Thank you to NET GALLEY and the publisher, this is my honest review
DNF at 45%
I wanted to love this however I found myself getting confused with time jumps and character changes. I felt like I was constantly going back and checking what I’ve read.
I found it hard to relate with the characters because of the confusing jumps.

*thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Mistress of Bones by Maria Z. Medina is a powerful and gripping tale that immerses you in a world filled with magic, mystery, and complex characters. The story is rich with detail, and the author has crafted an intricate world that feels both real and magical. The protagonist is strong and multi-dimensional, facing challenges that go far beyond just survival—it's about personal growth, resilience, and discovering hidden truths. The plot is full of unexpected twists that kept me turning pages, and I loved how each chapter unraveled more layers of the world Medina created. This book is perfect for anyone who enjoys a deep, thought-provoking fantasy that’s full of surprises. Mistress of Bones is a standout novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading.

this world is so unique and bizarre. literally building cities ON the bones of gods is such an interesting concept, one which i haven’t seen before. those bones are also keeping them from falling into a void so 🤗 double cool.

as someone who struggles a bit when a story has a lot of characters, this was a tough one for me. i was a little lost with both the wide cast of characters and the time jumps. it was difficult to feel any connection to these characters. i was intrigued enough to keep reading, though, and i’m glad i stuck it out. there’s some really decent plot twists here.

while being marketed as a romantasy, it leans more on the fantasy side with the romance being a subplot. i’m sure this is why i didn’t vibe with the story. i went into with the wrong expectations.

really interesting premise and a cool world. unfortunately didn’t work for me. :)

thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and authors for this ARC. Sadly, this is a DNF for me at 56%. I have to call it quits.

The description for this reminded me of one of my favourite reads so I couldn’t pass it up.

I was left feeling rather underwhelmed by this read. I think the beginning of this book wasn’t gripping enough, especially considering the promise the premise held. I kept putting the book down to scroll on my phone - which is never a good sign for me. It missed the mark on the emotional aspect of it all.
The thing I struggled with the most was the back & forth between past & present. Especially the multiple ; days earlier chapters. I think it would’ve been easier to demonstrate relationships before everything unraveled. This would’ve built the emotional attachment to characters as well as hit the mark surrounding the aspect of deaths. I think that when someone dies right at the beginning of the book, it doesn’t serve to try to convince the readers to be sad about it afterwards.

I wasn’t fond of the main characters. Azul was 19 but acted like a 13yo. I liked Nereida and the secrecy surrounding her character but we didn’t see her enough. I think this book also had too many POVs and that didn’t work well to fluff the characters personalities. Especially since the beginning wasn’t strong enough to carry this many POVs. Even with the multiple back & forth chapters - I found it hard to root for the main FMC. I didn’t feel any attachment to these characters and this made the plot kind of unappealing to me.

I wish I had enjoyed this more than I did, but reading is subjective and I hope others enjoy this book.

A rich, unique world with a massive cast of great characters. Gothic Fantasy with a capital F—at so many points this felt like adult high fantasy rather than romantasy. A necromancer trying to bring back her sister gets co-opted into court politics while being hunted by a servant of Death. This is advertised as a swashbuckler and you know what? It really is, and good. I felt like I was watching a Three Musketeers movie but with resurrection.

It’s kind of shocking this book does so much so well. It has the opposite problem every other YA novel on offer these days has, where this story is actually adults, acting like adults, dealing with adult problems in adult ways. So refreshing. The wide cast is both a strength and a weakness: the world has so much life and the side characters are given so much due, and sometimes this pulls attention away from the main plot/couple in ways that aren’t technically wrong but do stall the action a bit. That and the flashbacks (god, the flashbacks) can make this a challenge to follow at times.

But mostly this is nitpicking. So little is technically wrong with this story that it makes the parts it handles with less grace more frustrating. Amazing world, great prose, and so many interesting characters. Read it for the swashbuckling and the bizarre world; stay for the plot twists, which actually floored me.

This book was so wonderfully written! The foreshadowing in the chapters was an interesting writing style and I loved it!

Mistress Of Bones caught my attention immediately with that cover. The description was what had me requesting it. The plot unraveled so wonderfully haunting and beautiful. The multiple 'days earlier' foreshadowing through me off though. There were so many great cliffhanger chapters but then going back in time so much was hard for me to immerse myself in it completely. I still enjoyed the story.

"Mistress of Bones" completely captivated me. The world-building is truly exceptional, creating a unique and richly atmospheric setting unlike anything I've encountered before. The intricate system of bone magic, the thrilling rapier duels, and the capricious nature of the gods all combine to create a world that feels both fantastical and grounded. It's a testament to the author's skill that this world felt so real and immersive.

The characters are equally compelling, and I quickly became invested in their stories. Azul, in particular, is a standout. She embodies everything I love in a female protagonist: she's strong-willed, fiercely independent, and possesses a stubborn streak that consistently lands her in trouble, yet she navigates these challenges with remarkable resourcefulness and resilience. Watching her overcome obstacles and grow throughout the story was a true pleasure. She's the kind of character you root for from the very beginning.

This debut novel is remarkably accomplished. The prose is sharp and elegant, reminiscent of the precise movements of a rapier, perfectly complementing the dueling style featured in the book. It's clear that a great deal of care and attention has been poured into every sentence. The storytelling is confident and assured, leaving me eager to return to this world. I devoured this book and I'm already counting down the days until the sequel!

An story taking place in an intriguing world, Mistress of Bones is about a girl with the power to bring back the dead who gets unwittingly drawn into a scheme much bigger than what she signed up for when she accidentally reveals her power to an emissary serving the Lord of Death. I enjoyed the unique premise of the story and loved watching the characters' relationships develop with each other as they dove further into their world. At the beginning, I felt that Azul de Arroyo was very naive given the age she was written at, but as the story went on I was able to see the growth in her character through the situations she was put in. Overall, I enjoyed this story and would love to read more about this world, though I will say I was a little less interested in reading about perspectives beyond Azul and Virel's povs.

This book had such an interesting concept and I was excited to get approved for this galley. However, the plot and characters fell kind of flat for me. It was still a fun time and great for a debut! Necromancy is such a fun genre/trope to dive into but can sometimes be hard to execute (yeah, I’m looking at you Gideon). Overall, I had a good time but just wish there had been more, ya know?

The premise of the book was very promising, but the jumping back and forth in time and multiple character viewpoints led to confusion on my part.

☆ Fun Factor 3/5
☆ Writing Style 3/5
☆ Characters 4/5
☆ Plot 4/5
☆ Setting 3/5
☆ Feels 4/5 (OWWW YOU GOT ME)
☆ Spiciness 0/5 (there is maybe one kiss scene if you squint)

☆FOR FANS OF: Leigh Bardugo's The Familiar and Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow

Ultimate verdict ☆☆☆☆/5

☆☆☆Best Character Award goes to:☆☆☆ Virel Enjul is my exact type of character, tailored personally to my weaknesses

Review: Sometimes Dead is Better

Atmospheric, gloriously dark and deep, and beautifully tragic characters coupled with an interesting magic system that hinges on collecting a bone from the person our necromancer Azul wants to revive equals a book I read in one sitting over the course of an evening. It was REALLY good and not at all what I was expecting from the tags.

We have Azul who can revive the dead with a bone, some dirt, and a piece of her soul who wants nothing more than to bring her dead sister back. And then in the opposite corner we have Virel Enjul, enigmatic Emissary of the Lord Death who loves his god and HATES that Azul defies death through her magic.

You see, it's marketed as a Romantasy and it's really just not; while the two leads have chemistry through their ideological differences and bickering, it never culminates in a true romance. They bicker they banter, in fact the best parts of the entire book was their dialogues with each other. And when THAT moment happened, I was utterly gutted and had to walk away. But there's none of the Romantasy tropes here; no sex, no handholding, no I love you's, no nothin' so if you picked this up because you WANTED a hot romance between a necromancer and a servant of a death god, keep walking. HOWEVER, their banter is so enjoyable and made me think about who's "side" I was on in this. Their gradual change from enemies to reluctant allies was a real treat. This is a GREAT fantasy book, not really a romance like. At all.

There were quite a few really good OH SNAP moments that made me have to lean forward in my reading chair, many good twists and turns that kept me interested. The ending sets up for room for a sequel if the author wants it and I liked this one enough that I would definitely read more. For a debut novel, this was especially excellent and I look forward to more from this author in the future, she's really creative.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you Maria Z. Medina, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

I wish I could wipe my memory to read this for the first time all over again.

I absolutely LOVED this book! The necromancy and the events leading up to grabbing the body, then the fall out of the main characters actions was absolutely chefs kiss.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.

DNFed at 58%. There’s nothing wrong with this book. In fact, the premises sounds so interesting and IS interesting. However, I couldn’t get into the plot and characters. Other people seemed to enjoy it, so I think I’m in the minority here. I wish I could have liked this more since the plot seems unique but alas, it’s not for me.

The enemies-to-lovers romance between necromancer Azul del Arroyo and emissary of death Virel Enjul is unhinged and brilliant, with tension and chemistry dripping off the page. The richly layered worldbuilding, complex social dynamics, and morally grey characters make this book a breath of fresh air. It’s an amazingly good read that will leave your brain buzzing long after the last page.

A necromancer FMC? Say no more!
This story was so good! It was such a unique style because it the characters and timeline were fragmented and all the pieces slowly get put together to create a whole! There's incredible world building and actual morally grey characters. I freaking loved this story!

I liked the concept of this book it was fun and interesting, but I felt it was hard to follow at times with lots of characters and time hoping between past and present. But overall it was still good and I liked it.

Give me all of the unhinged romances between a necromancer and an emissary of death--OMG. Maria has written an incredibly unputdownable novel.

I wasn't sure about Mistress of Bones when I started, but by the end, I loved it. Azul is a great FMC, and I really enjoyed seeing her progress through the story. I will say, I wonder how different the digital vs the physical copies will be as a definition of some key terms would have been useful. I could tell this was the debut as there was a lot of worldbuilding, which I will definitely appreciate for the second book. At times, introducing all the characters and remembering who was who did prove a bit of a struggle as there were almost too many introductions in quick succession, but by the end it worked out. I hope to read the second as I enjoyed this by the end.