A review by ashleywantsbooks
Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken

When we meet Tamsin Lark and her brother Cabell, they’re with their adopted father, Nash, on a job to find magical artifacts. They are what are called Hallowers, those who can sense and see magic in our world, and most have one magical gift that gives them certain skills. Cabell is an Expeller, able to redirect curses from one source into another – very useful when they’re thieving for artifacts where the (previous) owners protected them with spells. Tamsin, however, isn’t able to see the magic around them which leaves her vulnerable. Cabell has a curse which turns him into a wolf-like monster when experiencing heavy emotions – the term werewolf is not used. All of this exposition in the prologue is helpful because by the end of it, Nash has left his two foster children alone in the world with only enough skill to keep them alive and on the path of magical thievery until we meet them again seven years later.

I love Arthurian Tradition, and this new take brings me back to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon in the way Avalon is shrouded from the world by magical mist and the priestesses of the goddess work their magic to protect the island from those who would use the powers and artifacts for evil. However, unlike the decades long tale from Zimmer Bradley, besides the prologue, Bracken’s tale occurs over the span of about a month. I AM SO READY for book two in this series because of that ending. I am giving Silver in the Bone a solid 4 stars. All the recommendations, but I probably won’t need a full re-read before book two.