Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh

Ivory and Bone (Ivory and Bone, #1)

by Julie Eshbaugh

“Exquisitely written, ferocious, and haunting. Don’t miss this one!” —Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series

“Julie Eshbaugh is a unique new voice with talent enough for a whole team of writers. I’m still under the spell of her storytelling.”—Amie Kaufman, New York Times bestselling co-author of Illuminae and These Broken Stars

Loosely inspired by Pride and Prejudice, Ivory and Bone is an enthralling tale of high-stakes survival, blinding betrayal, and star-crossed love.

Hunting, gathering, and keeping his family safe—that’s the life seventeen-year-old Kol knows. Then bold, enigmatic Mya arrives from the south with her family, and Kol is captivated. He wants her to trust him, but any hopes of impressing her are ruined when he makes a careless—and nearly grave—mistake. What Kol doesn’t know is that underneath Mya’s cool disdain is a history wrought with loss that comes to light when another clan arrives. With them is Lo, an enemy from Mya’s past who Mya swears has ulterior motives.

As Kol grows closer to Lo, tensions between Mya and Lo escalate until violence erupts. Faced with shattering losses, Kol is forced to question every person he’s trusted. One thing is for sure: this was a war that Mya or Lo—Kol doesn’t know which—had been planning all along.

With riveting action and illustrative prose that leaps from the page, Julie Eshbaugh will have readers mesmerized and thirsty for more…So don’t miss the sequel, Obsidian and Stars.

Reviewed by Angie on

2 of 5 stars

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I was very excited to read Ivory and Bone, because I had never read something like it before. A Fantasy set in Prehistoric times? Yes, please! It was a nice change from all of the Medieval Europe based Fantasy worlds. Unfortunately, the plot did not excite me at all. In fact, I found myself bored a lot of the time. Kol's clan is visited by some members of another clan. He and his brother are immediately taken by the two girls who are their age. But something is off about Mya. Kol doesn't know what, but he can't stop thinking about her.

Ivory and Bone did capture me from the very beginning at first. It's told in Second Person POV! Yes, it is! The prologue shows Kol and Mya in what appears to be a precarious situation. She asks him to tell her about the most marvelous day of his life, so he does. The story basically ends up being a love letter to Mya (who I didn't like at all). Although near the end when the story catches up to the prologue it switches to normal First Person. Boo.

I was expecting the plot to focus on a war between clans. Early on we learn that there are tensions between Kol and Mya's tribes, but then Lo shows up. At that point my interest had already been waning, but then Ivory and Bone completely lost me. Kol is just not very smart. He learns that someone is plotting a murder. What does he do? He approaches them, alone, and is like "Hey, are you plotting a murder?" Are you kidding me?! And the whole basis of this impending war was pretty silly. Live and let live, people!

Ivory and Bone was just not the story for me. The beginning is Kol complaining about Mya while simultaneously trying to get her attention. Mya is just rude and awful. She's been through some stuff, but that doesn't give you free reign to crap on people. And the story was really a Romance. I love Romance novels, but I don't think this was suppose to be one? But that's how it ended up, with kissing.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 11 July, 2016: Finished reading
  • 11 July, 2016: Reviewed