Bonesmith Review Book Review

Bonesmith
by Nicki Pau Preto

Release Date: July 25, 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Age Range: Young Adult

Series: House of the Dead

Goodreads Avg. Rating: 4.24 stars

I received the Fairyloot edition and it is so pretty. That's my first thought. Well, I had already heard of the book and thought the premise sounded cool enough. Then seeing the artwork they came up with was amazing. Upon actually starting the book our character is an arrogant showboat.

The world where this story takes place is quite interesting. Most of the world doesn't have magic it is only here in the New Domions. The country is divided up into lands where different types of magic are strongest and thus controlled by those houses. The houses must also work across the territories to help the populace of course. There is the House of Bone, Iron, Gold, Silver, and Stone. Two more that are either extinct or almost there are the wood smiths and the ghost smiths. These will all be covered more in the magic section. Now what we have been told about this kingdom is that it was founded in its current state centuries ago by a family fleeing their dying lands, the Dominions. They made treaties with House Iron to get control and unite all the areas to form the current state and would become House Gold.

Magic is only found here since it comes from the land. No exact explanation is given as to why it doesn't appear to be found anywhere else in the world though. Each of the Houses is so named based on their magical affinity. Such as House Bone have control over bones. This means that they are almost necromancers. They help break the specific bone of a deceased that would hold the spirit tethered to it. This makes their house necessary for the whole of the Dominions as the dead will rise every time. People trained from these houses are called smiths and referred to as Smiths. There is generally a breakdown of three different classifications of abilities per house that a person could have. The valkyr is a warrior, the reaper severs souls, and the (fabricators) craft weapons from bones.

Bonesmith follows Wren Graven. She is technically an heir to her house, The House of Bone, however treated pretty badly by her family. Wren is determined to gain their affection or at least attention by being the best. Also by making general mischief (such as climbing the library bookshelves). While Wren didn't care to acquire much book smarts herself, she does have very good intuition and battle skills. Through the book, we get to see her get better at admitting when she doesn't know everything at least. From the beginning though she is a bit of a showboat. Wren does have skill but she is a teenager and thus easily goaded into a trap.

 

A surprise that I now ruin for you is that we will see from two other characters, if only briefly. This does take almost to the halfway point to happen though. We will get to see from Prince Leo after he has been kidnapped. Leo presents a charismatic lazy front most of the time but he is very smart. He uses his charm to gain information and his chapters were truly delightful. Then we get to see Julien. Julien is a more complicated character. He has been raised his whole life to think attachments and caring make an Iron-Smith weak. He is loyal to a fault and cares about the people of the realm though.

Wren has been training most of her life to become a valkyr, the warrior of The House of Bone. Now on the eve of her final test things begin to unravel. After a betrayal lands Wren at the Breachfort in disgrace she is determined to prove herself to her father. Unfortunately undead active at the fort is almost nonexistent. A royal inspection might be her chance. While on a routine patrol, they are attacked and Prince Leo is taken. Wren sees that this could be her golden ticket while also generally wanting the one person who ever called her a friend to be safe. The Breach is different from everything Wren thought. She enlists the aid of Julien to find the prince, though what happens to him afterward is up for debate. As more enemies' than the undead try to stop them Wren will have to question everything she knows.

This book took several twists that I was not expecting. One "surprise" was pretty much spelled out early on through. While Wren could be stubborn at times there were good intentions to most of her actions. The book would have consequences for her curiosity which while a little frustrating is probably realistic. She grew as a person from her experiences in the Breach. Still, she did act slightly naive at the ending portion. I understand wanting answers and the justifications she made to herself were almost sound. You could tell she changed though in how she approached the situation after learning some truths. This book turned out really good. I liked the setup for future books. Wondering if we will still mostly be following Wren in the next ones or if there will be more character POV's. Hopefully, in the next one, we will get a little more world-building and lore. Though considering where our characters are going not sure we will get more than lore and magic additions. The author has just recently released the cover design for the sequel, Ghostsmith, and it looks pretty cool. This is also apparently going to be a duology so we will have to see if it wraps up well.

Thi book can be found at several fine retailers like the below:

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