Reviews - Broken Souls and Bones

631 reviews for:

Broken Souls and Bones

LJ Andrews

4.19 AVERAGE

ratedromantasyreviews's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

pokemomster0912's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was a good read but not great.
This started off strong but about halfway through it really began to drag for me.

I liked the plot and the characters. Especially the side characters.

The magic system needed a better explanation and more fleshed out in my opinion. I loved that Roark uses sing language to communicate!

The romance too felt like it needed further development. They went from dislike to indifference to head over heels in love with no real bonding or closeness actually taking place.

I understand they were bonded souls but I still think they fell too quickly without ever really getting to know each other or building a relationship

Content Warnings

rai913's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Book reviews, but make it a ✨haiku✨ for Broken Souls and Bones by L.J. Andrews.
Scars reflecting stars
Tap me baby three more times
Love a sassy brute
.
This book felt a little on the slow side but the last 40 or so pages really made up for it! Plot twists that I didn't see coming because they were launched in succession and hit me like a semi truck? Sign me up! Was I saying WTF after I finished reading? Absof*ckinglutely. BSaB gave me whiplash for all the different emotions I felt and I love that.

lewismegan33's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

ans624's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book has some enjoyable aspects but the magic system was too bloody and brutal for my taste. I did not enjoy the graphic gore and the rest of the story was highly predictable. My biggest issue was that there was very little buildup to the story that resulted in any meaningful resolution. Probably wouldn’t recommend to most audiences.

thissmoi's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

There were things I did like about this book, but I ultimately didn’t find myself caring much about any of the characters or being invested in any of the relationships. Both twists I’d predicted by about 30% of the way through, and a lot of the plot, especially the ending, didn’t seem well thought out to me.

Why did they need to fight their way out of the city if Thane would be king now, knows who killed Tomas, knows his father was evil, and is their close personal friend? Could they not have just… waited like 10 minutes for him to be in charge and then had Lyra explain everything?

stephyreads10's review against another edition

2.5

I didn’t love The Ever King series but decided to give LJ Andrews one more try. After this, I think I’m done.

This one follows Lyra, who’s been hiding her powers to avoid the attention of the king. That all changes when Roark, the prince’s silent and deadly guard, shows up and exposes her secret. To save her best friend, Lyra is forced to reveal her magic and becomes the king’s melder, which is basically a death sentence. She ends up relying on Roark to help her figure out a way to survive and escape.

The plot had promise and I can see why a lot of readers would enjoy it. Fantasy, romance, enemies to lovers, unique magic. But I just didn’t feel connected to the characters or the romance. I didn’t really care what happened between them.

That said, I absolutely loved that Roark uses sign language because of an injury. I live for that kind of representation and it felt natural and meaningful. Roark himself was definitely the best part for me. Broody, morally grey, protective. He gets all my stars.

Just not my kind of read but could be a hit for fantasy romance fans who want some disability rep and a solid magical world.