First I would like to thank Netgalley and Random House Children's Publisher for sending me this e-arc in return for an honest review.

Alexandra Bracken swooped me into a dangerous world of hollowers that seek to find ancient relics of Arthurian legends to sell for high prices and show off. I fell in love with the world and the characters, especially Tamsin who is stubborn hearted and is not afraid to tell others she only looks out for herself and brother Cabell. My love for Arthur legends helped me love this book more, as we are taken on journeys and multiple tales of legends of Avalon, the birth place of Arthur, and most of all the Servant's Prize. It was fast pace from the beginning to the end, and some unexpected twists that came up leaving me clutching to each page as I read the next and next seeing what would happen. Moments my heart broke and I wish I could just stab someone for Tamsin, and also moments I was shouting at Tamsin to just trust others. This is my favourite book of Alexandra Bracken, and she has just reopened my childhood love for all things Arthur and Robin Hood legends. Can't wait for book 2, as book 1 was epic.

This book was fine.

I know that's not an exciting way to start a review, but the book was equally as exciting to me. I was really obsessed with Arthurian legends when I was a teenager, so I was super excited to read this. Perhaps my excitement was part of my let down.

Tamsin Lark and her caboodle of friends and frenemies go on a mission to uncover a magic ring, but each with their own motivations, creating a great amount of tension and surprises throughout the book. The story began with almost a heist-like feel, but that kind of fell away as the story went on. Still, Bracken spins a well-thought out novel of magic, myth, and betrayal.

If I look at the book objectively, it had great characters with strong development, along with a well-balanced blend of action scenes and plot-building. Sadly, it just was not for me. The story had a hard time keeping me engaged. That is not to say that the book wasn't well written, or that I don't recommend it, because I do. Perhaps you will like it better than I did.

Silver in the Bone is a solid YA novel set in the present day but revolving around King Arthur mythology. Tamsin Lark is a Hollower, a treasure hunter for magical artifacts. Years after the disappearance of her father figure, Tamsin sets out to find the Ring of Dispel, a ring from Arthurian legend which she hopes will break her brother’s curse. But she’s not the only one hunting the ring, and as the search becomes more cutthroat, she and her companions delve deeper into Arthurian lore—and find that not all is well in Avalon.

Tamsin is kind of a jerk. This really bothered me at the beginning of the book, but when I could see a character arc forming and knew that her prickliness was a deliberate choice based on her backstory, I felt a little more sympathetic toward her.

The pacing of this book isn’t perfect; it lags a bit in the middle. A sizable portion of the book revolves around a mystery, but I felt it was too easy to figure out. Where Bracken really shines, though, is her riveting action scenes that feel almost cinematic. The climax and ending of her book are fabulous with some plot twists and a bold ending where Bracken pulls no punches. The ending bumped my rating from 3.5 up to 4 stars. I’ll likely read the sequel when it comes out, as this one ends on a cliffhanger and I’m so curious to see where it will go. Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for the DRC.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book but I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this! There’s only so many ways that you can write a King Arthur story and Alexandra Bracken does it fantastically. It was a dark and spooky, a new twist on an old tale. Part mystery, part adventure I had a hard time putting it down.

Tamsin was such a good lead character, I connected to her right away with her pessimism and anger and the need to push people away before they can leave you. She's strong and touch but not without her flaws.

That ending! I was shocked at the way this ended. So many twists that I didn’t see coming! I have so many questions that need to get answered… Nash? Emrys? Cabell? What happened and why? I can’t wait for the second book! I hope we don’t have to wait to long for it!

I have loved Alexandra Bracken's work since The Darkest Minds trilogy and I was so excited to pick up the first book in this new epic fantasy series. Tamsin is a lovable main character to follow and you cannot help but root for her. I loved that this book is steeped in Arthurian legend with the found family trope and classic fantasy feel. This was truly such a fun read and I cannot wait for Book 2.

Silver in the Bone is the fantastic new tale from Alexandra Bracken. I love her writing, so I was so excited when I saw she was writing a book that involved Arthurian legends.

Silver in the Bone follows Tamsin Lark, a mortal without magic, who is determined to save her cursed brother. After their guardian disappeared, Tamsin and Cabell were forced to take odd and dangerous magical jobs to survive. When Tamsin catches wind of a job that could solve their problems for good, she eagerly takes it. However, the job comes with many dangers and the Larks are now a target…

I loved Silver in the Bone! I couldn’t put it down. It has a sense of classic adventure to it, with found family, and artful inclusion of Arthurian legends. I was spellbound! Tamsin is such a relatable heroine, making difficult choices but always fighting to protect her brother. I love stories about siblings who would do anything for each other. The secondary cast of characters is fantastic, from the loyal priestesses of Avalon to the charming and irrepressible Neve.

The world-building is fantastic and I can’t wait to learn more about it in book two. Tamsin relies on a number of different magical methods to get by since she does not have magic, which were really interesting to read about. Silver in the Bone would be perfect for readers who love Arthurian legends, found family, and epic adventures. I can’t wait to see what happens next after that ending!!

Silver in the Bone releases April 4, 2023. Thank you so much to Alexandra Bracken, Knopf Books for Young Readers, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

Love. Magic. Betrayal. Gods. Death. Alexandra Bracken’s newest novel is easily one of the best she has ever written.

How do I even begin to describe the intricate folklore or emotionally devastation I feel knowing that I must wait for book 2?

Tamsin and her brother Cabell are Hollowers. Descendants of magical folk who can see past a boundary in our world that shows the magic beneath everything. When their guardian, Nash, disappears when they are 10 after finding The Athame, an ancient Arthurian blade from the past, they struggle to make ends meet and stay in the world of Hollowers. When Tamsin finally decides to find Nash, she unexpectedly finds herself in Avalon of lore that is no longer an isle of dreams and beauty, but grief and death.

Emrys is a wealthy and privileged Hollower. For years, he fought with Tamsin, but for years he has also watched her and cared for her. Forced into a deadly race to find the Ring of Dispel, he now must work with her to free himself and his mother from brutality. But he never expected to fall so quickly for her.

Using folklore from Arthurian legend, Bracken weaves a beautiful tale for her readers with a shocking ending that will leave you with goosebumps.

After reading Lore by Alexandra Braden, I knew I had to pick this book up. This book is about a mortal who fights for survival with her cursed brother teams up with her rival and exposes secrets in order to save him. The headline says it's an arthurian retelling but I wouldn't really call it that. There wasn't much retelling in it but more of Bracken's own story with her own created world. Though I really enjoyed the storyline but have to say that the beginning is slow though the ending makes up for it. There were many conflicts that kept me wanting to turn the pages. I do have to say that the setting/world building was confusing for me. I wasn't expecting it to be modern fantasy with the way the summary was saying. Though Bracken did have some great story to tell in this new world though I would have expected more ancient world. I enjoyed how the book was sectioned into three parts which made the story feel more developed in a way and with a physical copy it would also look so much nicer.

The main character in this book is Tamsin and I enjoyed her character. She is strong but man did she make no so many great decisions. It threw me off at times but her development improved her character and also knowing her backstory. I really enjoyed the amount of side characters in this book. They were heavily involved with the story which I enjoyed ad I can see so much potential for some of them in the next book. I loved Emery's character and hope to see/know more of him in the future. The romance is enemies to lovers with a lot of bantering and chemistry between our new couple. There is also a new family theme in this book along with sibling bond.

The ending was very well done and my favorite part of the book. After finding out that this book has parts, I knew the last part would be rushed with a lot of plot twists and action. I really enjoyed reading this book as Bracken truly knows how to write her fantasy book and she is killing it. I did have some minor issues but overall it was a great read. I truly recommend checking out this book especially if you have read her past book, Lore, which you know is good.

"Silver in the Bone" is a captivating new fantasy novel that draws inspiration from the Arthurian legend. The book follows the journey of Tamsin and her brother Cabell, as they embark on a quest to find their adoptive father, who disappeared several years ago. The majority of the book's setting is Avalon, where Tamsin hopes to find a magical ring that will break her brother's curse.

At the beginning of the book, I found it slow-paced and not very exciting; however, the story picked up around 40% into the book. The book introduced several new characters, but unfortunately, none of them was very memorable, despite the author's attempt to make them so.

The romance in the book was promoted as enemies-to-lovers, but it was a bit of a disappointment for me, as it felt like a pale imitation of the trope. Nevertheless, the story was still very engaging, and it stood well on its own, despite being inspired by the Arthurian legend. The author did a fantastic job of portraying Tamsin's character development as she slowly opened up to the people around her. The only other character I found particularly interesting was Neve, who added an additional layer of depth to the story.

The second half of the book had several plot twists that I didn't see coming, making it all the more captivating. The ending left me wanting more, and I was glad to find out that there will be a sequel. Overall, I found "Silver in the Bone" to be an enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

I would like to express my gratitude to the publisher for providing me with an early copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. I would highly recommend this book to fans of the fantasy genre who enjoy a good adventure story.

Alexandra Bracken has managed to weave an Arthurian retelling with moments of heartbreak, fright, loss and intent. This story follows the lives of Tamsin and her brother Cabell and their quest to find their adoptive father who seemingly abandoned them seven years prior.

Their journey takes them to Avalon in search of a ring that can help Cabell overcome his monstrous curse. The book introduces several memorable characters.

I didn’t see most of the ending coming. I’m excited for the sequel. This is one of the best Arthurian retellings I’ve read and I’d group it with another favorite of mine, Legendborn.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Silver in the Bone is a King Arthur-inspired YA fantasy from Alexandra Bracken (an author who I’ve been reading for a decade now). In my opinion, it’s more inspired by rather than being a retelling and doesn’t follow the mythology much at all. As other reviewers have pointed out, I would love to see more mythology in the next books!

For the first 80% of the book, this was sitting at a 3.5 stars for me. However, the third and final part pushed it over the edge to four stars. I read that final 20% faster than I read the other two parts. It was darker and gory and had some amazing twists and turns (especially that last line – I didn’t see it coming!). While that’s not to say the beginning of the book was bad by any means, it was considerably slower-paced than the ending and I wish we would have gotten more of that action throughout.

The strongest part of this book was the character relationships and dynamics. I thought their development over the course of the novel was so well down and I especially liked the burgeoning romance between Tamsin and Emrys. I wasn’t sure about it at first (it almost felt like it was moving too quickly) but at the end of the book, I was fully on board.

The pacing and world building didn’t work as well for me. As I’ve already said, the majority of the book moves pretty slowly. Also, I struggled to get through pages of world-building and info-dumping at a time. Stories are obviously an important part of any mythological retelling but I don’t love reading one character having a looooong monologue where they tell other characters a myth or story. I think the world-building could be done throughout and almost disseminated a little more rather than in giant blocks in the middle of the book especially.

Overall, however, I enjoyed reading this book and I’m looking forward to seeing how the storyline progresses in the sequel!

A really fun and inventive take on Arthurian legends. I haven’t read any of the author’s work before, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked her writing style. I did accidentally convince myself that this was an adult fantasy and had to reevaluate what I was reading early on when I realized it was YA, but that’s no fault of the author! Looking forward to the next book.

When we meet Tamsin Lark and her brother Cabell, they’re with their adopted father, Nash, on a job to find magical artifacts. They are what are called Hallowers, those who can sense and see magic in our world, and most have one magical gift that gives them certain skills. Cabell is an Expeller, able to redirect curses from one source into another – very useful when they’re thieving for artifacts where the (previous) owners protected them with spells. Tamsin, however, isn’t able to see the magic around them which leaves her vulnerable. Cabell has a curse which turns him into a wolf-like monster when experiencing heavy emotions – the term werewolf is not used. All of this exposition in the prologue is helpful because by the end of it, Nash has left his two foster children alone in the world with only enough skill to keep them alive and on the path of magical thievery until we meet them again seven years later.

I love Arthurian Tradition, and this new take brings me back to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon in the way Avalon is shrouded from the world by magical mist and the priestesses of the goddess work their magic to protect the island from those who would use the powers and artifacts for evil. However, unlike the decades long tale from Zimmer Bradley, besides the prologue, Bracken’s tale occurs over the span of about a month. I AM SO READY for book two in this series because of that ending. I am giving Silver in the Bone a solid 4 stars. All the recommendations, but I probably won’t need a full re-read before book two.

Lore was one of my favorite reads from 2021 so I was excited to see this new work from Alexandra Bracken. Bonus for me is that this novel is loosely based within Arthurian legend.

Tamsin is a non magical human living in a world of magic gifted humans who spend their time searching for ancient magical treasures, the most famous of which are artifacts of King Arthur, his knights, and the island of Avalon. When her father figure/caretaker disappears in the middle of the night she is left to care for her brother. Years later they find out their father was searching for the Ring of Dispel when he disappeared, which has the power to break curses. So Tamsin decides to finish his quest and locate the ring so she can cure the curse her brother once and for all. Unfortunately, she isn’t the only one looking for the ring. The quest is full of mystery, intrigue, legend, and betrayal.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. The characters were well written and interesting. Tamsin is a great main character, I liked her immediately and immensely. Fair warning, you will find some typical and perhaps overused YA tropes in this one… specifically enemies to reluctant partners to perhaps more, etc etc.

The ending broke me a little bit, not gonna lie, and I’m pretty mad at Bracken for putting me through it, so she better redeem herself with book 2, just saying.

4 stars

I have had trouble getting into Alexandra Brackens other titles but decided to give this one a try because I love King author or mists of Avalon retellings. This was by far my favorite book I have read of Brackens. This story is action packed and the romantic intrigue keeps you reading way past your bedtime.

What an ending! I need book two now! Fair warning, this book ends on a cliffhanger. However, if you’re looking for an urban fantasy with Arthurian legend mixed in and a slow burn romance, then read this! Tamsin is eager to find a way to help her brother and embarks on an adventure to do so. Along the way, she is joined by others who help her to grow and balance out her more prickly nature. This book seems to be setting up a lot of what’s to come - there are so many reveals I’m eagerly awaiting. The last third of the book really picks up the pace and there are twists that I didn’t see coming. Now I’ll be impatiently awaiting the next book. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s for the arc.

Why did you leave us with that ending though 😩!?! If you don’t like cliffhangers… maybe wait for the sequel to release before reading this one 😅.

Silver in the Bone is a YA urban fantasy set in a world with magic, lore, artifact hunters with a splash of King Arthur mythology. Parts of the book take place in his world and him along with one of his knights are involved in the story but it definitely is only a light dusting of his lore sprinkled throughout the book.

I think this book was super fun and action packed with amazing support characters. The main character kind of was annoying in my opinion though lol. It definitely kept me entertained and curious thanks to various plot twists and turns. I did have a tiny bit of a hard time getting into the story, I didn’t realize it was an urban fantasy so was very confused at first. Along with some of the action scenes just being confusing?? However, overall I enjoyed the lore and magic system along with the side characters and actually do have really high hopes for the sequel!

Thank you Knopf books for my early copy!

I really enjoyed this book. Alex has always been a master at slow burn stories and espeically slow burn series! I think this book overal had such a fun merln esc world and i love the female focus of this book and this book was def more bloodthristy then i was expecting i really loved the found fmily eleemnt in this story and grew to love the main character. This book was a ton of set up but the last 50 pages was a wild ride!! I am excited for book 2!!

Bracken always seems to write interesting stories. Some are better than others. This one was happily right it the middle. Not as good as her Darkest Mind series or Lore but better than some of her other efforts.

I'm sure this book is fine, but there's something about Bracken's writing that just doesn't work for me. Plus, I'm not a huge fan of Arthurian Retellings (except Legendborn) so I just wasn't invested enough to finish this.