This is my second time reading a book by this author. She always creates such a unique book, especially when it comes to being a retelling centered around mythology. But for me, there is always something missing to really push it over the top. Whether it be due to the characters or the worlding. Sometimes it is a bit of both, which is how what I would say for this particular book.

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Tamsin Lark. She is an orphan being brought up by a foster father and brother. It’s a unique family situation and one that is explained more throughout the book. I thought she was a decent character. At times is she unlikeable because of the way she treats people, but I can understand why she has barriers up. She doesn’t let anyone in for a reason and relies on her brother.

The other characters were fine. I think I liked Neve the most and I am hoping we learn more about her background in the sequel. Emrys was also another character I liked. He is the bad boy of the group and has his own motives, but I can’t help but like how he has a pet name for Tamsin and tends to care in some sort of way. Although, he can also kick rocks! Haha.

I did feel like the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more. This also applies to the world building as well. I already have a hard time with urban fantasy and frankly I didn’t know this would be a mix of that before starting. I still am not 100% sure how the world works and why things are the way they are. Everything just kind of exists and you just roll with it.

It was hard to get through this book for the above reasons. I had no desire to pick it back up right away after having to set it down. It’s probably why it took me so long to get through. I do think that the ending was good enough to want to continue on to the sequel though. I am hoping that more will be explained, especially with the world.

Overall, this was okay/good. I did like the retelling even though I don’t know much about Arthurian things. It can be a be grotesque at times but it doesn’t go into too much details. If you have been a fan of her work before I would give it a try!

Silver in the Bone reminded me of works by fantasy genre greats like Susan Cooper, Lloyd Alexander, and T.A. Baron. Brachen has created a fascinating, complex world full of interesting characters who must face difficult challenges with external forces as well as within themselves.

The plot features many intricate twists and turns. Sometimes I got lost as to how the threads of the plot intersected. However, all is eventually clear to the persistent reader. Lovers of Arthurian lore will see many elements of those tales integrated throughout the fictional events, including a stunning reveal at the end of the book.

The four main protagonists are well-developed, with strengths and challenges that drive how the story's events unfold. Some readers might not like the stubborn "prickly" heroine Tasmin , but I found her endearing- and similar to many teens who are trying to navigate a difficult world, making her relatable to the target audience for this book. Her rival Emyrs is somewhat a stereotype of the "snobby rich kid with a sympathetic past", but he is a good antithesis to Tasmin and helps her explore her vulnerabilities. The sorceress Neve is the best friend everyone wants to have- resourceful, courageous, and completely loyal. Tasmin's brother Cabell, haunted by a curse that transforms him into a monster, grows from a dependent child to a troubled teen. His staggering betrayal at first seems unlikely, but then is fully explained through Bracken's plotting.

There are many secondary characters to keep straight, including residents of Avalon, sacred deities, and Hallowers. Sometimes I couldn't remember who was who - and what side they were on to preserve or destroy Avalon. However, once I stopped trying to remember all the names and just went with the flow of the story, this concern seemed less important.

The ending was great: some things were resolved and others were left tantalizingly unresolved for a sequel. I particularly liked how a major character- frequently referred to, but unseen until the end-is revealed.

I recommend this book to readers who love fantasy, particularly those who are willing to navigate a complex plot.

Alexandra Bracken is a hit-or-miss author for me.

I really enjoyed LORE. Her debut series was difficult for me to get through.

This one falls somewhere in between. That's not a bad thing, though: It's clear that from her debut series, Bracken has grown as a writer tremendously, and that deserves to be celebrated. I'll be honest upfront and say that I've never been overly interested in Arthurian legends. I did, however, feel like SILVER IN THE BONE offered a curious twist of the story that has--of all the Arthurian legend fiction I've read--interested me the most. That in itself is a feat. One of my biggest long-standing issues with Bracken's work boils down to her writing, and how, at the end of the day, it comes across as trite and uninspired. It gets the job done. It tells the story. But it does so in a manner that makes it difficult for me to want to read further--prose is, for me, the crux of a compelling story (character, passing, and story aside.) If I'm not enjoying the writing, it will be extraordinarily difficult for me to enjoy the novel. Are there more important elements of a story? Perhaps. But if the writing isn't there for me, my interest in the actual book will flag.

This work suffered from that.

It's a long, unwieldy novel that a debut couldn't offer. I suspected that a lot of it lies in the fact that Bracken is now a fairly well-established writer and has more leeway. This is, however, to the author's detriment. With more polished and tightened prose, the character, and story, could've shined. The romance stood out as a particularly bright point for me--kept me engaged and entertained throughout the work. I am looking forward to seeing how that develops and changes in the sequel (assuming there is one.)

My interest in the plot--admittedly--ties into my interest (or lack thereof) in Arthurian legends. And while I mentioned above that SILVER IN THE BONE added a unique and curious spin to the stories most of us already know well, I didn't find that compelling enough to be completely sucked into the world and story.

Lots of dialogue, not a lot of action meant that some teenagers will struggle with SILVER IN THE BONE. But drawn in by the romantic subplot and razor-sharp protagonist, others will love it.

I suspect this is a book that will garner lots of mixed reviews.

Thank you for the eARC.

A solid beginning of a new magical adventure series by Alexandra Bracken. Tamsin doesn't know who her birth parents are and has only known a life with her brother Cabell and guardian Nash as they took on jobs finding enchanted relics. Nash disappears on a hunt for an Arthurian legend relic and Tamsin ends up becoming a Hollower to survive, despite not having any magical ability. Ten years later, rumors surface that Nash had in fact found the object and Tamsin along with Cabell, rival Emrys, and newfound sorceress friend Neve, are on the quest to retrieve it and try and break Cabell's curse. They end up in Avalon, which is fighting it's own dark curse and Tamsin has to figure out how to find the object while staying safe from Avalon's creatures. Overall, an interesting twist to the Arthurian legend featuring a jaded main character, who is just trying to find a way to survive while also figuring out her past.

From the author that brought us Lore and The Darkest Minds Alexandra Bracken has brought us into a new world that is set around the King Arthurian legend. I was captivated from the beginning of the book all the way up to the ending. That cliff hanger makes me crave the next installment. I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy to add to my Bracken Collection. I loved the characters, i loved the overall story and it is what i expected when i picked it up from an Alexandra Bracken book!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of SILVER IN THE BONE by Alexandra Bracken. Unfortunately I never really got into this story and it was something of a slog for me to get through. I did, however, enjoy the romantic subplot and how it got left hanging is my only motivation to possibly read the sequel. There were some fun aspects to the plot and world building, and the character development was well-done—somehow it just didn't add up to something I got really sucked into. I ended up skimming a lot and finished feeling a bit disappointed.

I've loved every single one of Alex's books that I've read so far, so I started Silver in the Bone with high expectations, and it did not disappoint. Bracken's tight, immersive writing hooked me from the opening pages and refused to relinquish its hold until the end. The world-building in Silver in the Bone is superb. I loved Bracken's take on curses and how Hollowers navigated this magical, dangerous world. All of the characters are engaging and interesting, but our MC Tamsin is a heroine who is very easy to root for.

Highly recommend this one for fans of Bracken's other series and YA fantasy. You will not be disappointed.

Thank you so much to Random House/Knopf for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

I won’t lie, this was tough. I wanted so badly to like this, with the characters and the King Arthur tie ins, but… It was so slow. The tie ins that I expected just didn’t come to play at all. It feels like false advertising almost? Granted, I didn’t finish this, I got to about the last 100 pages and said goodbye. I liked the characters (Tamsin is delightfully bitter and hard edged in a way that a lot of MCs just aren’t lately—she is MEAN and I loved it), I liked the setting, but the writing and pace just weren’t working for me. I was jumping through pages just trying to get past the dialogue. If you’re someone who likes character-focused moments that don’t really drive plot but still develop the characters (sometimes; occasionally, I felt like the characters were just talking to fill the silence), this is for you. If you’re looking for action and plot twists, this might be something I recommend pulling from the local library or borrowing.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

**Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for giving me an electronic ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Silver in the bone was great! I loved the society and magic that Tamsin lived in. I loved how strong she is and what obstacles she overcame.

Alexandra Bracken is back with the start of a new series - Silver in the Bone. The plot revolves around mystical powers and Arthurian legends and has lots of twists and turns. The MC is a brass and headstrong girl (classic YA heroine, am I right?) and the love interest plotline is an enemies to lovers and a bit of a slow burn. I look forward to seeing where the series goes from here.

Alexandra Bracken’s “Silver in the Bone” takes Arthurian legends and mixes them with an action-packed treasure hunt reminiscent of “Indiana Jones” to weave a nail-biting story of found-family, dark magic, and nearly-forgotten myths.

Tamsin Lark was never supposed to be a Hollower. She was a mortal and lacked any magical talents, something necessary to break into ancient crypts in search of treasures contained within. That was something her brother Cabell could do, since he posed the One Vision and could see through the magics and break the curses placed by sorceresses.

But when their ne’er-do-well foster father abandons them without warning, Tamsin has little choice but to join her brother and become a Hollower and figure out how to survive on their own.

A decade later, new rumors begin to circulate about Tamsin’s long-gone father figure. They say that he abandoned them after acquiring a powerful ring from Arthurian legend, one that Tamsin sets her sights on in hopes it could free Cabell from a terrible curse.

Tamsin isn’t the only one after the mythic ring. Once the rumor begins to spread, rival Hollowers also hunt for the ring, leaving Tamsin with little choice but to partner with her rival, Emrys. The pair form an uneasy alliance and fall into a conspiracy of dark magic and deadly secrets about ghosts from a long-forgotten past as they try to claim the ring.

All of Bracken’s characters were solid and had layers of personality and secrets that the reader got to slowly uncover as the book progressed. Each did fall into the occasional rut of cliché, but clichés exist because they’re tried and true. The main character, Tamsin Lark, was an especially compelling character with her prickly personality and fierce loyalty to her adoptive brother, Cabell. Bracken did an excellent job showing the reader how Tamsin’s upbringing and betrayal from her foster father, Nash, affected how she mistrusted others and viewed the glass as perpetually half empty.

“Silver in the Bone” had a compelling plot that keeps the reader telling themselves “just one more chapter!” Bracken maintained steady pacing and kept the characters moving forward but also provided just enough downtime for the reader to get to know the characters. Towards the last quarter of the book, the plot started to seem a little muddled, but at no point was I bored or too confused to keep reading.

Bracken has great writing chops, which is unsurprising since she wrote several books before this, including the New York Times #1 bestseller, “Lore.” I have a feeling that “Silver in the Bone” will also top some lists when it comes out. Bracken wrote an interesting fantasy story that utilizes Arthurian legends to tell a story full of magic and dark twists and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat the whole way through.

Do yourself a favor and move “Silver in the Bone” up your TBR!

What a fantastic book! Absolutely loved the plot and characters. This story had me hooked and that cliffhanger has me begging for more already! Beautiful writing, yay! I feel like some characters (the guys) could've been more fleshed out, but hey what's book two for?

Another good one, from Alex!

Actual rating: 4.5/5 stars.

Wow, now I've gone and made the wait for the sequel even more difficult. I need it...

Truly the only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was because it was a long book and some moments seemed to drag a bit, but overall this is a great opening to a new series. And the ending...I'm devastated. Actually the entire like last 100 pages. Please someone sedate me.

Tamsin Lark is a "Hollower," the term for people who search for magical artifacts across the globe, but the problem is that Tamsin was not born with the ability to see magic. She and her adopted brother, Cabell, were left to fend for themselves when their adoptive father disappeared searching for an artifact. Years later, Tamsin is offered too much money to refuse to find the same artifact: the Ring of Dispel, also a ring that can break any curse - including the curse on her brother which causes him to turn into a massive, hungry, deadly hound. Unfortunately, Tamsin's bitter rival, the handsome and rich Emrys Dye, is also searching for the Ring. And a powerful, if annoyingly optimistic, sorceress, Neve, is ALSO searching for the Ring.

They team up to travel to Avalon, an Otherworld realm that was separated from the mortal world, and the very same Avalon connected to the legend of King Arthur. Once there, they realize a deadly curse has been set on the land, and the stakes for the Ring get ever higher when the group slowly learns who set the curse, why, and the threat posed to the mortal world.

I love Tamsin so much. She's got abandonment issues, and a big heart and she wants to protect her brother, but she also pushes everyone else away and she's a pretty pessimistic person. Bracken served rivals-to-lovers with only one horse and betrayal trope with Tamsin and Emrys and it's killing me. She also didn't hold back when killing off characters...like a LOT of characters. Good luck everyone!! I seriously need the sequel.

Silver in the Bone was a unique blend of Arthurian legend and Celtic mythology. I love a good magical odyssey, so Tamsin and the other Hollowers embarking on a quest through Avalon to find a powerful artifact that was last in the possession of her late guardian appealed to me, especially because it meant they would encounter dark creatures, curses, and cryptic clues along the way. It also meant a race against time as well as rivals, which always tends to lead to high stakes, elements of betrayal and surprise, and cliffhanging suspense. And that can be fun.

I'm sorry to say the premise was better than the execution at times, though. The worldbuilding was flimsy at best, with elements that, while intriguing in isolation, were not weaved into the fabric of the whole or explained in a way that gave readers a solid foothold into this world so they could understand how or why things worked the way they did. The plot dawdled, too. Not creating enough movement or sense of urgency, not even in life-threatening moments.

That said, the characters were interesting and relatable, if a bit thinly constructed. Tamsin was probably the most flushed out of everyone, and I liked that she was insolent, cynical, and protective of her brother, Cabell. Neve was my next favorite because she was so frenetic and trusting. She's the sort of person who busts into your life, all color and pomp and determination, refusing to leave until you become her friend. I enjoyed Emry and Tamsin's rivals to lovers vibe as well, but there wasn't anything that stood out about it. Nothing special. It followed the same dislike-trust-betrayal formula as other YA love interests, so I could have used more from them.

The story was slow to start, but it picks up and finishes on a cliffhanger that has me curious about what awaits the characters next.

2.5 stars


Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children's, and Knopf's Books for the ARC!

Silver in the Bone is a reimagined tale of Camelot that follows Tamsin and her brother Cabell, orphaned teenagers in our modern world imbued with magic. Their adopted father, Nash, abandoned them six years ago while they were searching for a magical ring that can destroy any curse.

Now, Tamsin and Cabell have taken up the hunt on their own, competing with their fellow thieves of magical items known as Hollowers.

I really don’t know how I feel about this one. The writing was enjoyable but it was hard to empathize with Tamsin for basically the entire book. Alexandra Bracken didn’t info dump the world, but it had so many idiosyncrasies that I was confused for a lot of the story. The plot seemed to drag, and I predicted all but one “twist”.

There’s also a romance between Tamsin and rival Hollower, a spoiled rich boy named Emrys. He is written like every other morally gray bantering “enemies to lovers” teen love interest.

The bad guy was easy to predict, as were many characters arcs. And of course, being the first of a trilogy, this ended with the world in shambles and a pretty big cliffhanger.

Currently feeling generous and giving this 3.5 stars. Unsure if I’ll pick up the rest of the series. Thank you NetGalley for an eARC, all opinions are my own.

I Fricking LOVED this story. That actually is an understatement. It is a YA story, but I was instantly caught up in the story and could not put it down. I enjoyed the combination for Celtic lora and Arthurian legends that are dropped in throughout the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review! I am so grateful!

I read the "7 years ago" prologue and really felt like I was missing a whole book, but this is the first of a series. I'm not quite sure where it's all going, but I didn't feel the need personally to find out. I stopped after this (at 5%). It does feel very YA, which is just a harder age group for our libraries.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

DNF @ 47%

I've lost all interest. Maybe next time I'll try again?

This started out good but the longer I read the more my interest in it slowly fizzled out. I can't even remember what it's about now.

I wanted to like it but I guess it just wasn't for me? Although I do think a lot of readers would end up loving it.

3.5 stars!

Tamsin Lark, a Hollower, and her brother Cabell, an Expeller, team up to find their father figure in this Arthurian adventure.

This book was a bit hard for me to get into at first, but once we were halfway through things started to flow and progress quicker. The plot and world-building were kind of confusing and hard to follow, but I believe that this book has done well setting us up for the sequel and I have no doubt that I'll enjoy the next book in the series even more.

My favorite character in this book was a supporting character named Caitriona, the Priestess of Avalon. I found her to be the most interesting as the story progressed. I did have a challenging time connecting with the other characters and feeling engaged with the story. Some books you fall right into their world and become immersed in the story, creating strong attachments to the characters that grows more and more every page. I think that the second book has set us up to have better relations with the "main" characters.

This book ends with an amazing cliffhanger - I'm very intrigued to see what the character who shows up at the very end has to do with helping break Tamsin's ancient curse.

The romance wasn't really doing it for me in this book, and I'd argue it's not really a major theme. Definitely don't read this book if you're in it for the romance because I promise you'll be disappointed.

I would recommend this book to those who are into witchcraft and darker magic, complicated family dynamics, and escaping the reality of our modern day through stories.

Thank you Random House Children's, Knopf Books for Young Readers, Alexandra Bracken, and NetGalley for the copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm an Alexandra Bracken fan and have been for ages, but SILVER IN THE BONE is certainly one of my favorite books she's ever written! From the get go, I was caught in the current of her storytelling for Silver in the Bone. The potent combination of Arthurian legend and Celtic lore, a quest/journey with unexpected allies and a plot that (mostly) kept me on my toes really worked for me as a reader. I know what I like in my fantasy reads and this is prime example! I also quite enjoyed getting to know the cast of characters, and particularly liked following Tamsin (even though she definitely had her frustrating moments) and watching her story unfold until the very end of this book (with more to come in the sequel). All in all, this is yet another stellar story from Bracken, and I'm in dire need of the second book after reaching the very last page!