Sadly I found this book to just be okay. The idea was really solid and it had some great potential but it fell a little short of my expectations. That being said this is only the first in the series so things definitely have room to grow.

I devoured this book! A retelling of Sleeping Beauty in an entirely different way: with wolves and traveling musicians.

Calla has always felt like an outsider. Her sister, Briar, is the Crimson Princess and betrothed to marry their lifelong friend, Graer. Not many know Calla is also a lost Princess to a kingdom filled with gold and Calla likes to keep it that way. Until the evil sorceress who killed their parents attacks Briar on her wedding day, Calla must break out of the shadows and claim her own destiny.

While some parts are repetitive, the story is fast-paced and engaging. I couldn’t put this book down and will enjoy continuing the series. Calla was a wonderful character to root for as they discovered themselves and their importance in the world.

Fated mates, friends to lovers, fantasy, war, and, most importantly, self-discovery, A River of Golden Bones is a fantastic addition to the 2023 Romantasy genre.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A sleeping beauty retelling with werewolves you say? Say less.

A River of Golden Bones by A.K. Mulford is a fantasy novel set in a world where werewolves are basically in charge. Twins Calla and Briar have spent their entire lives hiding from the powerful sorceress who destroyed their kingdom…and from the humans who don’t know they are Wolves. Each twin has their own purpose in life: Briar’s is to marry the prince of an ally pack and save the Golden Court. Calla’s purpose is to remain a secret, her twin’s shadow . . . the backup plan. No one knows who Calla truly is except for her childhood friend—and sister’s betrothed—the distractingly handsome Prince Grae. But when Calla and Briar journey out of hiding for Briar’s wedding, all of their well-made plans go awry. The evil sorceress is back with another sleeping curse for the last heir to the Golden Court. Calla must step out of the shadows to save their sister, their kingdom, and their own legacy. Continuing to hide as a human and denying who she truly is, Calla embarks on a quest across the realm, discovering a whole world she never knew existed. Outside the confines of rigid Wolf society, Calla begins to wonder: who could she be if she dared to try?

I previously read Mulford's The High Mountain Court series, and wasn't the biggest fan. But I really like this one. I blame it on the whole fated mates aspect. I also really enjoyed the whole deviation from gender norms and the general exploration of such. Though I could have done without some of the spice.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

A River of Golden Bone is the first book in The Golden Court series by A. K. Mulford and I am so ready for book two.

There are only positives to say about this fantastic book.

The paranormal fantasy world is perfection, as are the characters and plot.

The spicy romance, action and fantasy world were amazing.

Highly recommend. Five stars.

A River of Golden Bones by A.K. Mulford is a fantastic read! I devoured it in one day and enjoyed every minute of it.
This book really has it all. It’s got adventure, romance, friendships, magic, and great world building.
The plot was epic and the world-building was phenomenal. Vivid and so descriptive Mulford painted the picture of a stunning scenery, and amazing interactions. Mulford's writing style is a delight - easy to follow I could picture everything so clearly.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

Will be covered in November Wrapup and 24 hr reading vlog
Imgur link goes to instagram graphic scheduled for November 30th

I’ve been dipping my toes in and out of ‘Romantasy’ books. This is not the worst of those but it wasn’t the best! AK Mulford has a lot of potential and she’s likely going to be an author I watch moving forward. The story starts as a lot of books in this genre start with the love triangle of a two twins and man caught in the middle. But the story quickly turns.

This is a world I found really fascinating, and ultimately that’s what kept me going. The world is ruled by families of werewolves who protect and watch over each kingdom. Humanity, with it’s varied cultures and lives live with and in some cases simply beneath the werewolves. Hints at this conflict and imbalance of power setup what I think may be explored in the next books, which will be very interesting. In addition this is a mostly queer-normative society but also with some strangely traditional views on gender duties, we shall say. This conflict felt shoehorned in for the sake of conflict, but could be explored in an interesting way in the future.

The story itself also had some interesting twists in turns. Part of this was a Sleeping Beauty retelling, part of this was a journey of self discovery. Each time the story setup a trope I was ready to roll my eyes at, it managed to twist it in a way I found interesting and I did enjoy!

The characters are the major flaw of this one for me. They are fairly simple, one note and with little to endear them. Each felt like a good representation of the type of character they were meant to be but with little else. That was the biggest problem I had, and the reason for the three star rating. Additionally I feel… unsure about big conflict at the end in which our villain threw the main character’s gender identity in their face and attempted to use it to divide their relationship up. I didn’t care for that personally.

A mixed bag, and one I think I will remember. I’ll keep my eye on AK Mulford in the future, and if you enjoy Fantasy Romance I think this might be one a lot of people will enjoy!

3 out of 5 golden wolves

If you are looking for a supernatural Sleeping Beauty retelling with shape-shifting Wolves, fated mates, and LGBTQ+ representation, A River of Golden Bones fits the bill!

This new NA fantasy romance by A.K. Mulford follows twins Briar and Calla, the last Gold Wolves of their pack, and their harrowing quest to take back their rightful place on the throne. Along the way to defeat the evil sorceress, one twin is met with a childhood love interest, a roaming musical troupe, and a chance to reimagine their own desires and discover their purpose. This story is full of heart-warming moments, steamy tension, and decent dialog about gender identity and realizing your true self.

While the author does a great job of creating a “quirky yet lovable” cast of characters, I think this book suffers from too many tropes flooding the plot. Between ‘found family,’ ‘fated mates,’ ‘friends to lovers,’ ‘secret identity,’ ‘secret/lost heir,’ etc, the story sometimes feels indecisive and flimsy especially towards the latter half of the book.

Overall, A River of Golden Bones was fast-paced and easy to digest, and I might recommend this it to new fantasy readers especially those who value a hearty effort of diversity and inclusiveness in the character depictions.
Release date: December 5, 2023

A special thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this eArc in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the advanced reader copy!

This was my first A.K. Mulford book and it didn’t disappoint. Perfect for fans of Romantasy, wolf shifters, fated mates and fairytale retellings! A wonderful journey of gender exploration and finding one’s self. I loved Mulford’s writing style and will be diving into more of their books!

This was my first A.K. Mulford book and I ended up really loving it. I was a little skeptical in the beginning because I thought we were going to get slapped with an insta-love but Calla & Grae’s love story really surprised me.

Can I also just say that this book absolutely scratched the wolf shifter itch from when I used to binge similar fanfics in high school 😂

Two things absolutely made this book a 5 star read for me.

1. I absolutely adored the traveling music troupe in this book. It’s phenomenally written and the author makes it impossible to not fall in love with every member of that group (especially Ora 😭 - they were my favorite character) There are so many aspects of these scenes that made my heart ache with an overwhelming amount of wholesomeness.

2. The way the author portrays gender fluidity and the MC’s discovery of one’s self and the acceptance from important characters around them was incredible and I loved reading it. I think it’s so important when authors incorporate these topics into the fantasy genre and I want to see this more and more. A.K. Mulford did a fantastic job.

The story feels really unique and I was not really able to predict what happens next (which of course adds to the appeal)

I would recommend this book to any and all lovers of fantasy romance, found family, who did this to you, faded mates, queer love, and perfectly placed spice.

I look forward to reading more books by A.k. Mulford in the future.

A loose Sleeping Beauty retelling but with wolves. I didn’t know I needed this story in my life but I am so happy I got the chance to read it! Calla is such an amazing character and Grae is so lovable. The other side characters really made all my found family dreams come true. The story was quick moving which I really enjoyed. The plot itself hooked me right away and I had to force myself to read slowly to really savor it. The ending itself was completely worth the read. I am hoping to get my hands on the second when it’s released to know how the story continues!

Thank you for the ARC

As an avid reader of A.K Mulford's books, I was so excited to receive this book as an ARC to read. A.K Mulford has this magic when it comes to making worlds and characters that you can not only imagine but relate to in such a deeply emotional way. I love her Crowns of Okrith books and this one lives up to her writing style. Calla was so relatable and Grea was by far one of my favorite MMCs their journey through the land and their journey of discovery both apart and together showed so much growth. I loved of course all the side characters whom I can already see who will have their own books and I can not wait for those stories.

Ooooooh my gosh. This book completely throttled my heart. In it, our hero Calla goes on a journey to save her sister, Briar, who's been put under a sleeping beauty-style curse. As she adventures, she learns more about herself, and who she is as she stands on her own and takes her life into her own hands, whether it's her strength, her confidence, or her relation to gender in a society that prefers things to be black or white. Of course, like in all Mulford's books, there's incredible side characters as layered and multifaceted as the MC, and a super hot love interest. This book is a master class on emotion and tension, once I got past the 15% mark I was absolutely gobbling it up. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

I received a free ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Briar would rally support through tea parties and balls and, as her guard, I’d muster it with my sword. I was definitely getting the better end of the deal, training in secret to be a killer instead of a dainty, poised princess."

🐺 Sleeping Beauty Retelling
🐺 Wolf Shifters
🐺 LGBTQIA+ Characters

A secret, warrior princess. A stolen kingdom. Wolf packs ruled by greedy men. A River of Golden Bones is a beautiful romantasy filled with so many amazing conversations.

"The roles of man and woman were so rigid, so constraining, completely controlling who we could be and what we would do with our lives."

"No mask I wore felt right— there was always a piece missing."

Not only does this book explore gender and identity, it also explores the idea of political systems we grew up in and never thought to question.

"Wolves took care of their own, and it was the humans’ own fault they didn’t do the same was how I’d always thought. Never mind that they didn’t have the glass houses to grow or enough coin to build one. My naïveté hit me like a slap in the face and, though the logical part of me already understood, I felt even more acutely about how wanting something didn’t translate to having something."

“I wonder sometimes how I never questioned it all before. I suppose I did in the back of my mind, but . . .”

I loved it. I devoured it. It checked all of my boxes:

Badass Main Character. ✔️
Fated Mates ✔️
Fantasy ✔️
Found Family ✔️

Sleeping Beauty with shifters in a fantasy setting. Yes please! I admit, I'm a big fan of AK's work and this did not disappoint. The representation in this book is well done and really helped make this world feel full and dynamic. This felt fresh, new and oh that spice was so sweet. Well done!

A River of Golden Bones had me with the Sleeping Beauty retelling, fated mates, and found family trope, but didn't quite meet my expectations. The pacing was a bit too chaotic, and the storyline too predictable. Overall, it was good but did not blow me away like I had hoped it would.

I just finished this ARC. I loved it so much!!

I love AK Mulford's work. They are easily a top favorite author. Instant buy for me.

This story is amazing, so much growth in the main character as they discover themselves, who they are, what they want and what they will do to obtain it.

Fated mates, secret twin, sleeping curse, evil sorceress and a kingdom to reclaim await you in this amazing story.

I kept almost putting this down. I just didn't feel like there was much happening, but then in the last chunk of the book it started to pick up and things started to go down. I also felt like the events that are set up ultimately don't matter/don't play into the action at the end at all--all of the conflict you expect to come to a head it just brushed past. Everything/all the tropes and ideas were just sort of thrown into the soup but weren't meaningfully layered or nuanced. I saw someone else describe it as a checklist of ideas and I can honestly say that i agree with them. It was hard to feel anything about the characters or what was supposed to be happening because it felt like we were just ticking the boxes of putting things in the story. The characters, though, is where the story really lost me. I didn't feel sad for Briar; I didn't care about Grae or Calla or Sawyn; I just didn't really like the characters at all or the way they largely acted. I can definitely see where this will really work for some people, but this just really wasn't for me, which is okay.

I really loved certain parts of this book, specifically parts with Ora. They were my favorite character. But as a whole, I unfortunately didn't love the book. I will most likely read the 2nd just to find out what happens next.

I really enjoyed this read! I loved the non-binary representation and the journey Calla went on to find themselves. It was refreshing that they were accepted and there was not plot point of anyone close to them feeling mad or "betrayed", just acceptance. The magic system and wolf shifting was super cool and I look forward to the battle against Nero!

I'm not a big fan of this book - I feel as if most of the action happens in the last 30% of the book. Some of the main conflicts (the confrontation with the Silver wolves while traveling and then the run in with the Ice Queen wolf) were not actually conflicts at all and they were brushed over in just a few pages. The main character just kept lamenting about her sister without adding anything new to the story or giving any detail that would strenghten their relationship in the reader's eyes