Bonesmith Review (House of the Dead, #1)

Hello, all!

I kicked my fall TBR off by picking up Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto, and y'all, you need to do the same.

Pub Date: 7-25-23
YA - Fantasy

Growing up a bonesmith--and daughter of the prestigious House of Bone--Wren dreamt of the day she'd become a valkyr. She believes the only way to solidify her place in her house and gain the respect and attention of her absent father is to prove herself during the trials to become one of the famed ghost-fighting warriors. But Wren's trial gets sabotaged, and she's exiled to the Border Wall, the last defense against the wasteland called the Breach, where the vicious and unpredictable dead roam.

When a visiting prince gets kidnapped, Wren seizes the opportunity to reclaim her family's respect by crossing the Breach to bring him back. But to do so, Wren must forge an uneasy alliance with one of the kidnappers. Julian may be an ironsmith--making him Wren's sworn enemy and part of the house that caused the Breach in the first place-- but he's been betrayed by those closest to him and is determined to find out why. As the pair travel beyond the Wall, they discover there's more behind the kidnapping than either of them knew, and a dark alliance grows between the living and the dead that spells trouble for them all.

I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to pick this up! It did have the typical tropes found in a YA fantasy, leading to some predictable moments, but I had a blast reading it. Wren had this swagger and arrogance that I thought would annoy me, but I loved it and enjoyed her overall character arc. I liked the dynamic between her and Julian. It was entertaining watching them go from hating one another to reluctant allies to maybe something more. However, I would like to see more chemistry between them in the next book because it didn't wow me here. My favorite things about this were the magic system and world-building. Both felt eerie, atmospheric and a little creepy, making this a perfect book to pick up during the fall season. I can't wait for the second book to see how everything gets wrapped up.

Rating: 4/5