I had a good time with this, it was enjoyable enough, However whilst I liked it, I did not love it as I had hoped to based on it's premise. I really struggled to connect to the characters in the way I usually like to which unfortuately made me feel like something was lacking throughout. I do not think it was the book, it was absolutely a me issue.

Unfortunately I didn't gel with this book. The premise and storyline sounded amazing but the execution did not land for me.

I so badly wanted to love this one but it unfortunately didn’t really do much for me other than provide very surface level entertainment.

I really struggled to connect with this due to the sparse world-building and limited background on characters and their motivations. The lack of detail made it hard to visualize the setting or fully engage with the story.

Around the 40% mark, the plot does begin to pick up, and despite the continued gaps in information, I found myself starting to become intrigued by the unfolding events. This unfortunately teetered off again and those same issues re-emerged.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.

While The Bone Raiders had everything I like in a book (morally grey characters, strong women, DRAGONS), I just had a hard time reading this book - it was a case of 'right book, wrong time'.

This was my first Ford book, but it won’t be the last. I had so much fun with this book, and at the same time, we have some really deep themes here, and the author does an amazing job mixing the two, because we have a lot of fun and a lot of WTF moments, but at the same time, the serious themes are well developed and seamlessly woven into the story. The author didn’t make fun of them, and they are not thrown in your face. I was quite impressed by this part, even if, to be honest, this wasn’t my favorite part. Because yes, things get even better!

Because this is how you write a book with animals. The wondering, the magic of it… it was just *chef kiss*. And yes, this was, by far, my favourite thing in the whole book. And okay, that the arataan (I hope I wrote it right!) is not your usual animal, it’s not a dog or a cat or a raven, nope. We’re talking about a giant lizard that can spit fire. But that’s just making the whole thing more epic! And that’s how you treat animals in books. Please, dear authors whose dogs always die in your books, take note. This is how you do it. Thank you.

And now back to the book. In here, women rule, and that’s it. Our group of raiders is all women, and they are all amazingly well-developed. Every one of them has her own personality, and they all feel like real people. But we have also not raiders people in there, even if they are our MCs, and I have to mention Yesuntei, because… I didn’t really like her, but she is cunning, resourceful, and so cold. I am not sure if admiration is the right word here, but sure as heck, I respect her. But my favourite is one of the raiders. Kuhn is just… Kuhn! I guess that, in some respect, she is the most complex in a group of complex characters, but she is the perfect mix of fun (a ton of that) and heart-wrenching (also, a ton of that). Ford went all in with her. And I loved her!

But let’s not forget that our characters aren’t exactly the good guys here (or the good girls in this case, but it doesn’t sound so good) because they are raiders. And sure, they go at it the smart way, they are sort of Robin Hood-esque raiders, they don’t kill for the sake of it, they try to keep the violence at a minimum, and they built a reputation to have that make the majority of the work for them. But still, they kill and they steal, so… not exactly a knight in shiny armor.
It’s also true that on the whole, they are not the bad guy either (always keeping in mind all the previous points), but even here… things are debatable. Things are more complex than they appear at first sight. And it was surprising.

But “surprising” it’s a good word to describe this book. I don’t really know what I was expecting when I first started it, something fun with characters that weren’t the good guys (again, good girls don’t sound good… at all!), but aside from that, I didn’t have expectations. But this book has some really epic moments. Those moments that made you widen your eyes and made you go “wow”! And I treasured them. So much!!
And again, as I said before, we have some serious topics here, but while I was expecting the part about good vs bad, I wasn’t expecting to find such a vivid representation of toxic relationships here. I was not ready for it, and I was, once again, surprised.

I think this book packs quite a lot of things: we have action (a lot of battles!!), we have epic moments (quite a lot of them, to be honest), we have hilarious moments, and we have some heartwrenching parts. We have interesting characters and a good plot (with some unexpected twists), and we have a giant spitting fire lizard!!!

I was so excited for this one, the premise of a rag-tag group of bad-ass women on dragons sticking it to the man.

Unfortunately this one was a DNF at 30% but this is absolutely a case of what didn't work for me may be loved for others.

The writing style mimics that of an epic action movie, the dialogue designed to make the girls feel effortlessly cool. Unfortunately I found this writing style to be jarring, the incessant swearing felt misplaced. Kind of like trying to place gen z into an epic world and it just didn't work for me. The story held promise but I couldn't continue sadly.

The Bone Raiders is book one in an epic fantasy series filled with badass females and a fire-breathing lizard.

Reviewing this book was hard for me. It fits the epic fantasy genre to a T and I loved a lot of things about it, but sadly I had a hard time connecting to the story and I found myself bored with large parts of it. To me it felt like a long, drawn-out prelude to the main story. That‘s something you often find in book one of fantasy series, so I’m not sure I should complain, but meh…

What I really loved about this book was the wide variety of characters and every main character in this book is female! The Radaka are a lovable, dorky bunch of badass raiders, who follow their own (sometimes morally grey) rules. Their chaotic ways lead them from one mess to another, but somehow they always come out on top. The author did a great job in world and character building and I loved the humour that accompanied all the craziness in this story.

In the last about 20% of this book, the pacing picked up its speed and finally managed to captivate me fully and now I can‘t wait for the second installment.

Thank you to netgalley and Little Brown Book Group UK | Orbit for sending me a copy of this. All opinions are my own.

I thought this book was written by a woman, the female characters were that good! Sorry Jackson Ford but honestly I can’t think of a time a male author has written multiple complex, engaging female characters and managed to make their povs chapters unique to each female character. 10/10

And that is basically all you need to know, you can read the blurb for the what of the story, but the HOW, in how well put together this story is with interesting and compelling different points of view. Also seamless disability and LGBTQ+ representation woven into the story. Stunning absolutely must read.

Thank you so much netgalley andpublishing team for the arc, I knew not a lot about the book before requesting other than the cover looked awesome and there were a couple special editions floating around. This is absolutely worthy of a special edition trophy in my bookcase

Let’s get one thing out of the way: I love this book. I love it so much I want to press it into people’s hands and whisper “trust me.”

The Bone Raiders follows a crew of all-female raiders called the Rakada. And yes, when you see a male author writing an all-women warrior group and most side characters are also women, you brace yourself for impact. But Jackson Ford nails it. Every single character stands on their own. These women aren’t paper dolls striking “strong female character” poses. They’re messy, cheeky, complicated, often unhinged (Khun, my beloved), and absolutely believable. Ford’s affection for them pours off the page. He doesn’t flatten them into statements. He lets them live. The book never feels preachy or performative. It’s badass, it’s bloody, and it’s gloriously unserious when it wants to be.

The action is bloody, chaotic, and fun. Not quite John Gwynne-tier in terms of choreography, but still a wild ride. There are emotional gut punches, a few twists I didn’t see coming, and also excellent disability and LGBTQ+ rep, woven in naturally. No flashing neon signs, just real people existing as themselves rather than checkboxes.

This was an ARC read and honestly, a total cover request (look at that cover!) but I also preordered the Broken Binding hardback, and now I feel extremely smug about that decision. Good job, me.

I loved it, and I’ll be in the front row when the sequel comes out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Bone Raiders is fast, action pack and full of heart. This book left me entertained and rooting for all the characters. 10/10

ARC review - The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
4.25 stars

I requested this ARC based solely on the cover, and only skimmed the blurb. I mean fire breathing lizards and a full female cast? Consider me sold!

We follow multiple POVs, and I enjoyed all of them for different reasons, even the villainess's. The characters are well written and funny, and you really feel the emotions they go through. There is a sapphic romance subplot, and I can't wait to see where that goes!

I loved the story line concerning the huge lizards, and I think How to Train Your Dragon fans will, too!

Overall, this is a strong start to the series with a really satisfying ending which sets up the sequels perfectly.

PS Protect Khun at all cost!!

A massive thank you to Little Brown UK, Netgalley and the author for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book was just an absolut blast and easily one of my top reads so far this year!
I absolutely loved the dynamics between the main characters, especially the found family aspect, and I can honestly say I never thought I would ever care so much about a lizard! The mulitple POV enriches the story so much, the voices are really distinct, and it even makes one feel (a tiny bit) sorry for the villain in the story. The writing style in general was excellent and so gripping that it was impossible to put the book down. I breezed thorugh the whole novel in one day!

The book repeatedly reminded me of Dune, Mad Max and Kings of the Wyld, in all the best ways! It is so multi-layered that I would recommend this book to everyone! This was my first novel from Jackson Ford but now I'm absolutely determined to check out all his other books.

Thank you so much to Orbit Books and Netgalley for providing me with a copy for review purposes. All opinions are my own.

The Bone Raiders is absolute fun. How to train an outlaw dragon become a story of betrayals, alliances, and fight against the powerful Khan who wants to have their population under total control. And when the books seems to have a fairly close ending the epilogue leaves all doors opened for book two which I will be happy to read.

Recommended for a fun and quick reading.

DNF at 15%.

I just couldn't stand the characters and way of writing. I know I didn't give this book a proper try and maybe one day I will give it another try.

I hope others will enjoy this book.

I’m sorry for posting this review after the book has already been published, but I requested it way too close to the publishing date :).

The Bone Raiders was a good adventure/comedy book. I was a bit skeptical at first because it’s a book about women written by a man, and the very first chapter starts with a reference to pissing. I hated it, just like I hated all the pissing references in the first two Red Rising books. I don’t know why men are so fixated on this. Anyway, the book was off to a rocky start for me because of that, but it quickly redeemed itself.

The women are at the heart of this story, and I adored them. They are strong, funny, independent, and ruthless. There are a couple of POVs that appear more often than others, and I especially loved Sayana, her sarcasm and dark humor are exactly my kind of humor.

The POVs are distinct, but sometimes the characters felt a little like caricatures. Maybe that was intentional for the comedic effect, I’m not sure.

Just keep in mind this is a very action-heavy, battle-focused book. At times, I had some difficulty visualizing everything clearly, and sometimes I got a bit bored, but overall it was a good book, I enjoyed it.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

✨ Highlights:
- fight scenes were awesome
- multiple characters with depth
- fire breathing dinosaur 🦕
- humour spread throughout
- high stakes
- political elements being introduced

✨ Overall thoughts:
Very cool story! I thoroughly enjoyed this one. 🥰 A new epic fantasy with memorable characters and high stakes, I'm very much looking forward to continuing it the series when it's out. 🙌

✨ Trigger warning for animal deaths in battle & animal harm in battle 💔

If the Khan decides that all villages and nomands must join and live in the largest capital ever, what are raiders supposed to do? Drastic times call for drastic measures, and for these fearsome ladies that includes taming and riding an Araatan, a huge fire-breathing lizard. And this their story.

The cover of this book just said 'read me asap'. It follows a group of women, raiders by profession, trying to make a living outside of the strict city. We have multiple viewpoints, Sayana a young runaway princess, whose brilliant idea it is to try and tame the lizard. She is a young character, so nothing ever seems dangerous or not possible to her. Hogelun, who always does as she is told but will have to learn to stand up for herself. And for the 'other side' we have Yesuntei, in service of the Khan. I ended up hating her after one small act...

One word stuck in my mind on the writing style, it was 'edgy'. Very much fitting for a band of raiders who wear human bones as part of their armor. It is not a complicated world, we are not told a whole lot about it. It focuses more on the characters. And I absolutely loved Khun as a character. She is a bit weird, but when you hear her story... it is heartbreaking.

I enjoyed the story overall, though some of the swearing was a bit over the top for me. Great range of characters with love, betrayal, survival, and some humour as well. Will be looking out for more books by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for my copy.

The Bone Raiders by Jackson Ford

adventurous tense medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0 STARS

The Bone Raiders is a high-stakes epic fantasy about an all female group of raiders!

General thoughts are that whilst I did enjoy the plot, characters and pacing, the wording building was lacking? I guess not even the overall world build but more specifically in-depth details about the world the story takes place in. Colours, terrains, smells even would have made this a more vivid story.

Thankyou to Jackson Ford, Little Brown Book Group and NetGalley for an ARC of the Bone Raiders.

“The Bone Raiders” is the first volume in a new fantasy series written by Jackson Ford. It was my first encounter with this author, but I’m sure it won’t be the last.

The book tells a story of several people known as raiders. Their land is governed by the king and his army, and they are forcing people to live by their law. Some of them, however, try to live outside it, and focus mainly on survival. In order to do that they live in packs that raid villages to get food and necessary supplies. Sayana belongs to The Bone Raiders and is forced to run away with her mates when the army catches their track.

“The Bone Raiders” is an action-packed fantasy book for everyone who likes great combat, found family trope and is already tired of dragons. Because in this book there are no dragons, there are giant lizard creatures, to which one shouldn’t approach if one values their life.

It was really fun to read about the adventures of the bone raiders and to bond with the ones that should be called criminals. I really enjoy fantasy books that show the rulers as the bad ones and let readers connect with regular people trying to survive.

I can’t wait for the second instalment in this series!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A book with giant lizards and a bunch of raiders? Sign me up!

The writing in this one is so laid back and informal that it's as though you're hearing a tale from a friend. It's great because you don't feel overwhelmed with intricate wording that has you pulling up your web browser, but at the same the descriptions when it comes to worldbuilding is minimal and therefore I personally didn't feel as immersed as I wanted to be.

The limited worldbuilding was a shame for me because I was so interested in learning more about the 'Tapestry', and I really wanted to be immersed in the story. The idea of the raiders has me wanting to feel like I was there, not watching from the sidelines. In light of this, the book is fantastic if you're looking for a light, easy read, with humour and the ability to just chip in and out of it.

There are some really strong characters in this that have their flaws, make mistakes, and have personalities that bring the story that's a world away, much closer to home.

I loved the ending, it brought the book together and created a really satisfying finish!

It's a solid read, so much so, I will be buying a copy myself to put on my shelf and go back to reread.

This book is expected to be published on the 12th August 2025!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Jackson Ford and Little, Brown Book Group UK for this digital advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are expressed as my own.