NetGalley described this as a 'dark and mesmerizing story of love, revenge, and redemption inspired by the myth of Medusa.' I requested as soon as I saw that it was inspired by Medusa and man am I glad I did.
At first I was kind of thrown off by the slow-ish writing, but the more I read, the more I enjoyed the slow flow of it.

I loved Milla. She has a quite kind of strength that I admire more than the loud badass kind. Her strength isn't something that's immediately noticeable, but you learn that it is there.

One thing I really really really loved about this novel is that there is no romance in it. Like at all. There is familial love between Milla and Iris and Milla and Niklas, but that is it. It was WONDERFUL. I'm so tired of stories that have to rely on some lukewarm romance to be interesting.

The Cold Is in Her Bones feels like a fairy tale. Not the kind about beautiful princesses and their animal side kicks singing, but the kind where the evil stepsisters cut off their toes and the mermaid becomes sea foam to save her prince. The kind that the Grimm brothers would be proud of. The sad, torturous kind.

I really can't put into words how beautiful I found this story, so I hope you can just trust me and pick this up. If you like the darker type of fairy tales, then you'll love this

THE COLD IS IN HER BONES PETERNELLE VAN ARSDALE 5 STARS



Spoilers



“There once was a girl with tangles in her hair ,she liked the tangles.she dug her fingers into them twisted and spun them with curious searching fingers.her name was hulda” “Hulda had a sis whose hair was as smooth as river water. The mother brushed the sisters hair like it was something precious,Like spun gold.Hulda had never seen spun gold but if it was anything like the sisters hair,she thought it must be very beautiful . ” ” Years passed that way and while the sister pinned her hair to her head and grew into a woman,hulda christened salamanders and snacked on wild berries until her lips turned purple.

Hulda liked the outside naming insects and talking to snakes.hulda places a curse on people of community after a snake of hers is burned and she is left outside in cold to rid her of demons.”to protect yourself from demons 1 if you see a snake kill it then burn it 2pour salt anywhere the air touches 3 stay inside after dark 4 pray “Milla and her brother Niklas always behave and put salt down for demons.interesting read of what they do to keep demons at bay. I thought it curious they pray but never go to church. Niklas is given preferintal treatment over his sister but I can see why. It was like a replay of hulda and her sister but the good one ,the favorite,is a boy.I liked Niklas’s future bride and felt bad for her when trouble hits.

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

The Cold is in Her Bones, was a new fairytale mixed with an old myth. It tells the tale of what happens when people are kept ignorant about the past and how history always has a way of repeating itself. This was the journey of not just one girl, but many girls and the way they are expected to behave verses how they truly act. They were beautiful in their anger and none of them more than the one who cursed an entire village. This was frustrating to read and haunting as well. I very much enjoyed every moment of it.

After reading The Beast is an Animal I knew I would have to read all of Peternelle van Arsdale's books so I jumped at the chance to read an early copy of The Cold in Her Bones. I was not disappointed. Much like her debut this is a slow burn that really makes you think about what you are reading. I've heard this called a retelling of the Medusa myth and while I can see the correlation the story is so much more than that. It's haunting and beautiful and utterly unlike anything else I have read.