A review by darkcozychloe
Broken Souls and Bones by LJ Andrews

adventurous dark 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

4.5

⭐⭐⭐⭐ ✨(4.5/5) 
🌶️🌶️ (2/5) 

Overall, I found this to be a very good Norse-inspired romantasy book, there is a decent amount of world-building and a lot of pivotal character development. There is a unique magic system with interesting realization in the world and in the combat scenes. I felt that the author did an amazing job with the character personalities, their development, and interpersonal relationships. The one thing that I wanted more from was the magic system, which I discuss later in this review. 

Lyra (FMC) is someone who has grown to put up defences and hide her true feelings (and her nature as a melder), she is emotionally mature and strong. Her attachment to her found-family is what endears her to me, she only wants to see the people she cares about succeed and find happiness, and will try everything she can to see them achieve their happiness. Roark (MMC) is a mysterious man who has many secrets but is primarily plagued by why he feels a pull towards Lyra. These two have an undeniable chemistry and a large ball of tension that saw me cackling at their attempt to resist their feelings. As their relationship develops through the book there are moments of sincerity between them that I found drew me in and invested me in their story. 

There is a large cast of side-characters who all have distinctive relationships, and I grow to love. Creating a world full of vibrant people who make up Lyra’s found family. I want them all to succeed and I look forward to seeing more of their stories in the future. One of my major loves for LJ Andrew’s style is being able to read novels from a particular character’s perspective, showing more of their struggles and conflicts as the overarching story progresses. 

For the magic system, I love the premise (bone, blood and soul magic), and by the end of the book I felt I had a decent understanding of the main abilities of the 3 different magic powers, along with the melder’s abilities. But early on in the book it seemed only bone magic was really explained in great detail, with snippets of soul magic. By the end of the novel there are instances and information that helped me understand soul and blood magic better. From the ending of this book I think that the magic system will be explained in even more detail in the next book and I look forward to learning more about this interesting premise. 

If you like character driven romantasy books then this is perfect read for you, the world is interesting and dark, but the relationships between characters is what I felt fleshed out the world. The end of the book saw several major twists, and I know from reading other LJ Andrews series that this story will definitely only develop in complexity as more book entries get added. All this to say I cannot wait to get my hands on the next novel in the Stonegate series and continue not only Lyra and Roark’s relationship but the other side character’s as well. 

Book Themes 
🦴 Hidden Identity 
🦴 Morally Grey MMC 
🦴 Enemies-to-Lovers 
🦴 Found Family 
🦴 Norse Inspired 
🦴 Sign Language Representation 
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