I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience. Please disregard my star rating below.

The Bone Maker is the story of what happens to heroes after their work is done. How do you go back to real life after all that you have been through. Using bones to make things happen really surprised me and was a very unique concept. A great adult fantasy book

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Synopsis was incredibly interesting and hooked me. The concept is fantastic but the execution failed for me.

This novel was unexpectedly great. All the characters were full fleshed and the world where bones held so much power was fascinating. I love that the main characters were all in their late 40s or early 50s. The storyline is engaging and kept me entranced until the final sentence, which made me cry, but in a good way. This book was well worth its price and the time it took to read it.

The Bone Maker was a spooky sci-fi/fantasy that was right up my alley! I also loved that it was a standalone and everything wrapped up nicely in one book.

Basically: This is a story of a world after it was saved, after the heroes have given up everything and gone home broken and alone. This is a story—not about the exuberance of youth—but about the experience (both bad and good) that comes with age.

Welcome to the land of Vos, where bones hold magic and power, and people use those bones to enhance themselves, create constructs, and see the future. It’s also a land where an evil man, Master Elkor, once used that power to prevert life and nature into an unholy army… Granted, that was 25 years ago, before The Five defeated him and killed him, sacrificing one of their own in the process.

Now, The Five are scattered, and Kreya (the group’s leader) lives as a hermit, kept company only by the body of her dead husband/team member and a few constructs while she searches for a way to bring her husband back from the dead for good. Kreya is forced to seek out the other members of The Five to help her, and when they do they find much, much more than they bargained for. They realize winning a war once may not be enough to stop an evil that goes beyond death.

Sarah Beth Durst is an amazing author. She is, hands-down, my favorite current author—and The Bone Maker shows me why once again. Reaching past “happily ever after” she tells a story that goes beyond the great battle. Durst not only gives us a fresh new look into the stories we tell, she also gives us the opportunity to embrace the idea of heroes and warriors being more than just young and beautiful. Her characters are damaged from what they’ve done, hurting from memories none of them can leave behind, and are still worthy of the name: Hero. They are strong enough to defend that title too.

I’m not going to lie, this story was hard for me to get into. I started it more than once and felt so badly for Kreya that I stopped. She was desperate and unlikable but that is what makes her journey into battle again so moving. It was the writing that kept me coming back. SBD (as I call her in my head) delivers once again. I always like a story that gets me to the point where I am so invested in it that I stop and worry about the ending. I did that with this book—more than once!

In the End: Bear with the beginning and you’ll find yourself whisked away to a world worth visiting, filled with heroes worth admiring in all their imperfect glory.

A delightfully creepy bit of fantasy, with bones aplenty! I never say no to a little necromancy, and Sarah Beth Durst's gorgeous writing needs little introduction.

Stars: 5 out of 5

Most epic fantasy books end with our mighty heroes defeating the big bad and riding into the sunset and their happy ever after. But ask yourself this question - what happens after the sun sets? What does that ever after look like? Especially if you spent years preparing for this one battle, dedicated your whole life to it. If you walked from it physically and mentally scarred and lost your heart in the process? This is what this book is about. 

Kreya was the leader of the Five Heroes of Vos, the brave crew who defeated the nefarious bone maker Eklor... but that was 25 years ago. And she lost everything in that battle - she lost her husband, who took a fatal arrow trying to protect one of their friends. This death broke Kreya - they were supposed to spend their life together after this battle, to travel the world and experience life to the fullest, to see and do everything they had put on hold while they were saving the world. They were supposed to grow old together. Now Kreya had 25 solitary years trying to resurrect her dead husband using the research of the very monster they sacrificed so much to defeat.

It was interesting to see that famed ever after and follow a band of heroes in their lives after the main story had seemingly ended. I found the portrayal of how these people would try to rebuild their lives after such a traumatic event very realistic. Some try to rebuild their lives and become successful, and never ever think about the war again. Some found a family and find happiness in a quiet life. Some are so broken that their mind fractures over time, and some, like Kreya, put their entire life on hold in order to bring back the person they love.

I also loved that even though they hadn't seen each other in years, when one of them needs help, they all gather around that person and offer all the help they can. Sure, some will grumble about it, but they will still do it. That's what true friends are. And like true heroes, when a new evil threatens their country, they will still rise to the occasion.

As you can see, I absolutely loved the characters. All six of our heroes are very human, with their flaws and their battle scars. And yes, I include Stren's wife in this, because she is just as much part of the crew this time around as the original 5. They make mistakes, they doubt themselves, they don't want to be responsible for saving the world again, but they still do it when they realize that nobody else will. 

I would have loved a bit more details about the world. It's mentioned that Vos is built entirely on mountaintops, that a perpetual mist shrouds the valleys between the peaks and monsters live in that mist. I would have loved to learn a bit more about that. Is this a natural occurrence? Is this the result of some ancient war? Are other countries like that as well or not? Unfortunately, there are no answers to these questions.

But this gripe notwithstanding, this was an excellent book. I highly recommend it for fantasy fans out there.

PS: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I started reading this book and found that it was not for me. I didn't think it was right to review a book that I didn't finish.

So ive hated all of Sarah Beth Durst's young adult novel. And funny enough I have LOVED all of her adult titles. Go figure with that. So I was super excited to read this one. But then that love became not so lovable once this story got going. I found that the start of this one was great and suspenseful but once it really got started on the core story it just fell apart for me. I found I was bored and was putting the story down on more than one occasion.

I wish that the publisher would have Durst continue her Queens of Renthia series over something new because those (even the spin off) was amazing! We need more!!

A fun romp with some of the macabre around the edges with an ensemble cast ploughing through the complications of their legacy.

Kreya lost her husband 25 years ago. She said she’d destroy Eklor’s book of forbidden knowledge, but she didn’t. She has been using it to try and resurrect her husband. She is almost there and just needs human bones to complete the spell. Of course, she is not going to murder anyone to get the bones; that would be crossing a line. She knows where she can get human bones, the battlefield, but she can’t do it alone. When she last saw her team, they were all grieving the lost of their dear friend, her husband. And she was supposed to destroy the book, not use it! She doesn’t know if they will forgive her or help her after 25 years of being a recluse.

To make matters worse, she stumbles upon a secret worse than the one she has been keeping all these years. One that she’s not sure the five of them can overcome.

Holy Dung Beetle! This book blew me out of the water! This is totally a 5 star book! I love how original this story is! Okay. I’ll stop with the exclamation points…maybe. First, this is a YA book which means no fluffy slow parts, tons of action, tons of tension, tons of drama (the good kind of drama, not the eye-rolling kind), and awesomeness! (sorry. no more exclamation points.)

THE BONE MAKER is such a stunningly developed and written book. Durst crafted a world that I was instantly transported to while still managing to deliver fabulous characters. I have never read anything by the author before, but I will soon.

And it must be said that having this book not part of the series really made me want to read it. Though I could have had more books about these people and set in this land, it was truly wonderful to sit and be entertained in just one book.

I was really hyped up for this book, the thought behind it seemed pretty epic and I settled in to what I hoped would be a five star book, I did not get that. The book isn't bad, the story is actually pretty interesting even if it was a little slow, which was disappointed as the beginning felt very fast paced. I think my disappointment stemmed from the fact that the main character Kreya just did not connect with me. The book did change POVs once in a while and I really wished they had focused on the other characters more rather than Kreya as I found them way more interesting.

Overall, the book was okay and may be for someone who would like a slower fantasy.

Definitely had Chosen One by Veronica Roth vibes. Both stories come back years later and “check in” on the heroes who saved everyone before.
I like the way this plot was set up and really enjoyed the characters. It got a little slow at one point, but I was glad I stuck around for the ending.

DNF at chapter 4. It seems like its setting up for quite an interesting plot but I wasn't in the mood for a dark fantasy novel when I started reading this so I couldn't get into it. I will get back to it though! It won't be on my DNF list forever.

I love Sarah Beth Durst, and my daughter adores her MG/YA books - except that I haven't really been able to get into Fantasy lately. Passing on this one, but I know it's gotta be good.

She sat at the lone window in the room, the fresh golden hues of a new day rising with the sun. Her little bird pal, its wooden wings flapping and its gears turning as it chirped along with her in welcoming the new day. She smiled at her creation as it bounced clumsily on the windowsill. She turned her attention back out toward the horizon and gasped as she saw pillars of smoke rising in the distance, blocking out the rays of the sun’s ascent. It can’t be… he can’t be… her heart started to race inside her chest… she wasn’t ready to do this all over again.

The Bone Maker shares a fantasy tale of love and war as five friends come together to rid their world of evil and to learn what true friendship really means.

I loved this book so much and I loved the characters in this book as if they were truly real friends in my life. Kreya, Jentt, Marso, Zera, and Stran, all bring a uniqueness to this story. This novel was filled with twists and turns, adventure and battle, frightening creatures and magical powers. I couldn’t get enough of this book and I was sad to see it end.

If you’re looking for an adult fantasy novel… then look no further. The Bone Maker is one I highly recommend!

3.5*
Once there were five heroes who saved their land from the evil Eklor. One of them gave his life and his wife has spent the last twenty-five years trying to use her skills as a bone maker to bring him back from death. But all her efforts ended in a brief resurrection, making her desperate for more time with him. So she turns to one of the other heroes for help. Kreya is well aware of the personal cost of bringing her husband back, but she will do anything to have more time with him.

In the meantime, they discover that Eklor is not dead but planning his return to dominance. The only ones who might be able to defeat him are the old heroes so they band together once again to permanently end the threat.

Though the characters are nicely defined, the plot tends to sag in the middle. One might think the presence of older heroes are an unusual group of protagonists but Durst makes them work. The ending has an the intensity that brings a satisfying conclusion to the book.