Book Review: Bonesmith is the grimdark story YA Fantasy has been waiting for
After some mediocre reads this month while attempting to whittle my physical TBR down, I’ve been desperate for a solid read. Do not be fooled by the creepy cover, because Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto was just that. I thoroughly enjoyed this dark YA fantasy, and can’t wait to get my hands on book two! Ok, but why?
How it’s pitched: “Gideon the Ninth meets the Game of Thrones White Walkers in this dark young adult fantasy about a disgraced ghost-fighting warrior who must journey into a haunted wasteland to rescue a kidnapped prince.” SOLD.
While there’s nothing necessarily groundbreaking about the plot, it’s just good fantasy. I enjoyed the world, the magic was interesting, and the characters became pretty loveable. While it’s not technically multi-POV, we do get a few chapters from a couple of the other characters. And even though the twists were pretty predictable, it was such a fun read. Preto’s writing made the world super easy to understand, even with a pretty complex magic system. I will say, the pacing is a bit slow in the beginning, but definitely picks up at the end. So what else do you need to know?
Things to Know:
Book one in an unfinished duology (book two comes out in August 2024)
Forbidden romance
YA fantasy
Battling the undead
Betrayals
A quest
Cliffhanger ending
Wren is a typical, irritating and arrogant FMC—at first. She’s supposedly the best Valkyr in training for the House of Bone (one of the titled houses in the Dominions), and makes a stupid bet before being sabotaged by her goody-two-shoes cousin in their final challenge before being granted the title of Valkyr (a ghost-fighting warrior). Apparently everyone who dies in their land doesn’t stay dead, but become ghosts unless they have proper burial rights. Let’s just say…no one seems to be getting buried correctly in this land. And those ghosts? They’re not happy about it. Side note: the action sequences are pretty cool.
I really enjoyed the physical aspect of the magic system. There are many different houses with different magical abilities, including Ironsmiths, Goldsmiths, Silversmiths and the notorious Ghostsmiths, which are supposed to be extinct, along with the Ironsmiths. Spoiler alert…not as wiped out as they thought.
We get all of two seconds with her ‘Grandma Bonesmith’, their head of the House, but that was enough. I cannot stand her. She banishes Wren to the border wall without even letting her explain herself (I get it, we gotta have a plot), but what an evil hag. The border wall feels remenicent of the Wall in Game of Thrones, except instead of ice, it’s made of bones. Yes, a bit morbid, but these deter the ghosts and ‘remnants’ roaming beyond the wall that almost destroyed their civilization in the past.
When the Goldsmith prince gets kidnapped and taken beyond the wall, Wren decides it’s the perfect opportunity to prove herself worthy of her house and being a valkyr. But along the way she has to align with a sworn enemy (who happens to be quite handsome), and together they uncover an even more sinister plot involving them both.
Julian was such a lovely character, and is the polar opposite of Wren. I loved his Ironsmith abilities, and seeing him and Wren bicker, but then slowly come to work together. He’s steadfast, and thoughtful, and full of honor, while Wren is sarcastic, and brash, and egotisical, which usually gets her into trouble. They’re very Aelin and Rowan coded. At one point Wren uses Julian’s armored breastplate as a mirror to apply her eye black—while he’s wearing it—and it’s both hilarious and annoying. She grew on me though, as did Leo, our Goldsmith prince is also a super snarky character with a lot of personality.
I honestly can’t wait for book two, because yes, there is a slight cliffhanger at the end of this book, and a LOT of reveals that you can see coming a mile away, but still make me want to keep reading. I definitely recommend going into this blind, hence why I’m being intentionally vague about these reveals, and the plot. If you don’t mind some grimdark fantasy that’s still YA, you might also love this story!
Quotes I loved:
“How brave. How heroic. You left us here to die, and you begrudge us fighting back? Fighting to survive? We need no forgiveness. We need justice.”
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“You thought standing in his shadow was cold while he was alive, but standing in the shadow of his martyrdom is colder, isn’t it?”
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“He was livid. Let him be. She’d take the rage of the living over the silence of the dead any day.”
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