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cerianh 's review for:
Broken Souls and Bones
by LJ Andrews
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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:
No
This book has so much of what I love in a romantasy. High stakes, an unusual magic system, interesting world building and a compelling romance.
Lyra has spent her life in hiding because she’s a melder, a person gifted in all three magics - bone, blood and souls. She’s hunted by all kingdoms but the King of Jorvandal is the one who discovers her and sends his silent and deadly Sentry, Roark Ashwood, to bring her to the capital.
This is a new world but it has the brutal Norse / Viking vibes that LJ Andrews excels at writing. There’s nothing soft or gentle about this world. Which is exemplified by the magic system - it’s gory and bloody, disturbing at times, but also fascinating.
Lyra and Roark were such compelling protagonists, but there’s also great side characters with depth of their own. The events of the book test loyalties, and I’m already dying to know how THAT ending will impact the group.
Lyra has avoided notice by blending into her surroundings, but that comes to a crashing halt with Roark’s arrival. She may seem unassuming at first, but she has a spine of steel. She needs it when she’s chucked in at the deep end at the capital with the King’s demands. I loved seeing her come into her own, particularly with her power which she’d been taught to fear.
Roark is quite the enigma. We have his POV, but I still spent a lot of the book trying to unravel his motivations. He’s clearly conflicted - he despises melders but there’s no denying the draw he feels towards Lyra. He’s from Dravenmoor, Jorvandal’s enemy, but was mutilated and dumped at Stonegate as a child. He can’t speak and communicates through a sign language he developed with the Jorvandal Prince. He certainly doesn’t struggle to make himself understood and the way that he was with Lyra positively made me swoon.
The spice was spicing between Lyra and Roark but the pace of their romance felt right and was fraught with tension.
Overall - What. A. Ride. I had so many theories as I read - a few were in the right ball park but I was happily taken by surprise by the twists! It was just epic and I’m so excited for book 2!