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!

Whilst I would recommend this to others, I just don't think it was for me. It's a DNF for now though, rather than a DNF forever.

The first couple chapters were a little hard for me to get into . The world building was also a bit confusing in the way that the plot moved. I had no clue why anything was happening and found myself wanting to re read and hope I found more details because I thought I was missing something I hoped I would enjoy it more as it moved along but I never gained an interest in the characters or the story. I thought I would enjoy it because the synopsis sounded great to me , but I just it wasn’t up my alley. I would still recommend this book to others though.

I really enjoyed this one! I think I liked it more than Lore. I haven’t really read any Arthurian inspired fantasies so I thought that was cool and I liked how it was mixed into the modern day setting. I thought our MC, Tamsin, was really well done - she’s had a tough life with abandonment issues and her brother is the only person she has left in the world. She also struggles with being the only person in her line of work with no magic. It was fun to follow her on her quest and to see her start to let other people in and realize that she can be powerful too.

I also loved that this has kind of a darker vibe with curses, Death magic, bones, the undead, etc. There’s a bit of romance as well which I thought was cute, but there are lots of things left unanswered by the end and a big cliffhanger in the last sentence. My only downsides were that it took me a little bit to get into it and I didn’t always 100% understand what was going on. I need answers though so I will definitely be reading the next book.

Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The main character, Tasmin's rough edges and tendency for keeping everyone at a distance were appealing to me. Reader’s will begin to see the unravelling of why she is the way she is. This also gives Bracken countless opportunities to grow Tamsin over his subsequent books.

The narrative and pacing of this book left me wanting more. Actually, it wasn't until I had read through 50% of the book that I became interested in the plot; at that point, the action scenes became more urgent. The unevenness led to an inconsistent pace, which made it challenging to get through the first half of the book.

Last: the world-building. The magic system is so interesting and I hope we get to see more of it in the next book! I really enjoyed Bracken's deliberate pace in revealing the world-building. I found myself eager to find out more about King Arthur and his court because of the manner that the fantasy and Arthurian mythology blended together here. It always stemmed from Tamsin's innate wisdom, dialogues, or exploration, and it never felt like information dumps. One of the better constructed and paced aspects of this book was the world-building reveal.

Even if the book might have finished on a cliffhanger, I'm not sure it would have kept me interested enough to read the rest of the series. I can't help but leave this book wishing some of the storytelling aspects had been given greater attention.

LITERALLY SO SHOOK OVER THIS BOOK AND I ACTUALLY CANNOT EVEN THINK STRAIGHT ENOUGH TO GIVE A REVIEW BECAUSE CJSIWBDJSUW. alex bracken is literally the queen and has been since day 1. i need more.

I absolutely loved this book! The only thing I’m mad at is the cliffhanger at the end! But I will definitely be waiting (not so patiently) for the sequel to come out! It was the fact that there was some Arthurian legend elements involved that had me interested in this book. While it’s really not that evident, it’s a world where it’s not a myth and they use the isle of Avalon as the setting, it’s still an amazing book. The characters were engaging the plot was full of danger and twists and turns. This book kept me hooked throughout. I really can’t wait to see what happens next. Thanks to Netgalley for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Tamsin is surrounded by magic users, but she’s far from useless. After the disappearance of her foster father, she and her brother continue to go hunting for magical artifacts and treasures in order to make a living. But she eventually hears rumors that her guardian disappeared with a powerful artifact from the legends of King Arthur, one that is strong enough to break her brother’s curse. She also learns that she’s not the only one who believes this rumor, and it becomes a race against time and rivals to see who can find the ring, uncovering dangerous secrets along the way.

I really wanted to like this work. The premise sounds fantastic, I was excited for the incorporation of Arthurian legends, and just look at that cover. But there were many things this work lacked. The plot was quite slow. Now I don’t have an issue with this if the characters are engaging and relatable but that wasn’t the case in this instance. The characters were difficult to connect to, feeling bland and uninteresting with minimal depth or development.

This work also completely lacked any meaningful worldbuilding. There were interesting things that popped up, including creatures, curses, and magical artifacts, but there were no parameters or explanations included. There was never any real sense of danger or urgency related to the characters and their decisions, despite them being depicted in situations that should have been life threatening. And it wasn’t even until about two-thirds of the way through the book that the plot really began to move forward. These things added to overall lack of interest that permeated this work.

This 480-page book was lackluster and slow to get through; it’s not one that I can recommend, especially as it ends as a setup for the next work. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for allowing me to read this work, which will be published on April 4th, 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Silver in the Bone is an Arthurian fantasy focused on a girl named Tamsin and her brother Cabell as they try to find their father figure who vanished looking for a powerful ring that was lost in the days of King Arthur. Cabell and Nash have magic, Tamsin does not but is a Hollower, none the less and gets dragged around as Nash and Cabell try to find this ring that will possibly help them break a curse.
I received the ARC of this book from Netgalley for review purposes, and my thoughts are my own.

I really liked the premise of this series and was excited to get the ARC. That being said, this book was a slog in the beginning. It took me days to read the first 40 percent. It did pick up a little only to once again lose my interest. It was the last 20 percent or so where I felt like things finally got super interesting and left on such a note that I'm going to read the next one and hope that it's pace is better as well as the characters being fleshed out more with a less clunky plot unfolding.

Unfortunately I have to DNF this one but this book had a great storyline for King Arthur which I love!

I really enjoyed this book, especially the King Arthur story line as well. I used to watch Merlin, so this brings me back.

We meet Tamsin and Cabell who have been abandoned by their guardian, Nash. From a sorceress, Tamsin finds out about the Ring of Dispel, which could potentially break Cabell’s curse and what Nash was looking for when he disappeared. With this knowledge, Tamsin and the others arrive to Avalon and try and help the Nine against Lord Death’s doings.

I wasnt too sure I would enjoy the book, but I was mistaken. I loved the dynamic between Tamsin and Emrys. I also really liked how Tamsin was trying to do everything to save what was last of her family. The second book needs to come out asap!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Special thanks to the publisher for inviting me to read this book and providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! 3.5 stars

I buddy-read this with two other book bloggers and found that it was a great book to read with others as there were lots of theories to share and other elements to discuss. This book got off to a rocky start and despite wishing that the world-building was stronger and the pacing was less erratic, it's still a story that I think is worth sticking with because I really enjoyed the characters and their relationships. Plus, with all the tense action and surprising twists that come at the end, I'm excited to see where the story goes next.

**Before diving into my review I do want to make note that this book was a lot more bloody and brutal than I expected. There was a lot of violence and gore (for YA) and the author doesn't spare details, especially in that final bloodbath. Content/Trigger Warnings: violence, blood and gore, a massacre including child death, parental abandonment, physical abuse (off-page, discussed by characters), death of a guardian**

The plot is pretty straightforward and easy to follow even when plans go awry. I think Bracken set the bleak, hopeless and foreboding atmosphere very well and this also ended up being a lot creepier than I expected. To be fair, I am quite the scaredy and it doesn't take much to creep me out but the author does conjure up some pretty horrific imagery and props to her for being able to do that so well! There's a heaviness and tension that permeates the pages and doesn't let up all the way through to the end; in fact, the author ramps up the tension with a few surprises, heart-pounding twists and turns in the plot and character arcs, and I was kept on my toes trying to anticipate what happens next.

That said, as I mentioned earlier, this had a bit of a rough start as we're thrown straight into the story with no explanation about the world but it felt as if we were expected to already have some kind of knowledge about it (if that makes sense). It took me a while to get my bearings in this world and I still have more questions than I do answers by the end, which is why I think the world-building was the weakest part of this. To be blunt, it's not well executed. There's a fair amount of info dumping and combined with the uneven pacing, some repetition and inconsistencies in the Arthurian lore and magic system, I have to say I was a bit disappointed by it. While I noticed more inconsistencies in the events of the twisted Arthurian lore, it was the magic system that confused me the most because the explanations are vague and poorly explained. I'm still unsure what the difference is between the Cunningfolk, sorceresses, druids, and Hollowers, nor do I really get how the different magical abilities work—is everyone born with an ability and what determines that? It was interesting to read about all these elements but it needed more clarity!

What saved this book for me were the characters and their relationships. The story is told from Tamsin's perspective and she was honestly a little unbearable at the beginning! She's rude, irritable, and full of bitterness and anger, which made her act horribly to everyone she encounters, often with little provocation or good reason. This attitude does continue well into the story but she does experience some decent character growth! Her attitude change felt a little abrupt at first but she doesn't miraculously become this good kind person overnight; she struggles to control her fatalistic/pessimistic outlook and bitterness but that made me appreciate the sincerity of her growth more. Besides Tamsin, we have a fairly large retinue of side characters and most of them aren't very well fleshed out but I do think there's room for more to happen in the sequels! I hope it does because I want to know more about Emrys, Caitriona, Olwen, Neve, and even Cabell. While their interactions weren't always smooth as a group, especially when they first meet, I loved how they ended up forming a tight bond that I hope will only get stronger in the second book. The bad-ass girl-power vibes at the end of the book were so good and I'm sensing the strong potential for the found family trope in the future, and I'm totally here for that!

This also has a romance that I ADORED—the nemesis-to-lovers/hate-to-love vibes were strong in this one and if you love that trope, you'll definitely enjoy the dynamic between Emrys and Tamsin! Emrys was a pretty interesting side character and love interest who was essentially the "sunshine" to her "grump" but I'm not quite sure how to feel about him or whether he's really trustworthy. There's so much mystery surrounding his backstory and though what we learned about him hurt my heart a little bit, I'm curious to see what his real motive is! That said, this plant boi had some fantastic chemistry with Tamsin and their biting banter was so good! I found myself laughing at their interactions even at the most inopportune moments and it brought some delightful levity to an otherwise dark story. I really can't wait to see what happens with this relationship in the next book!

Overall, despite a rough start, I think this was worth having patience with and sticking it through to the end. I do wish the pacing had been better and the world-building stronger but after all of that action in the last 30% I feel like I need to get my hands on the next book ASAP, please!

With a strong premise and strong writing, Bracken takes the reader into the intriguing world of the Hollowers. This magical society hunts through crypts, finding lost relics for sorceresses. Tamsin wants the Ring of Dispel to end her brother's curse.


[NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, my NetGalley feedback is not a blurb or endorsement. If a publisher wishes to use any part of my comments for promotional purposes, please contact me or my agent via email. I would prefer not to include star ratings but NetGalley won't let me post without one, so all will be 5 stars.]

I LOVED this one and cannot wait for the sequel. Tamsin has experienced so much but she is a survivor who continues to grow. The connections to King Arthur's legend intrigued me - and the connections were well done in the book. This title is definitely worth reading.