After I finished The Bone Orchard, the first thing I did was to pre-order the hardcover copy coming in March of 2022. There is so much depth to this book that I was not able to cover in this review. I know it’s going to sit right next to my copy of The Body Keeps the Score. I’ll push it onto any visitor who expresses the slightest, most fleeting interest in dark fantasy. By the way, if you have any interest in dark fantasy at all, or even just fantasy, or even just good fiction, you need to read this book.

Just… be prepared.

It handles themes of trauma, abuse, imperialism, and sex work with the utmost sensitivity and maturity, but it does still feature all of this and more.

If you’re ready for it, The Bone Orchard offers all the best literature has to offer; from an intriguing mystery to jaw-dropping twists and romance that will make your cheeks blush and heart pound. 

Charm, the unreliable narrator of the story, acts as a foil to herself. Some of the most interesting parts of the book are the main character just talking to herself. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it provides balance to fast-paced action scenes and allows the reader to revel in the setting. See, the main character has splintered herself across multiple boneghosts, taking facets of her personality that were too hard to bear and giving them autonomous bodies of their own.

 Justice, Pride, Desire, Shame, and Pain. The Lady can hardly wait to get rid of Charm and give her her own boneghost, but in the meantime, they’re stuck with each other, tasked with solving the Emperor’s murder. As the plot progresses and the kingdom of Borenguard starts crumbling, resources become scarce and the bodies start piling up, making the mind an ever more crowded place.

Tension ramps up both physically and mentally as the main character is forced to face the truth or die.

 It’s not only a unique story because of its firedrinkers, boneghosts, and mindlocks, but how it deftly avoids making the same mistakes so many other stories do. 

Our bookstores, libraries, and streaming services are filled with stories where the darkness becomes the story rather than a tool used to highlight flaws in society. We see trauma used as shorthand to give the characters—often not even the survivors themselves—a reason to go on their journey. Trauma too often is something that happens on the page like a discordant musical sting, fading quickly into the background.

But the traumas of Charm’s past and present are not just a footnote, but built into the very mechanics of the story. The plot unfolds in an incredibly satisfying way, developing Charm at the same time the mystery deepens.

And when the cards are dealt and played, the ending is frenetic and captivating, paying off everything it set up. This is a book I look forward to re-reading and re-re-reading and, yes, re-re-re-re-re-reading.

Many thanks to Macmillan-Tor for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller comes out on March 22, 2022.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All of the opinions given are my own and have been given nothing for my review.

This book stays with me. I'm a fast reader, so I finished it in one sitting - ill-conceived because I was supposed to be sleeping and by the time I was done, the sun was up, but I liked it *that much* and will be buying this when it comes out.
First off, the author addresses some hard topics like trauma and sexual violence, but is never overly graphic or playing to shock value. There are a lot of moral gray areas, hard choices, and questionable outcomes that could be explored more in-depth, and there are some problematic plotlines that are not quite wrapped up by the end of the book, but overall, I'm not dissatisfied. There's a lot of underlying trauma, shame, and guilt, because the main character is several characters, aspects of her fractured personality split into different bodies. Charm and Pain take center stage, both running their own missions to protect those around them and "the Lady," the original mind. The plot hook was intriguing, but it was the characters (mostly Charm, Pain, and Major Nathair) that made the story. There are a few twists/reveals that are easy enough to guess, but they come in secondary to the characters. Despite the limits of Charm and Pain's position, they find ways to manage and thrive. There is empowerment beneath the disenfranchisement, solidarity despite the internal conflicts. I want to give a shout out for good female friendships/supportive relationships and an LGBTQ+ character who is quite compelling.
I will admit, midway through the book I was rather annoyed with some of the characters, but it feels very accurate, as a psychological drama, and I appreciated how it ended. In a lot of ways, this is a love story, though not a romance. It touches on the mechanics (and limits) of some coping mechanisms, and the struggle resonate4s.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.