What a fantastic debut! I loved the beautiful cover which initially drew me in, but the story grabbed me right away as soon as I began reading. The world building, witches and shifters, fake dating and queer romance made for a great read!

*many thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. If you are looking for a new YA Fantasy, give this book a try. It will not disappoint. I enjoyed this way more than I anticipated. I found the Forest to be an interesting, unpredictable, and complex character in this story. It added a whole other layer of interest for me. The strong female characters were Amazing! And the ending the was fantastic, Except how long will I have to wait to find out what happened???

I have no words. Before I had even finished the book, I was recommending it to anyone who would listen.

The characters were extremely fleshed out with likes and dislikes, hopes and dreams. The story was gripping and interesting. There was never a point where I felt the story dragging or where I got bored. The climax... let's just say, I cried multiple times while reading this book.

This was a great fantasy debut.

The magic system was unique and overall very interesting. It could use some more fleshing out, but it's a solid start.

The characters were compelling and realistic. Dialogue was organic and believable.

Jasmine Skye's writing was easy to follow an enjoyable.

One drawback was that there was minimal world-building. We're told that there's a war, but it's not really clear with who it is and what it's really about beyond some vague hints. Relationships woth neighbouring kingdoms aren't very clear, though they seem to be important to the plot.

Overall, I really enjoyed myself and will be looking for the sequel.

Wow!!! This book had such fascinating world building and a really interesting magic system. I wasn't sure on it at first because I don't often read stories with shifters, but once I really fell into the story I couldn't put it down. I am looking forward to the sequel!

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan for the e-arc!
An epic debut fantasy with a sapphic romance and a queer normative world featuring bone magic and intrigue. Daughter of the Bone Forest is the first book in the Witch Hall series, and I already can tell this is going to be an absolutely unbelievable series. This book features a magic school where witches and familiars are sent to learn about their magic, and while there, Rosie finds herself trapped in political games and subterfuge.
This book brings so much to the table especially with the intrigue and the characters. Rosie is an absolutely amazing character, and I love her dynamic with Shaw. The magic system is incredibly interesting and I really love the use of familiars and bones in the story. This series kind of gives Grishaverse and The Bone Shard Daughter!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This was an entertaining story that held my interest! I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook, which elevated the atmospheric writing!

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was a fantastic read! Very well written with some wonderful world building, and in-depth characters. I'm looking forward to more! The narrator was really good as well.

Great world building and love fantasy with magic and witches! Fast paced and great world building, this is a great novel! This is very well done for a debut novel! I was in tears by the end!

I utterly loved reading this book! This world of witches and familiars, with the different types of magic, it was so interesting, and I'm so excited for more, I really can't wait! Plus Rosy and Shaw, they were such great characters to follow along with!

Rosy doesn't like the Witch King, or Shaw, after the way that her family was treated, that her grandfather was basically forced to retire, and then died under mysterious circumstances, and when her grandmother reacted, her punishment was pretty hard. And then comes along Shaw, who wants to be able to understand everybody, but can't understand Rosy. It was hilarious in a sad way!

One thing, above all, Rosy doesn't want to be, is a solider. But then there's Shaw, offering to be her partner, that Rosy could be the Queen of familiars. But Shaw has a prophecy of a future war, so the politics and the threats and the characters being in this growing tense situation...yeah, it was complicated, and I really felt for them!

The way that things ended, with the information that her grandfather was giving...I'm so anxious for the sequel! I know it's going to be hard for Shaw, given what her father ordered to the family of the girl she now loves-though those feelings might be complicated between the rejection and this. I need to read more now, please, I'm begging!

This was a fantastic read and I need the sequel now!

I went into this pretty much blind to what it was about and came out mildly obsessed.

Genuinely loved every minute of this. The characters are great, as is the intriguing promise of a war prophesied and the perfectly wonderful queer-normal world, but what really made this shine was the magic system. It has so many components to it, between witches and familiars, different change possibilities between glass and bone and ice and flower, but it was so easy to follow. It could have turned the story into a mess and instead elevated it to new heights.

Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to the sequel to see what happens to Rosy and Shaw!

Wow. What an amazing debut. I absolutely loved the worldbuilding in this and the magic system is soso good. I cannot wait for the next book in this series.

Thank you netgalley for the arc!

4.5 stars.

When I say I am dying for book two... I literally might not make it. This was such a wonderful story, and the writing was beautiful, but the magic system and the sapphic enemies to lovers are what kept me invested.

I thought this was a phenomenal book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy, or to even those who may be skeptical of fantasy as it provides a good justification for how powerful this genre can be. I really loved the way that queer characters were represented in this novel, and I thought that they way that gender is represented in this novel was especially phenomenal. The world-building was great, the pacing was well thought out, and the characters were easily differentiated and fun to read. I will definitely read the next one!

Rosy, whose family has fallen in society since their days as war weapons, has the opportunity to go to a prestigious school to learn how to use her bone magic and potentially restore some of her family's previous fortunes and save their farm. She ends up catching the eye of the notoriously aloof Princess Shaw, creating resentment from other students.

Fast-paced, great worldbuilding, and I can't wait for the sequel!

Great audio narration!

This book nearly became my favorite story of the year, that cliffhanger though 🪦

Thoughts:💡
I loved this story and up until the last 99% of the book I thought this would be my favorite story of the year. However, the author blew the ending in the most painful and frustrating way possible. I’m not sure if it’s because she doesn’t know where the story is going or if it’s because she thought she would sell more books. What I do know is that my trust in her as an author is gone.
The book was set up for a powerful ending, but fell flat.
I loved this story and up until the last 99% of the book I thought this would be my favorite story of the year. However, the ending was the most painful and frustrating cliffhanger I’ve seen in a while because it stole a solid ending from the story. A part of me wants to rant about it even though I waited to post my review until after I had some time to cool off.
With that said there are plenty of things the author did well. The plot was very detailed and the magic system was fascinating. I loved the way this book merged the idea of shifters and familiars and altered what the relationship between a witch and familiar entails. There were several dark secrets that revealed a broken society, and a few revelations that showed its progressive nature.
The relationship between Rosy and Shaw had a palpable sort of chemistry that stole my attention and my breath. They had completely different views of the world and were from different stations in life, but they also had some overlapping desires and strong self made moral codes. At the beginning Rosy and Shaw loathed one another but through their time together because of their fake dating scheme they learned to respect and fall for each other.
The narration was really good, if a little different because the author changed from first person present tense for one POV to third person past for tbe other. So between the different voices and verbage it was very easy to tell the two apart. Honestly, if you can overlook this book’s unfortunate ending then I would strongly recommend it, but if you can’t stand a cliffhanger where the author sets up a strong finish only to purposely withhold it, then wait on this one until book 2 is available and you can just read through it.

Fun Bits:
⚜️ A fake dating plot where only one of them was
faking
⚜️ Fated mates, pair bonds, and witch familiar
bonds mixed in a fascinating way
⚜️ Side characters that stole the show
⚜️ Excellent wold building with fascinating back
stories
⚜️ Heartbreaking losses and ☠️
⚜️ Elites behaving badly
⚜️ A powerful shifter from a poor family putting them in their place
⚜️ Extremely exciting action scenes
⚜️ Emotionally gripping struggles, monologues,
and heart to hearts
⚜️ A fascinating queernormative society

✨Note:✨ Ends on a horrible cliffhanger, book 2 isn’t projected to release until 2025.

Stats:📊
YA with no spice and very little steam
Characters: 💙💙💙💙💙
Audio: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Narrators: 🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️ (Dual, chapter by chapter)
YA Epic Fantasy: Sapphic Queernormative, War College for Witches, Enemies to Lovers, Opposites Attract, Fake Dating, Hidden Secrets, Elite Nobility, Shifters 📘
Rosie’s POV, First Person, Present Tense
Shaw’s POV, Third Person, Past Tense
⚠️: War, Violence, Bullying, Death, Murder, Death of a Family Member, Fire and Fire related Injuries

Couldn't put it down! A great fantasy with really cool magical system. Lots of great relationships and totally excited to read the next one. Perfect book for YA fantasy lovers!

With its richly detailed landscapes and intricate magical systems, the world of "Daughter of the Bone Forest" comes alive on the page, drawing readers into a realm of mystery and enchantment; this novel offers a refreshing twist on traditional fantasy tropes.

Rosy is a bone familiar gifted with the power to shift into animals marked with exposed bone. Her journey from the safety of the Bone Forest to the treacherous halls of Witch Hall is filled with danger, intrigue, and self-discovery. Alongside her is Princess Shaw, a witch known as Death's Heir, whose enigmatic presence challenges Rosy's beliefs and desires.

"Daughter of the Bone Forest" is a spellbinding tale of fate, courage, and forbidden love that will leave readers breathless until the final page. With its compelling characters, lush world-building, and queernormative themes, this dark fantasy debut is a must-read for fans of the genre.

Rosie is a very powerful Familiar, and ends up at Witch Hall despite not wanting to for fear of being used as a weapon of war as her Gran and Pops were, which left Pops dead and Gran banished to the Bone Forest because she became unable to control her shifts into a wolf as a result of her grief. But Rosie has caught the eye of the princess, Shaw, after she saves her from her own feral grandmother. Rosie's also got to learn to play the cliquey and political games of her peers at school, which leaves her fearing to shift into her most powerful forms (again, doesn’t want to catch the attention of military recruiters). But war is coming whether Rosie likes it or not, and she may not have much of a choice in the end.
I enjoyed this series opener, and really liked nearly all of the characters. I could honestly have done without the romance-ish-ness of the courtship, but that's a personal issue and I totally see how it drives the plot. I appreciated all the ways that gender and relationships are portrayed, with characters on many parts of the gender spectrum and discussions of familiar/witch bonds replacing discussions of wanting marriage or not (to the point where the taking of last names is even discussed!). The magic was fun, and I liked that there are types of magic that correspond with different powers, but each type being powerful, unique and needed in its own right. Absolutely would recommend to teens who are aging out of Harry Potter or looking for an alternative for whatever reason.