I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so taken with the world Jasmine Skye created; there are so many intriguing magical elements in the witch-familiar dynamic, and the integrated queer rep is a welcome addition. I wish we had gotten more of Shaw's POV (or that her chapters had been spaced out more consistently), but I loved seeing her relationship with Rosamund grow. I'm eager to get my hands on the next book in the series because it's such a compelling read, but I will wait patiently.

raavenreads's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

sofiesbooked's review against another edition

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5.0

4.75⭐️

I am so impressed by this debut from Jasmine Skye. Daughter of the Bone Forest convinced me to read because of the beautiful cover art, it made me stay because of the compelling world building. The magic system within this world is amazing, people who can use magic are classified as either witches or familiars (shifters). Our story begins with Rosamund Holt, a familiar who is hiding the true nature of her powers to avoid conscription into the army. She works on her family ranch while occasionally spending time with her exiled grandmother in the bone forest, another powerful familiar. The setting of the bone forest is stunning, Rosie has the capability to feel and connect with it, being a bone familiar. When her grandmother went into a feral rage and attacked Princess Shaw, heir to the throne, Rosie saves her, gaining her entrance to Witch Hall.

Her grandmother's affliction is the primary reason for Rosie to go to Witch Hall, a school for witches and familiars to learn to harness their powers. She goes with the intent to possibly gain favor to save her grandmother from exile. Rosie battles the different dynamics of a school setting while learning more about herself and the princess she ended up saving, Shaw. The two form a bond and grow with one another as their powers shift and grow.

I loved the budding relationship between Shaw and Rosie - the two of them were truly made for each other, but in a realistic way. I love the wary friendship built at the beginning, but it escalates at different levels for both of them. I adore the Princess x commoner theme and the conflict of Rosie never feeling like she will belong. The supporting characters fleshed out the world, they all had their flaws and different struggles while adding to the story. I loved the two underdogs becoming friends, throwing current power conventions aside.

The twists you learn about and are alluded to towards the middle/end of the book are getting me SO excited for the next book. Definitely a refreshing YA queer fantasy with an amazing magic system.

bookameme's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

This book nearly became my favorite story of the year, that cliffhanger though 🪦

Thoughts:💡

I loved this story and up until the last 99% of the book I thought this would be my favorite story of the year. However, the ending was the most painful and frustrating cliffhanger I’ve seen in a while because it stole a solid ending from the story. A part of me wants to rant about it even though I waited to post my review until after I had some time to cool off.

With that said there are plenty of things the author did well. The plot was very detailed and the magic system was fascinating. I loved the way this book merged the idea of shifters and familiars and altered what the relationship between a witch and familiar entails. There were several dark secrets that revealed a broken society, and a few revelations that showed its progressive nature.

The relationship between Rosy and Shaw had a palpable sort of chemistry that stole my attention and my breath. They had completely different views of the world and were from different stations in life, but they also had some overlapping desires and strong self made moral codes. At the beginning Rosy and Shaw loathed one another but through their time together because of their fake dating scheme they learned to respect and fall for each other.

The narration was really good, if a little different because the author changed from first person present tense for one POV to third person past for tbe other. So between the different voices and verbage it was very easy to tell the two apart. Honestly, if you can overlook this book’s unfortunate ending then I would strongly recommend it, but if you can’t stand a cliffhanger where the author sets up a strong finish only to purposely withhold it, then wait on this one until book 2 is available and you can just read through it.

Fun Bits:

⚜️ A fake dating plot where only one of them was

faking

⚜️ Fated mates, pair bonds, and witch familiar

bonds mixed in a fascinating way

⚜️ Side characters that stole the show

⚜️ Excellent wold building with fascinating back

stories

⚜️ Heartbreaking losses and ☠️

⚜️ Elites behaving badly

⚜️ A powerful shifter from a poor family putting them in their place

⚜️ Extremely exciting action scenes

⚜️ Emotionally gripping struggles, monologues,

and heart to hearts

⚜️ A fascinating queernormative society

✨Note:✨ Ends on a horrible cliffhanger, book 2 isn’t projected to release until 2025.

Stats:📊

YA with no spice and very little steam

Characters: 💙💙💙💙💙

Audio: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

Narrators: 🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️ (Dual, chapter by chapter)

YA Epic Fantasy: Sapphic Queernormative, War College for Witches, Enemies to Lovers, Opposites Attract, Fake Dating, Hidden Secrets, Elite Nobility, Shifters 📘

Rosie’s POV, First Person, Present Tense

Shaw’s POV, Third Person, Past Tense

⚠️: War, Violence, Bullying, Death, Murder, Death of a Family Member, Fire and Fire related Injuries

Content Warnings

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