I understand the desire to blend sci-fi and fantasy. However I felt this story was everything but the kitchen sink. Was completely in love with Sonara and her brother and the possibilities there with her connection to horses. However then I felt like cold water splashed me on the face when the scene abruptly changed to futuristic space adventures. It was literary whiplash to me. Characters are wonderful complex but the story line was too back and forth that I couldn’t get in to it one way or another. Writing style is great and characters fantastic individually but didn’t blend well to me.

This book is a magnificent blend of fantasy and science fiction. There are many stories about what might happen if humanity were to find life on another planet, but I had yet to read one set from the perspective of the other life instead, and I found this such an intriguing concept.

It’s a standalone book and I like it that way. There aren’t many standalones in YA fantasy and I think this is something many other readers will also appreciate. It accomplishes this well and wraps up everything nicely. I do see how things could be expanded upon in the future if the author chose to, but I like that this one is told to satisfying completion.

The story-world is epic in its galactic scale and the richness of the lore of Dohrsar is enchanting. There are a few instances I felt the genre blend to be not as smooth as the rest. But the more I learned about the story world’s mysteries and complexities, the more I was invested in the outcome. The beginning had me hooked but the tension fizzles out somewhere in the middle where the high-stakes feeling isn’t as prominent. The middle of the story drags slightly, but I was quickly re-immersed as the climax of events begin to unfold.

I love the connection that the main character, Sonara, has to horses! As a life-long horse owner myself, I relate to her on an emotional level because of this. I also think that Sonara and her horse, Duran, are a great reflection of each other throughout the story in their wild nature and in the way that they both yearn for freedom. The story is told from multiple points of view, which does give us more insight into each of the characters’ motivations. However, I still didn’t feel much of a connection to the other characters until the end, and it actually wasn’t to Karr as I had expected but rather to Jaxon, Sonara’s Shadowblood friend.

One of the recurring themes I enjoy in this book is the dichotomy of all things - medieval and futuristic, darkness and light, old world magic and new technology. It’s compelling to see how these all interact and intertwine throughout the story. I was constantly engaged by the yin and yang feel of how seemingly opposing attributes come together as parts of a whole. The writing is straight-forward and an easy read, even if at times the prose is repetitive.

I kept waiting for the romance to creep up but it never came. I know many readers will definitely appreciate this rare achievement of a romanceless YA fantasy. Oddly enough (because I’m one of the ones who loves a romantic sub-plot), I actually found it quite satisfying that it didn’t have one. I think it would have watered the story down generically, and it didn’t feel necessary to the intentions of the characters or the meaning behind the story's driving themes. I think leaving romance out of the story was a good choice and I think it will be refreshing to many readers.

Overall, I had a really enjoyable experience with this book and everything about it is so unique. I’m not as blown away as I feel like I could have been from a story of this proportion, but it is definitely a memorable tale. For me this was a solid four-star read. I think the writer has a fascinating mind and style for both fantasy and sci-fi and I’d love to read something else like this from the author.

Enjoyable. Sometimes it felt a bit like it fell in to the "I'm Fantasy so I must use all of the words!" trap but worth it.

This was a pretty interesting and an enjoyable read for me. I was hooked on to it since the very beginning. I loved the exceptional word building, the amazing plot line and whole the set up. It’s definitely a full 5 stars read.

This was an awesome book! There was a lot of information to learn based on the world and the different “powers” each character had, but the author wrote the book so well that I felt like it was easy to keep track of who is who and what they can do. This book was action packed and I would suggest it to anyone!

This is a YA fantasy standalone that tries to do some unique things with popular fantasy tropes. I don’t think it works very well. The writing was a tad bit too clunky. The story was okay… it’s not very memorable or particularly compelling. I was expecting a bit more because that synopsis sucked me in immediately. I also found it difficult to connect with the characters and to feel a sense of attachment towards them. I did like that there was minimal romance in this book which will help it to standout! I think this story might be best suited towards people who are just starting to get into YA fantasy.

Where to start on this wild ride between the sands of the beaches in Soreia, to the blistering desert ocean sands of the Deadlands or the endless void of space on the Starfall. This story drew me in to the very end. Amazing character written and woven together like pieces to a beating heart. World building was perfect amount, the magic system was unique and well thought out. This was my first Lindsay Cummings book and wont be the last. Definitely recommend to any fantasy reader out there.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and ns opinions are my own!

I had a lot of high hopes for this one, and unfortunately it didn’t hold and keep my interest. Maybe I was having an off day, but it just … didn’t live up to what the plot held in my mind.

This book was definitely fun and interesting, but kind of humbled its way along by trying to be too many things all at once. Way too much happens within the span of a paragraph in the first few chapters — one of the main characters’ life changes drastically but it’s really abrupt and kind of glossed over? I would e liked to see the sibling bond form a bit more before all the whacky worldbuilding came in. That being said, the world building was really well done, unique, and immersive. It was just a lot to digest!

After reading the description my thoughts were “ok I want to know more about these shadowbloods” Being completely honest I almost put the book down early because I was not expecting an alien abduction. I decided to keep going because I had no idea where the story was going and I’m glad I did! The story is very different from anything I’ve read but I did enjoy it!

Nowhere in the description did it say this was a sci-fi book. Im giving it 3 starts because I did like the medieval part of the story but the sci-fi just isnt my thing and isnt what I was looking forward to reading.

Blood Metal Bone was truly unique. The magic system was so unique, and I really did appreciate the fact that there was no romance as an active part of the story. It made the impact of each characters choices much stronger. I do feel like it was a bit rushed, this storyline is something that could hold its own as an epic fantasy, stretching over books that are twice the size of this one. That is how powerful the story was. I understand this was not the style of the author, and it doesn't take away from how much I enjoyed reading about these characters at all, if anything it just left me wanting more. Which is how you should feel after finishing a good book.
The weaving of the magic system, and character development between two different planets was so impressive. I can't wait to see what the author writes next!

I needed a break from reality and anything resembling reality and got a sci/fi-fantasy mashup.

It is a quick read; it had Guardians of the Galaxy vibes. Karr was my favorite character; the choices the ppl around him made were heartbreaking. Everyone but Karr is morally grey though not without good reason, it's what it takes to survive.

2.5 stars rounded to 3; some of the lore was confusing and some characters needed to be fleshed out (with a little less tell and more show) but a solid and entertaining book.

I did not really enjoy this book. The alternating POVs felt sort of disjointed to me, especially since one POV was like a standard fantasy and then the other was sci-fi. It was all-around confusing and I didn't enjoy the writing style very much.

Game of Thrones meets Firefly. The bastard daughter of the Queen and her brother the crown prince are the characters that we meet in the first few chapters. "Medieval" storyline takes an abrupt turn when Karr and his brother are introduced. Synopsis did not allude to this turn in the storyline, Overall, I liked the book, the magic was original and though I can see why the author wrote the prince's story, I hated the reveal and explanation. Lots of things unfinished if this was a standalone. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book from Netgalley.

[eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review]

I went into this book expecting pure fantasy. The description focuses solely on Sonara and her journey, a traditional fantasy with elements of heist and revenge narratives. The world is intriguing with its magic and politics, and Sonara is a great protagonist with a strong sense of justice.

However, Cummings quickly introduces another narrative arc--that of Karr, a young man whose brother runs the spaceship Starfall. It comes completely out of nowhere, as it's not mentioned in the novel's description. There are references to Earth and a plague that consumed it, along with countless other worlds. These segments read as a space opera in the vein of Firefly, where a ragtag crew is just struggling to get by in a struggling galaxy. It comes completely out of nowhere, and is, quite frankly, unnecessary. I'm a huge fan of science-fantasy but the way this crossed such a specific niche with traditional high fantasy simply didn't work. The scope of the narrative should have been contained to Dohrsar and its inhabitants. Attempting to create intrigue with Earth invaders meddling (in a sort of James Cameron Avatar style) simply doesn't work.

The prose is excellent, creating vivid images of each character and scene. That's far and away the novel's biggest strength: the line-level writing. If the book had just focused on the fantasy narrative, I think it would have been excellent. Unfortunately, it felt incredibly messy, a weak attempt at thinking outside of the box.

While the concept of this book was interesting, it felt like two very distinct books instead of one. Sonara’s portion was on the fantasy side with goddesses and magic, while Karr’s side was sci-fi focused and took place in space. It was a bit of a confusing combination. Although Sonara was given a good character background, the other characters were not so lucky. By the time threats are being made and people are at risk of dying, there are nearly no characters who you have built a relationship enough for it to matter. The concept of shadow blood is very interesting but the general necessity of the book is depth.

Magic, space, and mayhem come together in this story about the bastard daughter of a queen who is falsely accused of killing her brother when he was actually abducted by a spaceship and is left to die... only she has come back alive and is now gifted with magic powers that let her taste and feel other people’s emotions. Sonara was left for dead 10 years ago but now she has become the Devil of the Deadlands, a thief with demon-like powers. She continues to search for her brother, doing whatever it takes to get her one step closer to bringing him home. When a job goes terribly wrong Sonara is forced to work with an ex lover, a princess, and a cleric in order to pay her debts but along the way she runs into another spaceship... exactly like the one that stole her brother and now she will kill and kidnap whoever is part of that crew in order to get him back. Things get out of hand when her own best friend is stolen and the member she kidnapped has a similar aura to her brother... he knows something but he won’t tell her. Then she finds herself in the middle of a much larger plot involving the doom of her planet. Sonara will have to uncover dark secrets, stop evil plots, and find a way to save the planet. definitely liked Sonara the best out of all the characters, she just felt so much better fleshed out compared to everyone else. Karr was the second POV we get to read from and okays the Wanderer with with Sonara’s brother’s aura on him. This was a surprising read for me, I definitely was not expecting the whole sci-fi space ship and alien travelers plots to play into this story about a bastard daughter turned thief on the hunt for her brother. Overall an okay read and definitely worth checking out for anyone who is a fan of sci-fi and fantasy stories since this is pretty interesting blend of both.

*Thanks Netgalley and Harper 360, HQ Young Adult for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

There are several plot twists in this novel that one has no idea what will happen next or what the true motives are for the characters. Sonara has much guilt for the past and after being given a second chance, has not stopped searching for answers, ignoring her new abilities and the voice inside her. When wanderers arrive on her planet, she knows trouble is coming, but cannot quite understand why she recognizes an aura. Together with other shadowbloods, they work together to save the planet from meeting its doom. But what occurs has much to do with the past and to save it, a few must discover the truth from memories. There are those who will attempt to stop them, for they also desire the power that the planet has. To save all, the past is revealed, which affects some relationships between characters, but can they put aside that to save the planet that gave them a second chance?
I received this novel as an ARC from net galley and the publisher. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Blood Metal Bone by Lindsay Cummings is a great read. I was nervous atbfirst going into this book but what a wonderful story this one was.
The characters were great, Sonara was amazing here. This book had so many twists I never saw any of them coming. The writing was outta this world. Cummings did a wonderful job with this story and I can't wait for book two already!

HQ Young Adult,
Thank you for this eARC.
I will post to my platforms close to pub date.