptic clues along the way. It also meant a race against time as well as rivals, which always tends to lead to high stakes, elements of betrayal and surprise, and cliffhanging suspense. And that can be fun.

I'm sorry to say the premise was better than the execution at times, though. The worldbuilding was flimsy at best, with elements that, while intriguing in isolation, were not weaved into the fabric of the whole or explained in a way that gave readers a solid foothold into this world so they could understand how or why things worked the way they did. The plot dawdled, too. Not creating enough movement or sense of urgency, not even in life-threatening moments.

That said, the characters were interesting and relatable, if a bit thinly constructed. Tamsin was probably the most flushed out of everyone, and I liked that she was insolent, cynical, and protective of her brother, Cabell. Neve was my next favorite because she was so frenetic and trusting. She's the sort of person who busts into your life, all color and pomp and determination, refusing to leave until you become her friend. I enjoyed Emry and Tamsin's rivals to lovers vibe as well, but there wasn't anything that stood out about it. Nothing special. It followed the same dislike-trust-betrayal formula as other YA love interests, so I could have used more from them.

The story was slow to start, but it picks up and finishes on a cliffhanger that has me curious about what awaits the characters next.

2.5 stars


Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Knopf's Books for the ARC!

Silver in the Bone is a reimagined tale of Camelot that follows Tamsin and her brother Cabell, orphaned teenagers in our modern world imbued with magic. Their adopted father, Nash, abandoned them six years ago while they were searching for a magical ring that can destroy any curse.

Now, Tamsin and Cabell have taken up the hunt on their own, competing with their fellow thieves of magical items known as Hollowers.

I really don’t know how I feel about this one. The writing was enjoyable but it was hard to empathize with Tamsin for basically the entire book. Alexandra Bracken didn’t info dump the world, but it had so many idiosyncrasies that I was confused for a lot of the story. The plot seemed to drag, and I predicted all but one “twist”.

There’s also a romance between Tamsin and rival Hollower, a spoiled rich boy named Emrys. He is written like every other morally gray bantering “enemies to lovers” teen love interest.

The bad guy was easy to predict, as were many characters arcs. And of course, being the first of a trilogy, this ended with the world in shambles and a pretty big cliffhanger.

Currently feeling generous and giving this 3.5 stars. Unsure if I’ll pick up the rest of the series. Thank you NetGalley for an eARC, all opinions are my own.

I Fricking LOVED this story. That actually is an understatement. It is a YA story, but I was instantly caught up in the story and could not put it down. I enjoyed the combination for Celtic lora and Arthurian legends that are dropped in throughout the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review! I am so grateful!

I read the "7 years ago" prologue and really felt like I was missing a whole book, but this is the first of a series. I'm not quite sure where it's all going, but I didn't feel the need personally to find out. I stopped after this (at 5%). It does feel very YA, which is just a harder age group for our libraries.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

DNF @ 47%

I've lost all interest. Maybe next time I'll try again?

This started out good but the longer I read the more my interest in it slowly fizzled out. I can't even remember what it's about now.

I wanted to like it but I guess it just wasn't for me? Although I do think a lot of readers would end up loving it.

3.5 stars!

Tamsin Lark, a Hollower, and her brother Cabell, an Expeller, team up to find their father figure in this Arthurian adventure.

This book was a bit hard for me to get into at first, but once we were halfway through things started to flow and progress quicker. The plot and world-building were kind of confusing and hard to follow, but I believe that this book has done well setting us up for the sequel and I have no doubt that I'll enjoy the next book in the series even more.

My favorite character in this book was a supporting character named Caitriona, the Priestess of Avalon. I found her to be the most interesting as the story progressed. I did have a challenging time connecting with the other characters and feeling engaged with the story. Some books you fall right into their world and become immersed in the story, creating strong attachments to the characters that grows more and more every page. I think that the second book has set us up to have better relations with the "main" characters.

This book ends with an amazing cliffhanger - I'm very intrigued to see what the character who shows up at the very end has to do with helping break Tamsin's ancient curse.

The romance wasn't really doing it for me in this book, and I'd argue it's not really a major theme. Definitely don't read this book if you're in it for the romance because I promise you'll be disappointed.

I would recommend this book to those who are into witchcraft and darker magic, complicated family dynamics, and escaping the reality of our modern day through stories.

Thank you Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers, Alexandra Bracken, and NetGalley for the copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm an Alexandra Bracken fan and have been for ages, but SILVER IN THE BONE is certainly one of my favorite books she's ever written! From the get go, I was caught in the current of her storytelling for Silver in the Bone. The potent combination of Arthurian legend and Celtic lore, a quest/journey with unexpected allies and a plot that (mostly) kept me on my toes really worked for me as a reader. I know what I like in my fantasy reads and this is prime example! I also quite enjoyed getting to know the cast of characters, and particularly liked following Tamsin (even though she definitely had her frustrating moments) and watching her story unfold until the very end of this book (with more to come in the sequel). All in all, this is yet another stellar story from Bracken, and I'm in dire need of the second book after reaching the very last page!

Whilst I would recommend this to others, I just don't think it was for me. It's a DNF for now though, rather than a DNF forever.

The first couple chapters were a little hard for me to get into . The world building was also a bit confusing in the way that the plot moved. I had no clue why anything was happening and found myself wanting to re read and hope I found more details because I thought I was missing something I hoped I would enjoy it more as it moved along but I never gained an interest in the characters or the story. I thought I would enjoy it because the synopsis sounded great to me , but I just it wasn’t up my alley. I would still recommend this book to others though.

I really enjoyed this one! I think I liked it more than Lore. I haven’t really read any Arthurian inspired fantasies so I thought that was cool and I liked how it was mixed into the modern day setting. I thought our MC, Tamsin, was really well done - she’s had a tough life with abandonment issues and her brother is the only person she has left in the world. She also struggles with being the only person in her line of work with no magic. It was fun to follow her on her quest and to see her start to let other people in and realize that she can be powerful too.

I also loved that this has kind of a darker vibe with curses, Death magic, bones, the undead, etc. There’s a bit of romance as well which I thought was cute, but there are lots of things left unanswered by the end and a big cliffhanger in the last sentence. My only downsides were that it took me a little bit to get into it and I didn’t always 100% understand what was going on. I need answers though so I will definitely be reading the next book.

Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The main character, Tasmin's rough edges and tendency for keeping everyone at a distance were appealing to me. Reader’s will begin to see the unravelling of why she is the way she is. This also gives Bracken countless opportunities to grow Tamsin over his subsequent books.

The narrative and pacing of this book left me wanting more. Actually, it wasn't until I had read through 50% of the book that I became interested in the plot; at that point, the action scenes became more urgent. The unevenness led to an inconsistent pace, which made it challenging to get through the first half of the book.

Last: the world-building. The magic system is so interesting and I hope we get to see more of it in the next book! I really enjoyed Bracken's deliberate pace in revealing the world-building. I found myself eager to find out more about King Arthur and his court because of the manner that the fantasy and Arthurian mythology blended together here. It always stemmed from Tamsin's innate wisdom, dialogues, or exploration, and it never felt like information dumps. One of the better constructed and paced aspects of this book was the world-building reveal.

Even if the book might have finished on a cliffhanger, I'm not sure it would have kept me interested enough to read the rest of the series. I can't help but leave this book wishing some of the storytelling aspects had been given greater attention.

LITERALLY SO SHOOK OVER THIS BOOK AND I ACTUALLY CANNOT EVEN THINK STRAIGHT ENOUGH TO GIVE A REVIEW BECAUSE CJSIWBDJSUW. alex bracken is literally the queen and has been since day 1. i need more.

I absolutely loved this book! The only thing I’m mad at is the cliffhanger at the end! But I will definitely be waiting (not so patiently) for the sequel to come out! It was the fact that there was some Arthurian legend elements involved that had me interested in this book. While it’s really not that evident, it’s a world where it’s not a myth and they use the isle of Avalon as the setting, it’s still an amazing book. The characters were engaging the plot was full of danger and twists and turns. This book kept me hooked throughout. I really can’t wait to see what happens next. Thanks to Netgalley for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Tamsin is surrounded by magic users, but she’s far from useless. After the disappearance of her foster father, she and her brother continue to go hunting for magical artifacts and treasures in order to make a living. But she eventually hears rumors that her guardian disappeared with a powerful artifact from the legends of King Arthur, one that is strong enough to break her brother’s curse. She also learns that she’s not the only one who believes this rumor, and it becomes a race against time and rivals to see who can find the ring, uncovering dangerous secrets along the way.

I really wanted to like this work. The premise sounds fantastic, I was excited for the incorporation of Arthurian legends, and just look at that cover. But there were many things this work lacked. The plot was quite slow. Now I don’t have an issue with this if the characters are engaging and relatable but that wasn’t the case in this instance. The characters were difficult to connect to, feeling bland and uninteresting with minimal depth or development.

This work also completely lacked any meaningful worldbuilding. There were interesting things that popped up, including creatures, curses, and magical artifacts, but there were no parameters or explanations included. There was never any real sense of danger or urgency related to the characters and their decisions, despite them being depicted in situations that should have been life threatening. And it wasn’t even until about two-thirds of the way through the book that the plot really began to move forward. These things added to overall lack of interest that permeated this work.

This 480-page book was lackluster and slow to get through; it’s not one that I can recommend, especially as it ends as a setup for the next work. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for allowing me to read this work, which will be published on April 4th, 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.