A review by heabooknerd
Of Blood and Bone by Nora Roberts

4.0

It's been 13 years since the Doom killed billions, unleashed magical abilities in survivors, and altered the world forever. The chance for peace lies in the hands of a young girl, The One, but before she can save the world, she has to be trained. OF BLOOD AND BONE brings us over a decade past the ending of the last book, YEAR ONE, and now we see the child that Lana, Max, and all the residents of New Hope sacrificed for.

I enjoyed OF BLOOD AND BONE after I got through the slow beginning and I especially loved seeing the characters from the first book. While the first half of the book focuses on Fallon Swift being trained by Mallick the Sorcerer, the second half really gets interesting as Fallon truly takes on her responsibilities. I like Fallon as our hero and savior but I often forgot that she was young because she's incredibly wise and mature for her age. However, in this post civilized world, children have to grow up fast and Fallon more than others.

I wasn't overly engaged with Fallon's training and it felt a bit like minutia to me but it did set up all the work and strength and purpose of Fallon's mission so it is what it is. I really started to dig in when we started getting glimpses into New Hope and began to return to the characters I fell in love with in YEAR ONE -- many of which now have kids that are becoming the main characters. I enjoyed Duncan who is clearly being set up as Fallon's love interest, and I especially liked his twin sister Tonia who I hope continues to play a key role. I'll anxiously be waiting for the next installment in this series.

Content Warning: References to abuse, rape, and torture