I enjoyed this one! Cathedral of Bones is just what you would expect from a middle grade: quirky characters, imaginative world, and a light-hearted plot that keeps moving.
I think anyone within the target audience range will be sure to enjoy this magical novel featuring mythical creatures, not just dragons, and a magic community. There were also some cliché middle grade tropes and lines/scenes I’ve seen too many times to enjoy. HOWEVER, it was easy to read and the world is absolutely enjoyable to be in.
Review to come on YouTube

While I enjoyed this book, it was definitely a lot darker than I was prepared for. As a middle grade teacher, this is not a book I would recommend for 12-14 year olds. This book would probably have a lot of success in the YA Fantasy market and being a series.

In Cathedral of Bones, the author has crafted a tale filled with tentacles, different planes of existence, elder gods, and mind-blowing cosmic powers, but grounded in a coming-of-age story of friendship and family, sacrifice and forgiveness.

I enjoyed that there were several thematic questions that were posed while reading this book, to encourage readers to think critically about these things in their own life:

-How does one move on from trauma/grief?
-Can one be redeemed after a horrific act?
-Can a lie ever be more ethical than the truth?
-What does it mean to be “truly” human?
-What is our significance in the greater universe and how does our understanding of that affect our actions?
-Is family more important than friendship? -Is it moral to sacrifice few for many?

Although this book is marketed as middle grade I would caution teachers and parents in picking up this book for anyone under the age of 14.

CW: murdered family, necromancy, human experimentation(with graphic detail), drug abuse, profanity and dark, disturbing imagery.

This was one of the more unique books I’ve read in awhile. Overall I did enjoy it and would be interested to see if this book becomes part of a larger series.

I loved Alice and Simon’s relationship throughout this book and some of the writing was truly beautiful but I still feel like the attitude towards anxiety medication was not addressed well. He was having literal panic attacks and taking pills for them and having him throw them away like he does because is irresponsible when so many people feel a stigma for taking them (myself included when I first started). That’s not a good look for young readers. I know a lot of people think this is too old for middle grade but as a librarian I think it’s age appropriate for 8-9th graders and early teens on the higher end of middle grade who want more high fantasy with a Lovecraftian horror introduction. I still feel so conflicted bc I loved the story but I just don’t know how to feel about the depiction of mental illness (especially as a demon that can be conquered without medication?)

Cathedral of Bones was an interesting world to delve into for a time. It was fascinating to follow main character, Simon's path from child to a very magical adult, but I felt the story was clunky at times. There were elements of the world that seemed to be missing, pertinent pieces of magic knowledge were not explained, and even understanding his parents and their role in the world was confusing. It had a bit of a rushed and forced storyline. Overall, it had great elements about friendship and trying to tangle with an unknown magic, but I feel more of the world and magic needs to be explained.

In Cathedral of Bones, Simon is the wimpiest Animist in Eidenel — his powers are so weak, he’s been relegated to work in the mailroom. This is frustrating since his absent mother and reclusive researcher father were both successful Animists — until an accident left Simon’s twin sister dead when she and Simon were 10 years old. Now Simon is determined to prove he’s got what it takes to be a real Animist, so when he spies a letter from a town in peril seeking an Animist to help it rid itself of a monster, Simon decides to take the mission himself. But the monster turns out to be quite different from what Simon expected — and she opens a door to Simon’s past that will lead to all kinds of revelations.

So there is a lot happening in this book, and not all of it is well explained. I like the magical world building (though I would have liked more of it), and Simon and his new friend Alice are both nuanced, interesting characters to explore Eidenel with. The problem I keep running into is: Who is this book for? It’s marketed as middle grades, but there’s a lot of violence, gore, and ethical murkiness that I wouldn’t casually toss the way of most middle grades readers. And while Simon is technically 14 years old, he reads a lot older — it feels more YA than middle grades, especially with the genuinely creepy note of horror running through it. (It’s got what to me felt like a very Lovecraft vibe going on.) And there’s so much going on but also so many questions left hanging — it feels like a long, twisty trek that doesn’t end up leading anywhere. And now I’m all over the place and not getting anywhere, too, so I’ll sum up: There’s interesting stuff happening in this book, but ultimately, it didn’t come together for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC ebook version of Cathedral of Bones, by A.J. Steiger in exchange for my honest review. While Steiger has crafted an interesting storyline, I often found the magic aspects of the story to be a bit confusing. I also found it to be a bit darker than I had anticipated and would think it better suited to YA or adult readers than a younger audience. The graphic violence and death may be a bit too much for some middle graders.

Sucked in by the whimsical cover, I did not expect to find a story based in Lovecraftian horror, but that’s what I got.

I’m really not sure how to respond to this book. On the one hand, stories based around a disregarded character heroically saving the world are kind of my jam, and Simon is a perfect example of the kind of good-hearted and humble hero I love to root for. His friendship with Alice—a mysterious girl with tentacles who shapeshifts into a dragon-like monster—is sweet. But for me, that all sits very uneasily beside the cosmic horror of eldritch beings who would uncaringly destroy the universe. The book has some dark elements, like experimentation on dead people and magic powered by animal sacrifice, and Simon’s soul gets eaten by an otherworldly entity. All this in a book meant for middle-grade readers. (Simon himself is only 14, although he’s treated like he’s much older by the adults around him.)

I do think some kids will enjoy this novel, but it’s definitely not for everyone.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 4.25 stars!

Cathedral of Bones follows Simon, a teenager who works in a mailroom for the Foundation, a sort of group that keeps people in check, especially Animists aka those who can wield "magic". Simon is an animist, but his magic isn't really that great. Life's pretty boring for a teen who wanted to be a hero and help people, until one day a letter comes in from a town begging for help to fight a monster. That monster? It's just a girl named Alice. She has quite an interesting story to tell, however...

So, I agree with what some of the reviewers are saying about this being more Young Adult rather than middle school, the magic system here is pretty complex and not entirely explained. It's also pretty dark in tone. It's still pretty...hopeful, but there's just a lot of dark secrets, tragic backstories, etc, to be found in this book.

I really enjoyed it though, although the magic system not being explained too carefully bothered me I got over it pretty quickly for the sake of the story/characters. Simon is a great character and it's fascinating seeing his true backstory unfold. His parents were equally fascinating and Alice even more so. The bully is boring but who really likes bullies in books? Ha. Simon's mentor was shockingly interesting, despite not having much screentime.

This book is also steampunk-y, though I think it leans heavily toward magic, it does have a ton of steampunk elements throughout. Not to mention all the demons, imps, mechanical monsters running around... I wish the world-building was more in-depth but I can see wanting to sacrifice it for the sake of Simon and his story which was fantastic.

Great book for anyone interested in a character-focused steampunk/fantasy book!

I would have to call this a YA fantasy book, since it is full of magic, imps, demons, and so on. Simon Frost iis a want to be Animist who finds a quest to go. He is off to kill the "monster" that is scaring a small village. Once there, he finds that the monster is a girl, but she has also been modified and has tentacles and the ability to shape shift into something like a dragon. In this book, we learn that people can still be cruel to others that are different from us. Also, that as much as we want to believe i our government, that certain things are usually kept a secret from the citizens. When Simon tries to get help for Alice, he learns that people simply want to hide her away, and pretend that people like her simply don't exist. It is so much easier than trying to find a cure. And isn't that what a lot of countries do with their mentally disabled and homeless?

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for providing me the opportunity to review this title.

In Cathedral of Bones, the author has crafted a tale filled with tentacles, different planes of existence, elder gods, and mind-blowing cosmic powers, but grounded in a coming-of-age story of friendship and family, sacrifice and forgiveness.

Although this book is marketed as middle grade I would caution teachers and parents in picking up this book for anyone under the age of 14. CW: murdered family, necromancy, human experimentation(with graphic detail), drug abuse, profanity and dark, disturbing imagery.

This was one of the more unique books I’ve read in awhile. Overall I did enjoy it and would be interested to see if this book becomes part of a larger series

Cathedral of Bones is an interesting read but I'm not sure it is really a middle grade book. Simon our protagonist is 14 but encounters more dark themes (human experimentation, murdered family, drugs) that I don't think the typical middle grade reader would enjoy. The story starts out a bit slow and confusing as you are learning more about Simon and his backstory but picks up once he decides to try and help a village on his own and discovers Alice the monster/human. The world building was good as you learn about the Animism magic that powers Simon and others. However, there was just something off that I couldn't put my finger on that kept me from really enjoying this book, it wasn't bad but it just wasn't great either.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, misspelling, and grammar errors in this review are all on own.

Young teen Simon Frost has had a rough start to his early life. His twin sister was murdered several years ago, his mother vanished shortly thereafter leaving only a note, his father was expelled from the Foundation amid darkly ominous rumors about his research, and Simon himself has shown so little talent as a Foundation animist not a single mentor will take him on, leaving him relegated to working in the mailroom sorting requests for the Foundation’s aid from citizens and towns/cities. When the Foundation ignores a letter from a small asking for assistance against a dangerous monster, Simon takes it on himself to come to their aid, the first step on a journey that will find him an unexpected ally and change everything he knows about the Foundation, himself, his family, and his world.

In Cathedral of Bones, A.J. Steiger has crafted a Lovecraftian MG/YA tale filled with tentacles, different planes of existence, elder gods, and mind-blowing cosmic powers, but grounded in a lovely and intimate coming-of-age story of friendship and family, sacrifice and forgiveness. Cathedral of Bones starts a little slowly, as we see some scenes of Simon’s childhood, jump ahead a few years to his time in the mail room, hear about his failures as an Animist (someone able to wield magical power), witness his interaction with a long-time bully, and watch as he makes his decision to face the monster on his own, meeting a young girl named Alice in the process. From that point on the story and the characterization really take off.

Simon is a character you can’t help but feel for thanks to the stacked deck against him (dead twin, cold father, abandoning mother, big bully), but Steiger makes him more than a simple sad sack to root for. As bits of his backstory and his personality are either slowly peeled away to reveal other layers, or as his personality changes to meet the circumstances, he becomes a richly developed character who goes in unexpected directions. The same can be said of Alice, as well as Simon’s father and mother (no real spoiler to say she reappears in the course of the story), if to somewhat lesser extent thanks to less page time/internal POV.

The worldbuilding is sufficient, if a bit thin (or perhaps, since we’re in MG/YA territory, concise is a better word) and sometimes, with regard to Foundation history and the explanations of magic, a bit bluntly explained through somewhat clumsy exposition. The literal world-building, however —the descriptions of the different planes of existence and their inhabitants — are fantastically (as in both meanings of the word: high praise and unreal) portrayed, with wonderfully vivid descriptions that will awe and/or disturb the reader and show a clear homage to Lovecraft.

Plot, after that afore-mentioned slower start, moves along smoothly and apace. Some aspects are a bit predictable, though I’m sure less so for the target younger audience. Steiger does a good job on multiple occasions of creating tension and suspense (a nice balance to the more predictable parts), not simply in scenes of violence (or potential violence) but also in moments of possible revelation and, in true Lovecraftian methodology, existential dread.

Thematic questions are thoughtfully handled and relatively sophisticated (excluding the bully): how does one move on from trauma/grief, can one be redeemed after a horrific act (and where’s the sliding scale if so?), can a lie ever be more ethical than the truth, what does it mean to be “truly” human, what is our significance in the greater universe and how does our understanding of that affect our actions, is family more important than friendship, are friends truly more important than strangers, is it moral to sacrifice few for many, and more. Not only are these, as noted, thoughtfully handled, but they also build to powerfully emotional scenes as well.

Though labeled MG, the book in many ways is more YA. That’s not to say Middle Graders wouldn’t enjoy it, but some aspects may elude them. Older younger readers (to use a seeming oxymoron) might find parts of the book a bit thin but will probably enjoy the more substantive questions. And while it reads young and isn’t really therefore an “adult” book, it does have some crossover appeal for genre readers. I certainly enjoyed it as a quick read even if it didn’t offer the full richness of experience I expect from works for adults. The book does resolve its main plotlines, but it’s easy to see how Steiger could return to this world and these characters, a return journey I think most of its readers would encourage. An easy recommendation therefore for MG and YA readers and for those adults who might take an extra day or two to read it themselves (carefully) before giving it as a gift.

Set in a world where some people can manipulate energy, Simon struggles with mediocrity. Not content with this fact, Simon decides to take matters into his own hands and make a difference in the world, even if it's only something small. This is a story of discovery, secrets, friendship, hardship and sacrifice.

The cover and blurb had me really excited to start this one but some of things in the book were off putting and had me wondering why it had been labeled Middle Grade. This review will contain spoilers!

In the beginning of the book, we are introduced to the main character, Simon. There isn’t much to go off of besides that he works for the Foundation. Not very far in there is an encounter between him and an older woman who tries to sell him a gossip newspaper or frog pills. She says that the frog pills not only do whatever they do but they also boost male potency. After this we find out that Simon is fourteen. I’m not sure why that line needed to be included.

Another instance that felt off was after Simon rescues a young girl who is around his age and takes her back to his dad’s house. They all have dinner together and she decides she wants to have wine. His dad questions this but then caves because technically she isn’t human as she is a reanimated corpse.

I did at times want to dnf because I just wasn’t meshing with the characters or the plot.

I do think that the story had it’s good points like the mystery of certain things or the worldbuilding but it was overshadowed by the things I didn’t like. It also seemed a bit dark too which may not be suitable for certain readers.

Overall, it was okay but definitely not what I was expecting. I do think that other readers will like this book but it should be labeled something else instead of Middle Grade.

I really enjoyed Cathedral of Bones,. It was such an interesting new world. A father has two children and one of them tragical dies. He and his wife split because of differences of opinion and the mother is not seen again. His son is pretty much abandoned and goes into the city to work. He can do some elemental magic, but does not seem very good at it and ends up working in the mail room.
The adventure begins when the son (I am horrible with names) decides to go on a quest that would have been ignored by the government.. This leads to introduction to a monster who the son befriends.
The adventure is full of mystery, realization and an epic ending. I am not 100% sure if it is a stand alone or is going to be a series. It wrapped up ok enough to be a stand alone, but it would be a great series.

This is a fun story. All of the characters, even the minor ones, are interesting and well-drawn. The story moves at a good pace with few of the twists telegraphed in advance. The ending is complete, but left the world open for more stories told in it. The writing is slightly younger than I expected for the storyline, but that, unexpectedly, works in the book's favor.

I'm not entirely sure why this book is being marketed as a middle grade novel when it would likely enjoy broader readership on the adult market. The deep dive into demonology of the Lovecraftian type seems unlikely to interest most middle school students (although it is likely to freak out at least some of their parents) and Simon behaves, thinks, and speaks more like the depressed protagonist of Office Space than the 14 year old boy he is. There's great world building here as well as potential for a series, although again I would target a more general audience so as to not lose the readers who would be otherwise interested but put off by reading a "kid's book."

This book is a solid mix of sci-fi and fantasy. I loved Simon and Alice's friendship, and I really enjoyed the character development and the overarching "message" of the story. This book bridges the gap between middle grade and YA. I would say it is most suitable for 13-15 years of age. There is death and violence discussed explicitly.

With that being said, I think it would have functioned well as an adult book. The lore was incredibly interesting but also very poorly fleshed out. We really don't learn much about the inner workings, magic, or gods at all.

I felt like the pacing could have used some work as well. Nothing of import seemed to happen until about 80 pages in, and then we hit a lull again before really revving up at the end.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the writing style. I just kept wanting more from it. The potential was there, but not developed. I do recommend it. Especially for young teen readers.

4.5 Stars. This was a well crafted fantasy with lovable characters and fantastic pacing. It was unique because it one of the few books I have read that is truly for early YA(think 7th-10th grade); it felt as accessible as a middle grade fantasy, but man, it went pretty dark in places that I was not expecting. The magic system of Animism was well explained without too many info dumps and I LOVED how it roped in mad science (kind of like the magic system in Full Metal Alchemist) in a creepy, dark and interesting way. Simon was a great main character and I liked finding things out along with him as everything he understood about his world unraveled. Again this was very well paced, it kept staying exciting but gave enough time to care about Simon and Alice and their relationship. The author left it a little open ended, enough to have a sequel but closed enough that I didn’t feel like this was all just set up for a series.