Mistress of Bones has a fascinating premise and a beautifully dark tone that immediately drew me in. The concept of necromancy, bone magic, and an Emissary of Death made for a unique and compelling setup. I also really appreciated the emotional drive behind Azul’s mission—her desperation to bring her sister back gave the story a strong emotional foundation. The romance with Virel Enjul had great potential, and while their chemistry and banter were enjoyable, I wished their relationship had been explored in greater depth.

That said, I struggled with the execution at times. The multiple POVs and timelines made the story feel disjointed, and I often found myself confused about the rules of the world or the motivations behind some characters. The pacing was also uneven, especially in the middle. Still, there’s a lot of creativity here, and readers who enjoy romantic fantasy with rich lore may find plenty to appreciate.

A Necromancer and an emmisary of death?! I LOVE to see fresh subject material in the fantasy genre. If youre looking for something to cleanse your pallet of some oversaturated topics and themes in fantasy this is it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Not for me. It feels far too similar to a book I read last year that was far, far better.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. Too many POVS and the beginning was too overwhelming. Gave it an honest shot but found myself leaning towards another book.

Azul is a necromancer who wants nothing more than to bring her sister back from the dead, but Lord Death has other ideas. What initially intrigued me about this book was the plot. I haven't read many books dealing with necromancy. The best part about this book for me was the world-building. The characters and world felt developed, which allowed me to fully grasp the setting and plot points. However, the pacing and overall plot didn't really click for me. It was lacking in a general way making its ard for me to get through the book.

Favorite quote(s):

"The gods look after each other, so we must look out for our own."

"Azul del Arroyo might be your sister, but she's under my protection. If anything happens to her, you shall have to answer to me."
"And you are you?"
"Your end, if she goes missing again."

Review:

I found this book and its concept to be fascinating. I enjoyed the characters, the world, and the romance between Azul, the necromancer who was trying to get her sister back, and Virel Enjul, the Emissary to the Lord of Death. Though I wish it had gone a bit deeper between them. They had incredible banter and chemistry, but it just didn't get beyond that. But I enjoyed what was there. I also loved the sibling bonds and their strength. There were moments it felt slow and times it was confusing, mainly with it being multiple POV. I felt it could have been executed a bit better. Even with some minor issues, I found this book entertaining, and I liked that each character had their goals, even when they went against another’s. The ending was interesting, and I didn't see it coming. Overall, I enjoyed this story. I just felt like there needed to be a bit more work on its execution at times.

I cannot wait for the follow up to this book and it’s not even out yet I am OBSESSED. As a retired computer gaming girlie I was all in when I saw this was a lady necromancer but what I wasn’t expecting was the overwhelm of feelings I would end up with from the immense bonds of sisterhood. Mistress of Bones is what spooky girls dreams are made of, including a little slow SLOW burn warm fuzzies (if you’re into tall, blonde, and deadly). Crossing all my extremities that this gets a beautiful edition because I loved it.

I absolutely loved this book! Reading Mistress of Bones felt like peeling the layers off of a delicious fruit with every new reveal more tantalizing than the last. By the end of the story, I couldn’t believe I would have to wait at least a year to know how things would end. The other highlights for me in Mistress of Bones were the sisterly bond between Azul and Isadora, which was central to the story even though we don’t see much of Isadora, as well as the game of cat and mouse between Azul and Virul. The underlying romantic tension between Azul and Virul was phenomenal and I loved the pieces of world building we got in this book. It reminded me a bit of Tara Sim’s The Dark Gods so if you enjoyed that you will likely enjoy this book.

What a journey. Sad, tragic, heartbreaking... I couldn't stop reading it. A young sister has the power now, ten years after her sister's death, to revive her. She only needs one or two fingers and bones to defy Lord Death, and she travels with Lord Death's subject in an enemy-to-lovers (touch her, and I'll kill you) kind of couple. But I didn't expect the ending. Crying in the corner.

Scheduled insta post Friday 20th june

I was a bit disappointed in this book overall. I just wasn't invested in the plot or the characters, even though I really wanted to be.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for providing me with an ARC of Mistress of Bones by Maria Z. Medina in exchange for an honest review.
This romantic fantasy had a really unique premise, and the cover is beautiful and is what really caught my attention. The premise starts with lords who forged the land and anchored it with chains made from their own bones, only to now demand those bones back. That alone had me intrigued. Add in a necromancer FMC on a desperate quest to steal her sister’s body back so she can bring her back from death, and a MMC that is the Emissary of Death sent to stop her, this booked seemed to have checked all the boxes.
Unfortunately, the execution of the plot didn’t do anything for me.
I struggled with the world-building, or lack thereof, and I often found myself confused about how the magic worked, who the characters were and why I should care about them, and what was at stake. The story unfolds through multiple timelines and POVs, which can be compelling when done well—but here, it added to the disorientation rather than explaining the narrative and background. With limited background and emotional development, it was difficult to connect. There is romance and a few twists throughout, but again I found that I didn’t really care due to my lack of understanding of the characters.
While this book wasn’t for me, I think the premise was still unique and there will be readers who enjoy this type of writing more than I did.

Such a great fantasy romance! Adored the writing and the setting, and it was so easy to fall in love with the characters. I can't wait to read more of this author's work!

I am so torn on this one. On the one hand, I read the first half in one sitting. On the other, the second hand was kind of hard to follow.

This is a multi-pov story, and this didn't really work well for me. I adored Azul and the Emissary of Death's storyline, but I wish the book had just stuck with them. I loved the necromancy magic, especially with how chaotic it is in Azul's hand. Plus the push and pull between a necromancer and the religious fool who is her complete opposite but there's a romance brewing there ... it was so entertaining. Meanwhile, the additional storylines with the infant twin and Nereida and the witch--it was too confusing and I still don't understand the significance of much of it.

The narrator also really ruined this book for me. I am deeply sorry to say it but this person is officially my least favourite narrator ever. Her voice annoys me so deeply and it shaded how I listened to this book. But there was also the issue of there being multiple POVs, male and female, but they were all voiced by the same person, which made it super confusing to follow.

I might read the sequel but it will require a re-read of this first.

I wanted to love it, but I only sort of enjoyed it.

It was kind of hard to follow, and took a lot of focus to really get into the world building. When I finally understood some of what was going on, then I enjoyed it a little more, but it was still not my favorite.

The characters and plot were really interesting and it was pretty easy to connect to. While the book didn't end up hitting all the points I wanted it to with the whole necromancy magic plot and the connection of sisterhood and their dependency on each other. That was kind of upsetting, but at least some was pretty good.

Maria Z. Medina spins an excellent romantasy tale with MISTRESS OF BONES. The plot is both light and sorrowful and entirely different, and all the better for it.

2.25⭐

LIKED:
- The deities and their rule over only specific areas of this world was really interesting. To my understanding, their religions basically overruled any sort of monarchy (that’s being reductive, but still) and that’s always a bit of lore of a story that I find fascinating, especially when they are gods fabricated specifically for whatever story they’re in.
- Azul’s love for her sister against all odds was my favorite part of the story (and frankly the only thing that really compelled me to the plot). I did really want her to be able to succeed in getting her sister back even if what she was doing and how she was doing it was fraught with questionability.
- Variability in necromancy and how necromancy can be weaponized of regulated was intriguing.
- This cover is so absolutely breathtaking, the colors, the composition, the mirroring of the main imagery. It’s truly so captivating and this artist has done an immaculate job. The title is also pretty illustrative of what the book entails, especially with the emphasis on bones.

LAMENTED:
- I do not understand why the chapters and timeline were formulated in the way they were. Why were we sent back in time, like, a few hours earlier at the start of a chapter only to be shot back to the present only a few paragraphs later? And then there would be even more drastic jumps that didn’t seem to add much besides confusion. It was also too many POV shifts without it feeling that any besides Azul had any truly lasting impact (in my opinion).
- There were large swaths to the story where just…nothing happened. I did not feel like the stakes matched the pacing and it made it really difficult to get through the story. If I were not reading an ARC with the expectation of an honest review, I would have DNF-ed due to lack of motivation.
- Unfortunately, I did not care about any of these characters, Azul included. I found a lot of their decisions, or lack thereof, quite frustrating. I didn’t know what a lot of their character motivations and/or goals were within the story besides Azul and maybe Nereida. And even when I did, they felt really flimsy.
- There were word/dialogue choices especially later on in the book that felt really anachronistic in some of their more modern leanings (one that stuck out to me, was a character going “oh damn”. That’s not to say that fantastical characters can’t say “oh damn”, but the way it was utilized felt very modern).
- There is not nearly enough necromancy for a book so centered around it. It is just kind of a fleeting thought most of the time. In the same vein, there is discussion about the gods, but it feels very flippant (especially when the idea of there being more deities than just the Lords Life and Death was broached later on). Azul is supposed to be acting in direct affront to the Lord Death, and that never feels like it has any actual consequences besides Enjul initially going after her (again reductive, but still).
- Lastly, the romance (not that it was necessarily a major draw for the book) was extremely subpar. Even if not a romance, I didn’t get why Azul even cared about Enjul to begin with, even platonically. It needed to be pushed farther in some emotional direction, because I just did not care.

LONGED FOR:
- More endearing characters
- More stakes
- Less jarring time jumps

Will I read the next one? : Of this series? No. From this author? Probably not, but we’ll see.
*Thank you to SMP & NetGalley for providing this ARC!

DNF at about 50%

I was so excited about this read, since if it had a necromancer in it you best believe ill be picking it up! But unfortunately the execution just wasn't there. The beginning didn't hook me, so the entire time I just felt disconnected from the characters. Unfortunately just not for me.

Mistress of Bones is a sweeping, epic YA with some of the coolest world building I've encountered in awhile. Definitely looking forward to the author's next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc! Opinions are my own.

Necromancer Azul del Arroyo only wants one thing: to steal her sister back from Death by reclaiming her sister’s bones. But the Emissary of the Lord Death will do anything to stop her—no matter how alluring he finds her…

I wanted to love this book. The premise is so unique and full of promise—necromancy, sisterly devotion, a mysterious emissary of Death? Yes, please! The world-building was solid, and I genuinely liked the characters. But despite all that, I had a hard time staying engaged with the story.

I listened to the audiobook while reading (which usually helps me stay focused), but I still found myself struggling to get through it. There were definitely moments I enjoyed, and elements that stood out, but overall, it just didn’t quite click for me. The audiobook was well done and the narrator’s did a good job.

Not a bad book by any means—just one that didn’t fully capture me the way I’d hoped. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t want to say that I couldn’t wait for this book to end but I kind of couldn’t want for this book to end.

The multiple time lines was extremely confusing both because of the multiple POVs as because each chapter contained multiple timelines.

The world building was not well explained. There are large chunks of information dumping and it still doesn’t fully make sense with other factors described.

Lastly, there is really no romance. That’s fine but the story is not really described well in the time line. I thought this was going to be an enemies to lovers romance about a necromancer and it really wasn’t. Necromancy is such a minor element in the story.

I wouldn’t continue this if it becomes a series and I likely would not give this author another try any time soon.

⭐️⭐️