I am a huge fan of fantasy books and so I was excited when I saw the cover for this one. "Mistress of Bones" is an exciting premise. I know that fantasy is big on world-building and I usually love that. However, I think that the story felt a little too cramped. It was as if everything needed to be established in Book 1 but its actually kind of short for a fantasy.

I am looking forward to seeing what comes next in the series regardless but I am hopeful that there is a little more room to breathe in the process.

Thank you Wednesday Books for selecting me for this ARC.

“Mistress of Bones” chronicles Azul de Arroyo, who seeks to bring her sister back from the dead by stealing her bones and performing necromancy, but is thwarted by the Lord of Death’s emissary. I did not enjoy this book as I found Azul to be lacking character depth and the writing quality poor.

In this fascinating debut fantasy novel and first book in a duology from Maria Z Medina, readers follow necromancer Azul del Arroyo as she attempts to steal her sister back from Death against the wishes of the Emissary of the Lord Death. As they continue to run into each other and find themselves in the middle of a complex and deadly game between a count, a witch, and a secretive half-brother. As they discover what is truly at stake here, readers find themselves pulled into a gripping and detailed fantasy novel that readers will love for its sweeping arc and incredible world-building. The depth of detail in the characters and world-building are fantastic and well-written, and this story is packed with fascinating characters and complex motivations. As a debut novel, the scale of the book is absolutely incredible, and the multiple perspectives and fascinating magic setting really pull readers into the story. Azul’s character arc and relationships with other characters make her sympathetic and a compelling protagonist, while the added drama and intensity of the big reveals and complicated hidden plotlines keep readers engaged with the book. Brilliantly written and incredibly detailed, readers will love this debut novel from Maria Z Medina.

I loved the world building and the story, but the character names were too similar to each other and I was way too confused about who was doing what and who was who.

I feel duped by the comparison to Six of Crows and The Bone Shard Daughter.

Unfortunately, Mistress of Bones was painful at times to keep reading. After completing this messy story of a necromancer trying to bring their sister back to life, and dealing with the Lord of Death, I saw the reviews had similar feelings. The world building seem to dump in areas and was heavy to absorb, and the timelines were hard to keep track of at times. This was a hard read. I think this added to the book slump I had for a long time.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

I found the characters a bit flat and the premise not up to its potential and it felt drowning to continue. But I appreciate the writing and the worldbuilding.

I will be the first to say I don’t mind time jumping/flash backs etc…. But I really struggled to figure out where I was during quite a few of these scenes… It made me constantly have to go back and figure it out which took me out of the story.

The concept was really cool, I did enjoy the characters and the settings… but unless you’re ready to be a little confused for 90% of the time this book may not be for you.

Thank you Netgalley, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts are my own and are in no way influenced by early access to this title.

dnf p 40

I'm just struggling to get into it.
The fmc is a good storyline. It's interesting and makes sense.
But the other kinda feels jumbled.

and maybe things would make more sense if I stuck around, but I don't feel drawn in either....

This was a great book! It reminds me of six of crows in the best way! This is a must read book! I finished it in a day.

This was unfortunately a DNF at 30%
I don't know how a book with necromancy could be this boring, but here we are.
The magic itself was interesting, I just struggled to care. It might be that the narrative structure just isn't for me.

Unfortunately this book was a DNF for me at 36%. I started it, hoped it would get better, and then I promptly forgot about finishing it because I was bored.

I think the pacing could have been better, as I did like the plot/story, it just could have been implemented better.

Mistress of Bones
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (3.75 stars)

This is one where I saw quite a bit of criticism, but I actually really enjoyed it! The story felt fresh, kept me guessing, and I did not foresee most of the twists. Looking back, though, everything makes sense, and I love when a book pulls that off. Recently I’ve read several books where the big twist felt like a gut punch with no setup. For me, the best reveals are the ones where the author sprinkles subtle clues along the way, creating that satisfying aha! moment when everything clicks. It also makes rereads so fun, because you notice all those breadcrumbs you missed the first time.

That said, I did have some trouble with the character and time shifts. At times I wasn’t entirely sure who I was reading about, but once I stopped overthinking and just let myself enjoy the ride, it turned out to be a really fun read.

✨ What to Expect:
• Young Adult fantasy
• Necromancy (bone magic!)
• Multiple POVs and timelines
• Grumpy/Sunshine dynamic
• Gods and their emissaries
• Very light romance (curious to see how this develops in future books)
• Light worldbuilding and magic system
Overall, Mistress of Bones surprised me in the best ways, and I’m excited to see where this story goes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books for the early edition in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 38%. I just couldn't get into this, but I think the storytelling was really fascinating. It wasn't for me, but I could totally see how this would be for someone interested in a little bit of necromantic magic.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the gifted copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

2.75 stars

I really wanted to like this one. I was so excited to read it. The description of “swashbuckling, grand, and tragically romantic” had me anticipating that this would be a five star read. Unfortunately I feel like whoever came up with that description read a completely different book than I did.

From the beginning I found the writing style a bit awkward, but I kept pushing because I thought it would get better and things would clear up. I would read entire chapters and have no idea what was happening, but I also felt like nothing was happening. There was no action or excitement. The main plot seemed to be the political intrigue, but the FMC wasn’t even involved in it in anyway. The random jumps back in time were an interesting choice and I didn’t feel like all of them were necessary to further the plot. I also found that by referring to almost all of the characters by last name had me feeling disconnected. I didn’t really care about any of them at all. I found myself not wanting to pick up the book, and had to force myself to keep going in the hopes it would get better.

Azul had the potential to be such a good character, but I found that she felt very flat. Her main motivation was to bring her sister back, but she was happy to just wander around and wait for someone to give her access to places so she could search for the bones. I also didn’t buy any kind of romance between her and Enjul. They didn’t even seem to treat each other as people in the beginning, and there was no growth in their characters individually or with each other. Suddenly Azul is thinking thoughts of love and Enjul is doodling a mask for her and we’re supposed to be impressed by this romance? There was no romance.

The count and the witch could have been interesting characters, but I felt like both of them were just kind of there. The disconnect between the characters themselves was strong, and I had a hard time trying to keep straight what was happening.


The most interesting part was towards the end. There was some excitement coming in as the confrontation with the villain approached. And then, Azul gets knocked out and we don’t see any of this big showdown. Instead we’re told what will happen in the future in regard to the villain being apprehended. I was excited to finally have some big action scene and instead was once again told what had happened and what would happen instead of being shown.

the plot of this book was so promising but sadly, the execution failed. i really struggled to get through this book and ultimately was completely lost most of the time. the time jumps between then and now gave me a headache with how unnatural they were written. there was so many characters and different povs i truly never knew who was talking half the time. this book was definitely not for me and i hope others enjoy it more than i did!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I’m so sad to say this book unfortunately did not hit the mark for me… it was very hard to stay connected and hold my attention. It took me so long to get through the book, I felt like I was just trudging through :( the premise and the idea of the book was great! I love necromancy stories but something just wasn’t clicking. I had no emotional attachment to the characters.

A super interesting concept that unfortunately misses the mark in execution. We have a fascinating dark atmospheric setting filled with bone magic, necromancy, Death, Gods, and sisterly bonds. I felt the concept of this book was so engaging, and was eager to see a sister's guilt, unique magic, and a sinister antagonist. Instead, I felt this story got really bogged down by two things: the multiple POVs, and the ever-changing timeline.

The story follows multiple characters that really pull us out of the main plot of our MFC trying to resurrect her sister using her bones. I felt that with every POV shift and return, I forgot what happened in the last chapter that we were in this person's POV. We also switch POVs at mini cliff hangers that loses all tension when we come back to that plot.

Like the POVs, the multiple timelines takes away from the tension being built in the story. This almost read more like a film where flashbacks work for TV or movies in the middle of an action scene, but in written form it's more jarring and takes the reader out of the story. I can see what the author was doing here, but the execution just fell flat in this format.

The story is fine, but it feels like the author envisioned this in her head as a TV show, and not a story. And when you do that, it can pull your audience out of the story, and make them feel like they are just watching these characters, rather than experiencing the plot with them. I often felt like I should have felt something for our MFC, but I ended up feeling really indifferent towards her and her quest because of this.

Thank you to NetGalley, Maria Z. Medina, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

hank you to Net Galley and Wednesday Books for the ARC. The blurb sounded so interesting, and I loved the prologue. The first few chapters were super intriguing, that I am so disappointed that I did not love this book.

The whole premise of this book really caught my attention and had me really wanting to love it. It, unfortunately, fell a bit flat for me. The story really could so with some streamlining. The dueling timelines and multiple POVs were a little much.