Different concept from I have read before with the polar bears. Very slow progress for almost the entirety of the book. The last chapters resolve the story too rapidly and they feel rushed.

A captivating tale of love and treachery, myths and legends. I enjoyed the story and characters and would recommend.

I didn't connect with the characters as much as I wanted to in this one, but I really liked the unique premise and the world-building!

"Kyra Whitton's 'A Burden of Ice and Bone' delivers a spellbinding tale of courage, love, and self-discovery set in a frozen kingdom. Dira Cloon, whose life revolves around the necessity of wielding a gun, finds herself facing a pivotal moment when she encounters a majestic white bear. The bear's presence awakens something deep within Dira, challenging her beliefs and her loyalty to her family's traditions.

As Dira embarks on a journey into the mysterious realm of snow, she discovers a world filled with legends of a lost civilization, whispered tales of magic, and the enchantment of the ursine king. The choice she faces - to either continue her life as it is or follow the bear into the unknown - holds the power to transform not just her own destiny, but that of her people.

Whitton weaves a mesmerizing narrative that captivates from the first page to the last. 'A Burden of Ice and Bone' is a breathtaking adventure of self-discovery and redemption, as Dira confronts her past and embraces the possibilities of the future. Fans of Naomi Novik's 'Spinning Silver' will find themselves drawn into this enchanting world of magic and frozen landscapes.

I like the evocative storytelling and richly imagined world of 'A Burden of Ice and Bone,' where the beauty of the frozen kingdom is matched only by the depth of Dira's journey. The themes of courage, love, and the search for one's true self resonate throughout the novel, making it a truly unforgettable read.

I thought the premise of this story was really interesting. I liked the mix of post apocalypse/dystopian elements with the fantasy aspects and the message of conservation and living in harmony with nature and animals. I wish there had been more on page about the polar bears or Dora observing them.

I ended up caring a lot more about Dora’s goals of protecting the polar bears than I did about the romance at all. For me, Beauty and the Beast retellings can be really hit or miss, and I think what made this a miss for me was the lack of character development. I really didn’t get to know any of the characters well enough to be invested in their relationships.

Overall I thought this was a cute story but the characters were a bit lacking for me. The romance is very slow burn, which some people prefer, but I didn’t feel like the romance made much sense.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this early.

This is not my typical type of book to read but I really enjoyed the story. Great characters, lgbt rep, found family and a slight twist of beauty and the beast vibes.

an interesting premise and one that delivered well. Thoroughly enjoyed this book as it was a different take on the traditional fairy tale premise

A fresh story that I have truly never come across anything like it before. Such a compelling read, it only took me a few hours to consume!

Dira is such a headstrong main character and completely understand all of the decisions she makes, it’s fun and exciting to follow her on her journey to discover where she belongs.

I would read any sequel for this, it could have easily been a duology.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a copy in exchange for my honest review :)

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rounded up to 5.

Wow. Just wow. This was such a unique story. There were times it made me think of beauty and the beast and that’s one of my favorite Disney movies/stories so I loved that connection I made in my head.

There was one thing that I just found very confusing though while reading this. The way things were explained, I.e. specific phrases used, is where I thought some things just needed to be reworked. A specific example would be “a panicked tattoo”. Every time I read a sentence that included that phrasing I just did not know what was actually trying to be conveyed as the reader because it just completely disrupted the flow of what was being said and I think if you’re gonna use phrases that are very niche to specific cultures that needs to be better explained either at the beginning of the book before it starts or within the text itself.

Outside of that, I truly loved this story. I do also wish the ending didn’t feel as rushed since it was like the very last couple chapters we had so much action happening.

Although I found the writing really good and I enjoyed the fairytale aspects really good. I didn’t appreciate the political agenda in this book. I found it overshadowed what was a cute story

Firstly, I loved the Artic world of this book. All I wanted to do was cosy up in blanket with a hot coffee and read a bunch of chapters. It is the ultimate world for winter vibes. I could picture the whole village in my mind perfectly. The world was built easily without overwhelming the reader with tons of information.

However, this book was a little slow at the start. It took me till around 25% of the way through to feel fully submerged in the story.

I did root for the FMC Dira, who I think is around 16. She felt a little young for me to personally connect too. (Im 26) So keep that in mind if you’re an older reader. But I did love that she chose to go against her peoples views to follow her own path. It did have romantic touches as it’s a loose retelling of Beauty & the Beast.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sword & Silk books & Kyra Whitton for allowing me to read the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the plot of the book, it was a bit hard to get into so it took me about a week to finish it reading a few chapters per day.

I feel like it's not something I would reread, but it's still a book I'd recommend to people looking for this type of book

I found this book a struggle to get into. While not a bad story i did have to wait till i was almost half way before it picked up the pace.

Upon finishing the book I felt really good about it and gave it 4 stars. When came the time to gather my thoughts I actually realized how frustrated I truly felt about the story.
The pros? The premise. I really enjoyed the environmentalist back bone of the story. The reader assumes the usually setting and time period of most fantasy
/folkloric tales, but this one is actually set in a post second ice age distance future. Quite clever along with the concept of human relearning a way to peacefully cohabit with animals.
The cons? The plot, the MMC, and the rushed ending. There’s a pretty good - not do much of a twist- but more of a confirmation I’d say for the reader, in the middle of the story. After that nothing but redecorating and barely observing polar bears happens, until the end when there’s a twist and everything is resolved wishing 1 or 2 chapters.
It’s not a bad story, I’m pretty I’ll keep on thinking about it but the pace unbalanced and the relationship/romance between a very dull man and an immature young woman isn’t enough to make us forget that.

The setting was beautifully described and I could imagine the icy world perfectly. This book has shapeshifters, curses, romance, violence, you name it. I felt the ending was too quick paced though. But I loved Dira and rooted for her throughout the story.

Dnf’d around 20%. It wasn’t what I expected and I just couldn’t stand the main character. I tried picking it up again and made it another few minutes before I put it back down. Just wasn’t for me.

I don’t even know where to start with this. First, I think the synopsis that was released by the publisher is very misleading. From the description, the reader starts this book expecting that they will be reading a fantasy love story taking place in a magical arctic village.

Kyra Whitton builds this world where Dira Coon and her family are part of the patrollers who protect the village from polar bears. I think the premise had a lot of potential, but the author really tried to do too much. The initial half of this book seemed similar to the Encyclopaedia of Faeries, where both female protagonists were ostracized by their community for sympathizing with supposed enemies.

This book had potential to be a unique fantasy romance but unfortunately failed to reach its potential. From the description and the synopsis, the reader is under the impression that this is a fantasy adventure with polar bears. However, Kyra Whitton tries to do too much that this story ultimately falls flat.

For the length of this book, the author tries to cram so many different themes, genres and tropes that the book feels like a Frankenstein attempt at a fantasy adventure mixed with climate change, immortal were-polar bears and dystopian futures. I was lost at some points due to the lack of thorough world-building, which relies too heavily on the reader to make a lot of jumps and assumptions about certain facts of this world. The dystopian element to this novel just felt unnecessary and made the world feel even less believable. I could not get the ultimate message or narrative the author was trying to make because she was trying so hard to stuff this story with so many messages. Is it a fantasy adventure? Is it a dystopian fantasy climate fiction? Is it a fairytale? It is all and just wayyy too much.

My other issue with the book is the character development of the main character. Dira’s fatal flaw in the book is to act rashly and to not consider the danger for herself or those around her. She doesn’t learn anything or grow from the adventure. There was no true development of the main character to signify that this journey was a coming of age tale, if anything, I think she learned to be just as stubborn or bull-headed for everything because the people around her will come to save her. Everything will be okay as long as everyone in your life is by your side to support you.

I was rooting for this book and wanted to enjoy this adventure, but I felt that I was pulled in so many directions as a reader that I just didn’t enjoy the ride.

First and foremost thank you to the publisher Sword and Silk Books along with NetGalley for providing the eARC. My opinions are my own and given freely and honestly.

I wanted to love this book so much after reading the description it sounded very interesting and the cover caught my eye as well. Unfortunately, I found A Burden of Ice and Bone to be lackluster and snail-paced slow. I am one to love a slow burn romance but this book took it to a new level of slow burn. The book in its whole was very well written and descriptive of the world around the MFC. It just wasn't for me in the end.

So I received this book early from NetGalley and I was so intrigued by the cover and the description of the book.

I thought that the book was slow at times but that being said I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is as far as I know a stand-alone book not in a series or duology. It wasn’t my typical fantasy books that I read. Very minimal fantasy if I’m being honest but it’s done in such a fun way.

The story itself gives me kind of beauty and the beast but also and it pains me to say it but shrek vibes. So the male main character is cursed and changes during the day and turns back at night. Unlike the curse in beauty and the beast and shrek this isn’t truly broken with true love. By the end of the book I was crying it was such a cute sweet happy ever after. I loved the main character she was so relatable and I felt for her throughout the book. It’s a nice easy enjoyable book, I would highly recommend it.

a medium 3/5

this is a cute little polar bear beauty and the beast style story (with a little of psyche and eros thrown in). Dira is an eco-warrior at heart and desperate to prove polar bears are not human killing machines.

the wintery setting is interesting but could have been leaned on a little more. the plot and characters here are a little lacking and i was hoping for some quality prose to stand out instead, but alas, it was not to be. any description was half-hearted and while i understood vaguely what buildings were meant to look like i definitely wasn’t immersed in the world.

there were moments at the beginning where i was very confused about when exactly this book takes place. there’s rifles and walkie-talkies but seeing machines are some relic of the past? it is eventually explained a little better but i still fail to see how all modern technology just suddenly became useless.

to start with, Dira is selfish and impulsive and does not seem to realise her actions have consequences that she must deal with, and thinks no one else will back her on anything because they just don’t understand. at the end of the book… dira is selfish and impulsive and does not understand consequences but she’s ✨in love✨ apparently.
i’d love a smidge of character development, this felt too short and rushed.

Valemon also utters about 7 words the whole time and is bare minimum nice and it works?? give me his torment over living with creatures he once despised. give me apathy now that he’s lived so long. give me ennui. give me hatred of the woman who made him this way. give me SOMETHING.

given that i still regularly feel heart broken over a different beauty and the beast retelling i know they can be done well, but i think this missed the mark. the beast is by far the more interesting character to explore, but in order for his redemption to be satisfying i need to know how far he’s fallen.