Silver in the Bone (Silver in the Bone #1)

Alexandra Bracken

YA Fantasy

A series opener inspired by Arthurian legend and fueled by love, revenge, and pure adrenaline!

Tamsin Lark didn’t ask to be a Hollower. As a mortal with no magical talent, she was never meant to break into ancient crypts, or compete with sorceresses and Cunningfolk for the treasures inside. But after her thieving foster father disappeared without so much as a goodbye, it was the only way to keep herself—and her brother, Cabell—alive.

Ten years later, rumors are swirling that her guardian vanished with a powerful ring from Arthurian legend. A run-in with her rival Emrys ignites Tamsin’s hope that the ring could free Cabell from a curse that threatens both of them. But they aren’t the only ones who covet the ring.

As word spreads, greedy Hollowers start circling, and many would kill to have it for themselves. While Emrys is the last person Tamsin would choose to partner with, she needs all the help she can get to edge out her competitors in the race for the ring. Together, they dive headfirst into a vipers’ nest of dark magic, exposing a deadly secret with the power to awaken ghosts of the past and shatter her last hope of saving her brother. . . .

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

3.5 out of 5 stars (3.5 / 5) OK, I admit, the pretty cover drew me in. And the fact that it was based on the Authurian legend. I’m a sucker, I admit it. It has curses, legends and villains and just screams for me to read it. It was good, but not good enough for me to set aside other ARCs and stress myself out over deadlines. Such is the life of a Bookstagrammer.

As an orphan, Tamsin relied on a foster father to care for her and her foster brother. Her foster father left without a trace and the siblings have been chasing legends and ancient crypts since. Their hope is to find a magical artifact that could free her brother from a curse.

The setting was a huge confusion for me. It felt like a fantasy world but then they’d refer to Boston, texts and headphones. I’m guessing they came from the modern world and at some point crossed into another world. But if so, I totally missed that scene. This is my best guess. However, I’m seeing many other reviewers were confused also.

The end saved this book. Honestly I was not enjoying it much until about the last third then it picked up and threw a bunch of twists in. And that ending! Ok that was a great ending. So I’m definitely not 100% willing to read book 2 but would definitely consider it.

AUDIO REVIEW: Sophie Amoss did a great job as the narrator. She had a tone of voice that made the story magical and mysterious. She definitely added a lot to the story.

General content summary: minimal language, multiple corpses found frozen in ice (some details), alcohol (possibly underage, few), suicide contemplation (brief), physical violence (fists, killing creatures, blood, weapons, multiple), creature tearing and eating prey (flesh, blood), many die from creature attack (some details), bones of a person found, creatures are zombie-like and eat/kill people (many are children), many human skeletons, blood used for magic, battle against creatures (some details, injuries, blood), near drowning, child abandonment (previous), m/f kissing, battle (dead bodies, some details).

Thank you to Random House Children’s books and Libro.FM for the copies!

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

1 Comment

  1. Dropping in to say hi, glad you’re still discovering some decent fantasy books! The cover does look great

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