Bone Crier's Moon (Bone Grace, #1)

by Kathryn Purdie

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathryn Purdie comes a high-stakes fantasy duology flush with doomed romance and macabre magic, perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber and Roshani Chokshi.

Bone Criers are the last descendants of an ancient famille charged with using the magic they draw from animal bones to shepherd the dead into the afterlife—lest they drain the light from the living.

Ailesse has been prepared since birth to become their matriarch, but first she must complete her rite of passage: to kill the boy she’s destined to love.

Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. Now his vengeance must wait, as Ailesse’s ritual has begun and their fates are entwined—in life and in death.

• ISBN10: 0062798782
• ISBN13: 9780062798787
• Publish Date: 4 March 2021 (first published 3 March 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Katherine Tegen Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 480
• Language: English

Reviews

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog coming soon!

Oh, this ended up being quite nice!
I do, however, have to confess that I did have some trouble getting into the book. While I was fascinated by the concept from the get-go, I was a little annoyed with the attempted enemies to lovers trope, we're working with here. Don't get me wrong, it's well written, but I might just have been jaded by the concept. Furthermore, the story and folklore applied here unfold a bit slowly. But I was so interested in the concept, I wanted to know more and I wanted to know right now.
However, after a while I was sucked into the story so fully, I didn't even care and was totally on board.
As I mentioned before the whole thing about the bone criers was such a great idea. It's unique and fascinating yet it seems to draw from other folklore at times. Worldbuilding can make or break a story and Purdie definitely succeeded here. It's not just how she describes the mechanics of being a bone crier, the surroundings, the city, everything in this book is presented in a way that will immediately conjure images in your head.
For a while, this may be a bit of a slow burn but towards the end, we get plot twist after plot twist and revelation after revelation. After the first couple of chapters, I wasn't sure whether I'd want to read the sequel. By the time I had finished I needed the sequel, like, yesterday! Purdie sets things up perfectly for the next installment with a cliffhanger that came not with a fizzle but with a bang.

[littleread1]

I liked it, and yet it also felt like there was a lot of downtime in the story. I usually like that, getting to know the characters better is generally a favorite of mine. And yet ... I don't know. It seemed like there were some characters that could have been cut or scenes that could have been combined ... I don't know. In generally I liked it, and liked the magic and mythology and will most certainly read the second book, but this won't be making a list of favorites.

[Brittany]

*i retracted the additional star. I only give 3 stars to books I could possibly ever read again and this just isn’t that. I wish I never forced myself to read it in the first place if I’m being honest*

I’m really torn on if I should be giving this book 2 stars instead of 3. The ONLY reason I think I’m giving it the extra star is because the end was promising enough to possibly give some hope for the next book being better. Or I just want to know what happens in the end and am mistaking that for the book actually getting better. See? Torn.

This had so much potential. The idea for a great story is there, it was just executed so poorly.

ACTION ACTION AND MOREEEE ACTION. That’s all this is. Right from the start it’s just action. It gets SO boring reading scenes with so much action and drama, ESPECIALLY when you have no connection to characters whatsoever.

There was no attempt to even make you feel something for characters before action was dove into until after 60%. It’s never ending in this book. World building is poorly done and character development is grazed over in the simplest way possible.

Like I said, after 60% some attempts are made to connect characters, but in the most simple straightforward of ways. Things happen as you expect them to and nothing is deep, I still didn’t care for characters even as they grew closer and this book focuses on 3 separate POVs and only 2 characters have a focus of somewhat building a relationship with others. The 3rd character is never really evolving much and forms no attachments, therefore you tend to not care about them.

Everything in this book is just so surface level and dull. So disappointing because there’s so much promise in the actual story, if only the author actually took time to add depth and emotion.

[alindstadtcorbeax]

Star Rating: —> 4 Stars


RTC!

[bgsbooks18]

I was sent an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.

This book is totally worth the buy. I thoroughly enjoyed this and feel like it’s an easy story to read in one sitting because it’s addicting!

The story is very unique. the magic system is very interesting. I honestly have not read a book like this one. This story is about star-crossed lovers, enemies to lovers, siblings, characters you can’t trust, and one hell of a compelling plot. Only thing I didn't like was the ........CLIFFHANGER! I need more TODAY!

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

Oh, such sadness, this book and I didn't get along as well as I'd hoped. Or at all really, if I am being honest. The premise sounded so very good, and I was thrilled to get started, but things fizzled out pretty quickly for me.

What I Liked:

• • The atmosphere was on point. I definitely felt the vibe that the author was trying to capture. The woods were eerie and held all kinds of secrets. The underground caves had a hopeless, desolate sort of feel. That part definitely worked.



• • The women in the book were so strong, and in charge. Like, these women were tough chicas. They cowered to no man. And they'd do pretty much anything to protect their fellow woman, which is cool. Especially in the friendship between Ailesse and Sabine, there was such a brilliant loyalty.

What I Didnt:

• • Holy insta-love. Oh gosh I hate insta-love, and I simply felt nothing about this romance, outside of annoyance. Especially because it seemed to me like Bastien was meant to care about his best friend, but then suddenly was swooning all over Ailesse. And look, maybe if there was chemistry, I could have gotten on board. But I didn't feel it, and I kept getting annoyed by it frankly. And then some other dude gets thrown into the mix and I just couldn't handle it anymore.



• • There were a lot of things that didn't make sense that moved the plot forward. For example, someone would do something incredibly stupid, which allowed someone else to move locations. This is hard to explain without spoilers but it was still frustrating, so there's that.



• • "This book is like 80% chasing and running".  This is the note I left on my Kindle when I was frustrated beyond belief. I also left gems like "I know zero things about these people", and "am i seriously reading an entire book about bones and a flute?".  What I am saying here is, I was pretty bored. I felt like really not a ton happened, and when it did, I was past the point of caring. This brings me to my next point....



• • I knew nothing about these characters. I mean, they all had their basic goals, which was fine. But beyond those, I knew absolutely zero about what kind of person they were. Bastien was hellbent on revenge, Ailesse needs to kill him to complete her ritual, and Sabine wants to save Ailesse. But what else of them? Your guess is as good as mine.



• • I also was so unsure of the world. Like beyond this coven (Idk if that's the right word but let's go with it) and the small area that Basien and his buds inhabit, what the heck is out there!? There are some French undertones (such as calling their mate "amouré", which I kept reading as "armoire", my bad). But other than that, your guess is as good as mine. There was some royalty, but they were kind of in the background. And then the dead folks who needed to be ferried over to the other side. And if that confuses you, well, me too.

Bottom Line: Cool premise that left me wanting more. Plenty of people have liked it though, so maybe check out their reviews!

[tweetybugshouse]

Wow this is a impressively weaved story that changes at every turn. At the crux of this story our main characters are Ailesse who is a bone crier who scared duty to help ferry the dead to heaven or hell essentially. Bastien who is determined along with his friends Jules and Marcel to avenge the deaths of their furthers who were taken by bone criers. In this world bone criers in our to become ferries of the dead they must lure their amores to a bridge and murder them within a year or they both their lives will be forfeit.
The magic around the bone criers is cringe worthy as they must kill animals and use their bones to give them graces. I felt that was a bit gross in parts and did add to the creepy factor of a bone crier's right of passage. On top of that the mother has a whole lot of secrets about how all this works and she harbors those secrets to the harm of her daughter. I did wish at times that the directions that Sabine, Ailese best friend, was being given as she constantly is questioning what she needs to do to make things right again.
The descriptions of the battles against the dead both the chained and unchained was nerve racking and I really felt like i was in Sabine shoes as she try's to carve not only her own path but to attempt to save the life her friend. I intrigued to see where the story goes and how everything will play out.