DNF @35%

I discovered this book on Netgalley and was intrigued by the promise of a romantic fantasy starring a necromancer. I think it's maybe the most interesting magic there is.

However, this morning, when I was 35% in, I realized there was only one reason I kept on reading: because it was a Netgalley book. I was over 1/3rd of the book and I didn't care about anything yet. The infodumps in the beginning were way too overwhelming to grasp the politics. The characters were way too distant to really build a connection. In the last chapter I read there was a first hint towards the romance, but it was based on absolutely nothing yet.

At this time in the book I had no idea where the plot was really going yet and I noticed that I just couldn't bring myself to care. I could have finished the book, but why would I finish a book that's not gripping me, even though I'm already past the 1/3rd point? I think I picked this book up for the wrong reasons. I'm pretty sure that readers with a different taste will enjoy this book. The writing was nice and easy to read after all and quite a lot was happening.

However, the book clearly was not for me and I feel it's unfair towards the author, and towards myself, to read on while knowing it's not for me.

I loved the unique sort of Spanish renaissance vibes with the use of rapiers, clothing style, character names and the settings mixed with the fantastical elements of gods, Anchor (the remnants of the gods) and Azul’s fascinating gift of necromancy using bones. There’s definite supernatural and mystical aspects with the Faceless Witch and Lord Death and all these elements mixed together worked really well and gave the book such a familiar yet interesting vibe - like historical fiction mixed with fantasy (but the history is not our own).

The book does shift in perspective and timeline in each chapter but I didn’t find that confusing or distracting and I enjoyed seeing things from other views.

The characters were all well fleshed out and strongly developed. Azul, Virel and Nerieda in particular but side characters were just as vivid.

The story is left open and I need to know what happens with certain things (which I won’t spoil here) so I’ll definitely be eagerly awaiting the second book. I can see how some readers won’t enjoy what happens to a certain character and the romance aspect is pretty much non-existent but I have hopes for the second book (maybe I’m reaching).

A solid first book in this duology!

4.5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mistress of Bones is a great debut fantasy with plenty of plots and schemes, an interesting world a really cool magic system based around necromancy.

I really loved the court intrigue in this one and the side characters were completely unique, particularly the faceless witch, she is terrifying but so intriguing. I like Azul as a main character, she was fearless and her total dedication to her sister made her likeable. There were some pretty big reveals for her about the nature of her magic towards the end and I’ll be really interested to follow how she adapts to that in the next book.

There are a lot of time jumps in this book, usually at the start of each chapter and the time periods can be really varied, I did find that I needed to pay close attention to follow them particularly in the second half of the book when more POVs are added. It was well worth it though as the plot only gets better in this book.

Overall this was a really strong debut and I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Thank you for this arc!

This book had a very a cool concept, it had good writing and a really interesting world! The characters were well-developed. The story jumps between timelines and points of view a lot, which made it pretty confusing at times. Nonetheless I’m definitely curious to read more from this author. I’m also hoping there’ll be a sequel to this story.

If you’ve ever wanted to be flung headfirst into a storm of disconnected timelines, soulless dialogue, and a romance so subtle it might as well be imaginary then I guess this is the book for you?

What it promised: a darkly romantic, high-stakes necromantic fantasy with gods, bones, forbidden magic, court intrigue, and - allegedly - tragic romance.

What it delivered:
- the plot was like watching a jigsaw puzzle being thrown down the stairs. Constant time jumps and chaotic POV shifts had me flipping back pages trying to figure out who, what, and when I was reading.
- characters that were stiff, bland, cardboard. Giving interchangeable NPC energy?
- it was marketed as “tragically romantic”? More like tragically undercooked. There’s more tension in a weather report. There was literally zero romance it feels completely mis-sold here.
- disjointed and awkward dialogue. Not one line of it felt natural.
- the concept of necromancy, gods’ bones, and continental sacrifice? Genuinely cool. But the execution tripped over itself at every turn. It was almost giving “first draft chaos”?:

I wanted to like this. I tried. I do NOT dnf and I do NOT like to be negative but this was such a difficult read. The premise is sexy in theory - death, gods, stolen bones, resurrection. But the narrative was so erratic I needed a map, a timeline, and probably a seance to summon some clarity.

Thank you to the publishers for the opportunity the ARC review but this just wasn’t for me!

𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐙. 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚
⭐⭐⭐⭐ | 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔

𝗔𝗻 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗰, 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗣𝗢𝗩 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝘅 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱-𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱.

I absolutely loved the concept and idea of this world and it's magic system. The setting was vivid and lush — and there's was this gothic atmosphere that was always around.

There a few different perspectives through which we see this tale unfold. They're all connected in a way that when it all unfolded at the end, it so was entirely worth this time it took to unravel.

The twists and secrets were jaw dropping — along with the unhinged revelations that I did not expect at all. This book is a tangle of religious and political intrigue including Azul, Virel, Nereida, Azul's half-brother, a Faceless Witch, and many more people.

The plot was fast paced and the characters were always on the move and they had their goals and determinations set first before anything else.

Virel and Azul had such good chemistry. They bickered and had different goals to accomplish. The ending for them had my jaw on the floor and I did not expect that coming at all

Overall, if you an action packed fantasy novel with a hint of romance, you'll love this book!

Sadly, this book turned out to be one of the biggest (if not the biggest) disappointments of the year for me. Like many others, I was immediately drawn in by the premise: a world where necromancy exists, and a girl is determined to bring her sister back to life. It sounded incredible. Unfortunately, the actual reading experience was incredibly tiring, and I believe there are several elements that contributed to this.

First of all, from the very beginning, I struggled with the worldbuilding and political structure. My biggest issue was that the book somehow managed to give both too much detail and not enough context at the same time. Kings, queens, and political factions were mentioned, and various plots unfolded around them – but without the foundational understanding needed to follow any of it clearly. The multiple POVs also jumped back and forth in time; sometimes by years, sometimes just a few days. At times, the shifts made sense, but many of these time jumps felt completely unnecessary and only disrupted the pacing. Much of that information could have been smoothly integrated into the present-day narrative if the book had been more tightly written. Honestly, this story would have benefited greatly from stronger editing. Sadly, with the release date just days away, that seems unlikely to happen.

Beyond that, I found it very difficult to connect with most of the characters – to the point that I consider many of the POVs unnecessary and confusing. The only arc that kept me even somewhat engaged was Azul’s, as her storyline was the most developed and coherent part of the book. Unfortunately, many of the other character arcs felt like filler: distracting, underexplained, and lacking emotional weight. For instance, I assume the Faceless Witch was intended to be a kind of “master of puppets” figure, but the execution fell completely flat. Weak character development was the main reason the pacing felt so uneven to me: while I remained invested in Azul’s chapters, it was often a struggle to push through the others. I really wish the book had focused on just two POVs: Azul and Enjul, without the extra subplots scattered throughout.

I won’t be criticizing the romance, because this book isn’t a romantasy, even though I suspect some readers might expect one. The romance is minimal to nonexistent, though there is some emotional pining beneath the surface. I wasn’t entirely convinced by it, but that likely stems from the same disconnection I felt with most of the characters overall.

All in all, I genuinely wanted to love this novel. The concept had so much potential, and I do praise the author for coming up with such a great idea. But sadly, the execution left me confused, detached, and frustrated more often than not. I’m not giving it one star because it wasn’t unbearable, but there’s definitely a lot of wasted potential here.

This was intriguing and exciting and I enjoyed the political and magical climate that Medina created. The different places and countries felt distinct and authentic which I really enjoyed!
Azul was a wonderful protagonist to follow and I looked forward to the chapters from her perspective. The relationship with the emissary felt authentic and the fear that she first held for him felt real on the page. I'd definitely be looking out for reading new works from Medina!

Mistress of Bones is a multi-pov YA fantasy taking place in a world built upon gods' bones suspended in the void.

Azul has a gift to bring back someone from the dead by using their bone and organic matter. After her sister mysteriously crumbles to dust, Azul is on a quest to bring her back, but an emissary of the Death God, Virel Enjul, considers Azul's powers an offense to his god, so he arrests her instead. Azul is freed by Nereida, who wants a favor from Azul concerning her unique power. But Virel is following them closely and it's not easy to stop a man who's blessed by the death itself.

What follows is a tangle of religious and political intrigue including Azul, Virel, Nereida, Azul's half-brother, a Faceless Witch, and two men, one in love with Nereida and another with her sister who's mysteriously missing. It's full of spying, chases, duels and sneaking around with a little bit of politicking.

I enjoyed the unique worldbuilding, the fast-paced plot and the characters determined to accomplish their goals, even if sometimes they seemed too stubborn for their own good.

My only complaint is that the story feels too short and the characters aren't fleshed out enough. There are so many romantic, familial and friendship ties between the characters, but it feels they didn't get enough interactions to make the reader invested in whoever the characters are supposed to deeply care about.

I would recommend it for readers 13+, since there isn't any sexual content or pronounced romance beyond thinking someone is attractive, and the violence isn't depicted in a gruesome manner - but there is violence, there are rapiers and pistols used, Pirates of the Caribbean style.

I received an ARC from Netgalley & Magpie (HarperCollins UK) for the purpose of leaving a honest review.