Scan barcode
A review by eesh25
A Ferry of Bones & Gold by Hailey Turner
5.0
4.5 Stars
I wanna say, first and foremost, that the romance in the novel is a sub-plot. So if you're looking for something to swoon over, this is not the right choice.
The world of A Ferry of Bones and Gold is one in which magic is common. A large population of the world can perform magic and there are creatures like demons, gods (Greek, Norse, and Egyptian, so far), vampires, werewolves, etc. There are also witches, of course. Those are quite common. A mage is a stronger, and much rarer, type of witch.
Patrick is a mage. He's ex-military (the supernatural branch) and currently works for the Supernatural Operations Agency. For his latest case, he's been sent to New York to investigate a series of murders that have preternatural causes. The case should be simple enough but turns out, it has connections to his past, one that he was hoping he wouldn't have to deal with again. It's also connected to the Dominion Sect, an organization of power-hungry people (most of whom are magic users) who do not care about collateral damage. So he's fucked.
You see, Patrick has been involved with the gods since he was a kid. It was never his choice and he's pretty fucking sick of it. And he's found himself forced in the middle of bad shit again, only he's not strong enough to handle it anymore since his magic was injured the last time.
Patrick is a great protagonist. He's strong, so resilient, does not take any shit from anyone—even the gods, though they kind of own him—and has been through way too much. His history with the gods, and what went down in his life, is something we find out gradually, and every new revelation kinda breaks your heart. You really feel for him and understand how exhausted he must be. And reading from his perspective, with all the sarcasm and defiance, makes things way more interesting than they would have been otherwise.
And even though he prefers to work alone, he's saddled with Jonothan. Jono is a werewolf and is friends with a seer. The Fates (the freakin' Norns) demand that Patrick and Jono stay together so that's what they do. Yes, there are sparks and a lot of attraction, but the romance is a slow burn. I really liked it, actually.
Slow burns, when done right, can be a beautiful thing. And in this book, with everything that's going down with the demonic murders and the lives that are in danger, "true love" is not on anyone's mind. But seeing how the two grow to care for each other is wonderful. And it's not the author telling is that their feelings have changed, it's how they act around each other and support each other. Well, mainly how Jono supports Patrick because Patrick seems to have severe reckless and get-yourself-killed tendencies and needs someone to watch his back. It's all really well done.
That's why, even though I prefer interconnected spin-offs to "proper" series, I'm really looking forward to the next book. This world is very vast and there are so many possibilities. I love Patrick would definitely not mind another book with him as the main character, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the other characters and the interactions between them, now that Patrick has finally made friends.
I also really badly want to meet the guys from Patrick's old team—from the military (we got a tiny glimpse of that and I want more). Plus, I want to know what will go down with the Dominion Sect and I'm hoping we'll see the gods pay for being utter assholes.
Overall, this book was a great start to a new series. I can't say for sure how long I'll stick with it (I don't have the best track record) but I know that I will most definitely be reading the second book which, from what I can guess, will come out within the next 3-5 months. I'm really looking forward to delving more into this world and meeting more characters. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. It's interesting, full of action and emotion, and lots of fun as well.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I wanna say, first and foremost, that the romance in the novel is a sub-plot. So if you're looking for something to swoon over, this is not the right choice.
The world of A Ferry of Bones and Gold is one in which magic is common. A large population of the world can perform magic and there are creatures like demons, gods (Greek, Norse, and Egyptian, so far), vampires, werewolves, etc. There are also witches, of course. Those are quite common. A mage is a stronger, and much rarer, type of witch.
Patrick is a mage. He's ex-military (the supernatural branch) and currently works for the Supernatural Operations Agency. For his latest case, he's been sent to New York to investigate a series of murders that have preternatural causes. The case should be simple enough but turns out, it has connections to his past, one that he was hoping he wouldn't have to deal with again. It's also connected to the Dominion Sect, an organization of power-hungry people (most of whom are magic users) who do not care about collateral damage. So he's fucked.
You see, Patrick has been involved with the gods since he was a kid. It was never his choice and he's pretty fucking sick of it. And he's found himself forced in the middle of bad shit again, only he's not strong enough to handle it anymore since his magic was injured the last time.
Patrick is a great protagonist. He's strong, so resilient, does not take any shit from anyone—even the gods, though they kind of own him—and has been through way too much. His history with the gods, and what went down in his life, is something we find out gradually, and every new revelation kinda breaks your heart. You really feel for him and understand how exhausted he must be. And reading from his perspective, with all the sarcasm and defiance, makes things way more interesting than they would have been otherwise.
And even though he prefers to work alone, he's saddled with Jonothan. Jono is a werewolf and is friends with a seer. The Fates (the freakin' Norns) demand that Patrick and Jono stay together so that's what they do. Yes, there are sparks and a lot of attraction, but the romance is a slow burn. I really liked it, actually.
Slow burns, when done right, can be a beautiful thing. And in this book, with everything that's going down with the demonic murders and the lives that are in danger, "true love" is not on anyone's mind. But seeing how the two grow to care for each other is wonderful. And it's not the author telling is that their feelings have changed, it's how they act around each other and support each other. Well, mainly how Jono supports Patrick because Patrick seems to have severe reckless and get-yourself-killed tendencies and needs someone to watch his back. It's all really well done.
That's why, even though I prefer interconnected spin-offs to "proper" series, I'm really looking forward to the next book. This world is very vast and there are so many possibilities. I love Patrick would definitely not mind another book with him as the main character, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the other characters and the interactions between them, now that Patrick has finally made friends.
I also really badly want to meet the guys from Patrick's old team—from the military (we got a tiny glimpse of that and I want more). Plus, I want to know what will go down with the Dominion Sect and I'm hoping we'll see the gods pay for being utter assholes.
Overall, this book was a great start to a new series. I can't say for sure how long I'll stick with it (I don't have the best track record) but I know that I will most definitely be reading the second book which, from what I can guess, will come out within the next 3-5 months. I'm really looking forward to delving more into this world and meeting more characters. I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. It's interesting, full of action and emotion, and lots of fun as well.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.