Reviews with content warning for War - Silver in the Bone

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Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken

7 reviews

kearstenkeepsreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Alexandra Bracken never disappoints! I absolutely love this book! I will admit I did not realize that this was going to be a series so I was fighting for my life in those last few chapters.

Tamsin lark is no stranger to fighting to survive. After her guardian disappeared in search of a mysterious ring form Arthurian legend that is rumored to break curses, her and her brother Cabell were left to their own devices. In order to survive and be able to take care of her brother she had to become a Hollower. Breaking into ancient crypts and and competing with others who had magical talent that she herself did not possess. Ten years later rumors start to swirl that their guardian, Nash actually found the ring and now its a race against time and long standing rivals to find the ring to save her brother from his curse.

Tamsin must wade into a world of dark magic, where a deadly secret lies in wait, biding its time until it can be released on the world. She must put aside old grudges and work with her long time rival, Emrys if she wants to have a chance at saving her brother. Along the way she finds unlikely friendships and is tested in ways she never thought she could survive.

This book is filled with heart pounding adventure, found family, and wonderful twists and turns all with the backdrop of Arthurian legend and dark magic. This book had me raging, crying, laughing and facing some of my own tendencies that align a little to close to Tamsin's. I cannot wait for the next book and will be (im)patiently awaiting its arrival.

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kirstenf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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oscarewilde's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

When it takes 300 pages for me to become even vaguely interested in the plot or characters it’s really not a good sign.

Unsure where to begin with this review, as I found so many aspects of this book enormously frustrating. Spoiler alert for the whole thing, as I’m just talking about the issues I had with the characters/plot/writing:

My god the lack of explanation for the magic system and the world building! The librarian, as an example, was so confusing, and it took until around the fourth mention until we find out it’s a mechanical person and not a human/ghost/monster/animal. Author needs to keep in mind that we cannot see what’s going on inside her head, we need subtitles 😭 Still have no clue on the differences between sorceresses, cunningfolk, and druids, or how the magical system (if there is one) actually works.
Tamsin is not a good protagonist, she has a wealth of abandonment issues that are touched on but never fully addressed, and they also don’t seem to impact her actions in any meaningful way. How does she feel about Nash? Who knows! Her opinion on him seems to change with the wind. She’s also unbearably stubborn and cynical, which is fair enough in doses, but when she lashes out unnecessarily and without cause at the other characters constantly, it becomes very grating. She’s not pleasant (and not even unpleasant in a deliciously villainous way) she’s just annoying and mean.
Neve was an infinitely more interesting character than Tamsin, yet we still knew nothing about her besides the fact she’s kind and quirky.
Tamsin caring about Cabell isn’t enough to make him interesting or the reader invested in what happens to him. This isn’t a kid, it’s a grown ass man, stop babying him when you’re the one with the clear emotional issues!
Also, I had such a problem with trying to age these characters in my head as they were barely described before moving swiftly on with the plot. I’m still in the dark as to how old any of these characters were even after having read the entire book.
The last 70 or so pages are such an enormous departure from the rest of the story,
the ensuing violence and death is so wildly unnecessary.
The aforementioned violence would’ve been more impactful if I’d been able to identify the knights via more than just ‘doctor’, ‘cook’, or ‘gardener’, they weren’t fleshed out in the slightest so their primary occupations/hobbies had to be used as distinguishing features.
Realistically, Cabell had to survive the massacre to provide motivation for Tamsin, otherwise what reason would she have to continue fighting? It seems beyond the realm of possibility that a group of characters having witnessed such traumatising events just hours prior would be able to go on to defeat the villain, but obviously they will 😐 The whole setup for saving the world from the apocalypse means the book finished on one of my most loathed fantasy tropes, ‘magic in the modern human world’ which was the final nail in the coffin of my not reading the sequel.
Tamsin never using the sword (that only lit up with magic flames for her!!!) and instead letting Emrys use it whilst wielding an axe against monsters who were afraid of fire was bafflingly stupid on every occasion it occurred. It was obviously for a ‘reveal’ re the sword but was so mind bogglingly idiotic at the time it did not make the payoff worth it.
You’re telling me a kitten could hide from the Children/Death King but a wily and intelligent small child couldn’t? Alright. Tbf if the kitten died I would’ve stopped reading instantly.
The extra quarter star is for Emrys dipping at the end, it was so unexpected it actually made me laugh out loud. If we had literally the smallest glimpse into the motivations of the characters then maybe this decision would’ve felt more meaningful?
Calling this Arthurian was a real stretch. I was so excited to read it as it’s something I would’ve picked up had I not received it in a Fairyloot monthly box anyway. Ended up being very disappointed in it though, and almost DNF on multiple occasions throughout. Only finished as I was reading along with my friend who wanted to discuss the ending 🫡

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courtofsmutandstuff's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book started out slow for me, but the last 100 pages or so really sold me on it, and I am so excited for book 2. Tamsin is a prickly protagonist, but it makes sense, and while she is prickly, I still liked being inside her head and following her. The world-building/lore was easy to understand, and I liked the Arthurian connection/basis, but with its own world on top of it. I also really appreciated that this book has consequences - to the point where I kept expecting something to be reversed in the end because "well a lot of YA fantasy books have things get magically fixed" and it doesn't, which was really nice (even if in the back of my mind I was wondering how much I could trust).
I would say this book is totally worth it, but don't DNF it if it seems slow. It does take awhile to have all the pieces fall into place, but it is definitely worth it.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC, and thank you to Libro for having the audiobook on their educator discount - when I reread the book before book 2 comes out I will cherish having the audiobook!

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leedolee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book actually ripped my heart out.

And I loved every second of it.

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the_b00kreader's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Heartbreaking. Soul-crushing. Full of twists and turns.
That's all I can say about this book....

I stayed up until 2am to finish this book....2 AM! And I do not regret it.
This book was great, like really great. I loved it! I loved Bracken's writing style and found it helped to keep this story more captivating.

The tension was high throughout this entire book but towards the end, around the last nine chapters, the tension sky-rocketed and everything I thought I knew was no more. Plot twists and turns, one after the other, emotional damage was done.
(I mean my pillow....full of tears)

Tamsin, the main character, was certainly an interesting character to read about. She had quite an issue with trust (relatable) and had difficulty letting people in (also relatable). Her development throughout this book was very well written and she certainly grew on me.

Another thing about this book was that you could tell Bracken did plenty of research on the Arthurian legends that fed into the plot line.

But, after that ending....I'm going to need the next book ASAP. I have so many questions!!

I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do so! I loved it!!

Content Warnings

uranaishi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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