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A review by aspiringliterati
Bone Crier's Moon by Kathryn Purdie
2.0
Strong premise and really good beginning do not make a great book, unfortunately.
„Bone Crier’s Moon” had a vastly promising premise dipped in mythology somewhat reminiscent of Ancient Greece with a dash of old French folklore, if only in ritualistic phrases because those were entirely French, same as character names and names of locations.
The book starts off on a high note introducing two soul ferriers in training, Ailesse and her best friend, basically a sister in all but blood, Sabine. In order for Ailesse to fulfill her destiny and become a soul ferrier keeping balance of the world in check, she needs to complete a ritual. Once her soul’s true mate hears the song she plays on a blessed bone flute, her victim ultimately lured by magic, she has to kill him within a year of the spell taking hold or suffer the consequences and die, too. On a full moon night everything is set in motion but the boy who answers the true soul’s mate call has an agenda. Bastien has been waiting years to avenge his father’s death as he too was once a bone crier’s true mate and he too had to die.
I went into this with reasonably high expectations because that mix of Greek mythology with French folklore really spoke to me. Seeing as it was just 20 pages short of 500, I also had reason to believe it would be set in a world well built-up, the style descriptive enough to paint a thorough picture of where we were at but not too dense so the characters wouldn’t suffer from insufficient dialogue.
I would say „Bone Crier’s Moon” delivered on the mythology front, if failed to be engrossing enough on all the others. The love story of the book, two star-crossed lovers, didn’t convince me. I can’t say what exactly it was that put me off but I didn’t believe in their love. I didn’t hate them but they did nothing to me and damn, I would have expected at least some emotions to be stirred. I just didn’t care enough one way or another.
The stakes were high and the antes were constantly being upped so I can’t say the action bits weren’t there because they were. I was just so thoroughly detached from all that was happening, to be honest. What I think was missing was something that would make me feel connected to the characters. Their motivations and passions were stated but I wasn’t allowed an opportunity to realize them for myself while I was reading. I ended up being bored out of my mind for over half the book and wishing it would be over.
The one bit that stirred something in me was introduction of a male character towards the very end of the book. A character who will, for certain, play a key role in the sequel. He seemed fun in a wicked sort of way but then a few scenes later when I thought I could at least start being excited the execution disappointed me so much I honestly don’t think I’ll be reaching for book 2.
At the end of the day I just think this book lacked in something that would convince me it was all just as dramatic as the characters behaved like it was. There were twists, a character on a hunt, then off of it and then back on it (come on, Sabine!), a betrayal here and there, unresolved issues with the past but I could just as well stare at my ceiling because that was the extent of thrill it was bringing me.
I say this with a heavy heart because I wanted to enjoy this story immensely. Unfortunately I cannot in good conscience give it more than 2.5 stars.
**massive thank you to the publishers and Edelweiss for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**
„Bone Crier’s Moon” had a vastly promising premise dipped in mythology somewhat reminiscent of Ancient Greece with a dash of old French folklore, if only in ritualistic phrases because those were entirely French, same as character names and names of locations.
The book starts off on a high note introducing two soul ferriers in training, Ailesse and her best friend, basically a sister in all but blood, Sabine. In order for Ailesse to fulfill her destiny and become a soul ferrier keeping balance of the world in check, she needs to complete a ritual. Once her soul’s true mate hears the song she plays on a blessed bone flute, her victim ultimately lured by magic, she has to kill him within a year of the spell taking hold or suffer the consequences and die, too. On a full moon night everything is set in motion but the boy who answers the true soul’s mate call has an agenda. Bastien has been waiting years to avenge his father’s death as he too was once a bone crier’s true mate and he too had to die.
I went into this with reasonably high expectations because that mix of Greek mythology with French folklore really spoke to me. Seeing as it was just 20 pages short of 500, I also had reason to believe it would be set in a world well built-up, the style descriptive enough to paint a thorough picture of where we were at but not too dense so the characters wouldn’t suffer from insufficient dialogue.
I would say „Bone Crier’s Moon” delivered on the mythology front, if failed to be engrossing enough on all the others. The love story of the book, two star-crossed lovers, didn’t convince me. I can’t say what exactly it was that put me off but I didn’t believe in their love. I didn’t hate them but they did nothing to me and damn, I would have expected at least some emotions to be stirred. I just didn’t care enough one way or another.
The stakes were high and the antes were constantly being upped so I can’t say the action bits weren’t there because they were. I was just so thoroughly detached from all that was happening, to be honest. What I think was missing was something that would make me feel connected to the characters. Their motivations and passions were stated but I wasn’t allowed an opportunity to realize them for myself while I was reading. I ended up being bored out of my mind for over half the book and wishing it would be over.
The one bit that stirred something in me was introduction of a male character towards the very end of the book. A character who will, for certain, play a key role in the sequel. He seemed fun in a wicked sort of way but then a few scenes later when I thought I could at least start being excited the execution disappointed me so much I honestly don’t think I’ll be reaching for book 2.
At the end of the day I just think this book lacked in something that would convince me it was all just as dramatic as the characters behaved like it was. There were twists, a character on a hunt, then off of it and then back on it (come on, Sabine!), a betrayal here and there, unresolved issues with the past but I could just as well stare at my ceiling because that was the extent of thrill it was bringing me.
I say this with a heavy heart because I wanted to enjoy this story immensely. Unfortunately I cannot in good conscience give it more than 2.5 stars.
**massive thank you to the publishers and Edelweiss for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**