* rated 2.5 on storygraph, rounded up to a three here.
ehhh. ok. the ending of this book saved it from a flat two star rating. i ran into numerous issues, mainly characterization, the romance, and dialogue.

the dialogue and the characterization go hand in hand in some respects, the characters are given little in distinguishing personality traits, which is unhelpfully accompanied by having identical dialogue styles. the boy and the girl especially are from two different backgrounds, but speak in the exact same manner as everyone else in the book.

the romance..... it really just wasn't well built, and fell prey to the most basic cliche YA tropes, though even they are usually employed in books with better build up. it took 20 pages and a near death experience for her to start admiring how hot the boy was, or how she was absolutely certain he would not hurt nor kill her, despite not having much of a reason to believe that. it also destroys the possible intrigue their relationship could hold. because yeah, what does it mean that this guy who saved you has also murdered two people in cold blood, and nearly killed a third. that should give a character pause, but the girl rationalizes this in a paragraph. this is ostensibly an adult novel, i think we spend at least a third of it in a poorly constructed YA fantasy romance.

this is a common issue of novellas, but this book really did not trust it readers to understand its themes or purpose (probably because the plot is largely meandering and more interesting outside of the scope of the protagonists) so it has to directly inform the readers through corny out of place dialogue. i am not against a self righteous monologue on principle, but this book ended up at 74 pages on my phone, and they started to appear on every other one after a certain point.

honestly i truly do not think this is a bad novella, but it definitely needed another round or two with an editor.

Thank you NetGalley, J. Patrica Anderson and Root of the World Publishing for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Monsters are killed on sight, a girl is found out and the boy comes in to rescue her. They go on the run together in search of a cure to stop their monstrous transformations. Along the way they find hope, friendship and love in each other.

Things I enjoyed about this book
▪️it took off pretty darn fast
▪️the descriptions of their transformations-spooky
▪️ the black mage- I wasn’t expecting that at all.
▪️never learning their names. They were ambiguous monsters
▪️it’s a fast moving novella
▪️the end- I immediately wanted to know more. But I loved that it’s left up to interpretation.

Things I didn’t enjoy-
▪️ at time the reference of the boy and the girl got confusing.
▪️I started this thinking they were little when in fact they were not little. It seems like the consistency in writing at least on that part wasn’t there.
▪️ no explanation why these people transforming had to be killed.
▪️ no explanation why they assume the transformation means death sentence.

Over all I’ll give it a 3/5 because I liked the writing a lot. It was different than other novellas I’ve read and I liked how it pulled me in right away

Thank you so much to #Netgalley & #jpatriciaanderson for the opportunity to read this HIDDEN GEM!!

This book was wild in the best way! I love the simplicity of the characters as 'boy' & 'girl' - I wasn't sure what I was getting into but it's action from the word go. the idea of monsters with families turning on them is heartbreaking but once we find out about 'the cure' I was just as hopeful as 'boy' This was written in a style I'm not used to but I would recommend this book to so many people!

Plus - the cover *chefs Kiss*

DNF at 47%

Thank you to Netgalley and Root of the World Publishing for an early copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This really reminded me of my experience reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Your Blood and Bones and The Road both follow two nameless characters and their journey through a dark and dangerous world to hopefully find hope at their destination. Both have similar length and a writing style with a lot of descriptions and not as much dialogue. Of course The Road is a post-apocalyptic novel and this is fantasy, but what I read really did not focus on the world-building and there were no infodumps. We do not get to know much about the world itself, honestly. So if you enjoyed The Road or think you would like this, definitely give it a try.

The writing is really good. Beautiful descriptions of nature and descriptions of gore that really make you feel sick. Kudos for the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book.

So... Why did I DNFd this? First things first, I didn't really love the fact that nothing and no one has a name.

The beginning. I think it started too late. The characters are already on their run from the village on the first page, so the reader is kind of just thrown in to the story and its really confusing. I would like more if we started at the village before the girl is discovered. It would be less confusing and the reader would have some time to breathe.
The characters. As I mentioned they do not have names. Just the boy and the girl. I wasn't attached to them and I didn' really care what will happen to them. In my opinion they had no personality. And that's probably the main reason why I didn' finish the book. If I don't care about the characters I don't care about the story.

I give this 3 stars because I don't think it is bad it's just very mid for me. It didn't offend me or anything, I just simply don't care. And those types of stories I find the hardest to finish. Because there's really nothing keeping me reading. And I don't want reading to force myself to finish it and give it a lower rating just because of that.

3.25 stars

A nice quick read and pretty well written I just didn't really vibe with the story that much to be honest.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Root of the World Publishing for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will forever have nightmares thanks to this book.

Your Blood and Bones by J. Patricia Anderson is a collection of horror novellas and short stories. Kill the monsters when they’re found. No matter who they used to be. The girl with secret feathers in her skin and strange bones jutting out beneath her clothes is resigned to her fate. Her deformities mark her a monster and the stories say monsters must die. When her family finds out and turns on her, a village boy saves her and leads her on a frantic escape. The girl believes her death has merely been delayed—until he mentions a cure. With the world against them and the monstrous change progressing, they must cross water, forest, and field to chase the rumor that fuels their desperate hope. But is hope enough to keep them going?

Literally me: Oh it's adorable.
Me after reading this book: Oh, it's traumatized.

This was a very strange, but intriguing story following a girl and a boy who develop monstrous mutations, growing feathers and bones out of their skin, the village and her family turn against them and want to murder her in front of the entire village. Until a boy comes to her rescue, saving her. They embark on a journey together to find the cure.

This story is quite dark, with a lot of descriptions around dead bodies, body horror and gore (there are content warnings at the start of the book). I thought the storyline was really strong and the message about being different was very well incorporated. Not using names for the characters was very clever and added to the imagination - I did initially think I would struggle to make a connection with the characters, but this wasn't the case. I did find the 'magic' element to the story a little hard to follow and feel like maybe this was not needed or needed to be explained better throughout the book. I also found the sudden romantic interest a little unnecessary. But overall, I did enjoy the book and loved the ending!

Thank you to NetGalley and Root of the World Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

Loved this beautiful story of self-actualization and learning to grow in the face of adversity. Our main two characters were sweet together, and I found their adventure intriguing. I couldn't put this down!

This book was a quick read, but I wanted it to be so much more than it was. The synopsis sounds amazing, the writing for that was much better, but the journey to find a cure and everything that happens is very simple. Not as grand of an adventure as I had expected.

The story starts off with them running away so they are not killed, so it starts right off in the thick of it, but...I never felt the tension. I never really cared what happened to the characters as it was very hands-off, impersonal writing. They were called boy and girl so no names, which I guess was so it could be anyone, but it made me not invested in them at all. I wanted to be invested, I wanted to be super grossed out by the body horror (which I love!), but instead it was just okay. I wanted more body horror, more showing, more investment in the characters.

I know this all sounds bad, but it was an okay read. I like the idea a lot and it was easy to read. Enjoyed it, but didn't love it.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

This was a fast paced, gripping and emotive read. The writing style wasn't exactly my favorite but I'd still definitely recommend diving into this one if you're looking for a quick but intense read.

3.5 stars ⭐

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an eArc.

Strange

This strange novella, From Blood and Bone, is categorized in horror because of the vivid imagery of gore, both human and animal. It follows two young characters through a journey of grief and hope. They are no longer welcome in their home village and set out to find help.

This was difficult for me to read. The writing style felt plain and boring. It gave the impression of being impersonal. The two main characters are referred to as just ‘boy’ and ‘girl’ which distanced me from their story. I think the author was trying to convey that it could be anyone, but it came off as incomplete. There was also a lot of dictating what the characters felt instead of how, further distancing me from their experiences. I think the book was edited because it is still professional, but the style itself was not for me.

My favorite part was the last section. It redeemed some of the other qualities for me.

TW: blood, violence, gore, murder, surgery

Your Blood and Bones is a short novella, I was excited and intrigued to read. The two main characters are slowly transforming into monsters- a girl, having given up on living until a boy from her small village claims to know of a cure and saves her life. Together, they undergo the parlous journey in search of a cure. They encounter humans out to kill them, explore their magic, save each other time and time again, and develop a romantic connection. This novella is short and sweet, little less than 200 pages (and was my first short novella to be frank). So without further ado, let’s dive into my thoughts.

I am unsure about this novella. How unique it sounded is what drew me in. The dark story, horror elements and monster transformations goes out of the ordinary from what I normally have in my never ending TBR list- so naturally I was eager to read this. The opening was fast paced and you’re immediately thrown into the action, so there’s no waiting around for something interesting to happen! The horror elements included were fascinating to read about, the way the author described the transformation and what was occurring because of it was well done. The usage of animal corpses to aid in their escape and the repeated appearance of dead animals was an interesting touch. While I almost always prefer the characters (especially the main ones) to have names, it made sense why the author chose not to name them and added to the sadness and hopelessness of their situation, as in transforming, they lose everything- who they once were, their hopes, their dreams, and who they’re yet to become. This decision was both beautiful and saddening. You truly feel pity for the characters and while you can’t relate to monster transformations personally, you can understand what they’re feeling and going through. This was well done. The author does a good job of an examination on the loss and returning spark of hope.

Unfortunately, I have some issues with the writing. I found the world building to be close to nonexistent. We don’t get much information about how things came to be, such as the transformation and what causes humans to start to transform into monsters in the first place: Is it genetics related? Is it because of a curse that took place centuries ago? Or is it just one of those oh sorry you’re out of luck if you draw the short straw? How and why did the transformations start? How does the blood and smoke magic work in the first place? Why was the girl seemingly more unaffected by transforming than the boy was? There’s just a lot of unanswered questions from the lack of explanations, overall descriptions and plot holes. I also found the descriptions of the settings to be lacking. It was hard to picture where they were and what everything looked like. The settings were described but not to where I felt truly immersed in their world. The ending was also oddly written. It leaves the impression of an open ending which is okay but I’m still not entirely sure what happened as the events to the ending transpired. A somewhat confusing ending in my view.

Side note: while I like the decision to not name the characters, personally I prefer to have descriptions of what they look like- we get none besides the monster traits they begin to have. I understand that this doesn’t bother some and some do prefer it this way, I’m not one of those people. I like descriptions of what the characters look like, that’s just always been my personal preference.

Overall, this was a decent novella. It’s good for a light, easy read if you want something fast or don't want to think too much. The premise was indeed a unique one and the characters were like-able!

I have written my review on Goodreads and Barnes and Noble. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novella!

When I started this book I was worried I may not like it as gore has never really been my thing, but the description sounded so interesting that I just had to request an ARC. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book, and was sad when I finished it! Your Blood and Bones kept me on the edge of my seat for the majority, if not the entire read. I read a lot of thriller/mystery books and not many have been able to keep me seated in suspense.

I look forwarding to reading more work by the author!

I love a good horror novella and Your Blood and Bones did not disappoint! I don’t want to go too into the plot as with a novella it is easy to get into spoiler territory quickly. Briefly, this story follows a girl who, upon being discovered by her family to be undergoing a slow transformation into a monster, is saved from public execution by a boy in her village. The opening scene of their escape is tense and a great way to bring you right into the story.

I really enjoyed following the boy and girl during their journey and seeing their progress physically and mentally. This is a dark story but one with glimmers of hope, love, and compassion throughout. Speaking of darkness, the gore and horror were beautifully written and had me squirming at times.

I’d highly recommend this to anyone looking for a great horror novella, especially fans of body horror. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this author moving forward!

Thank you to NetGalley and Root of the World Publishing for access to this novella in exchange for an honest review!

"Life was nothing but death waiting to happen."

Story is about a girl who is having monstrous transformations in her body and when her family finds it out they attempt to murder her but a boy from her village saves her and story kicks off while they are on a run and villagers running behind them. Boy tells the girl about a cure and they set on a journey to find the person who can cure the girl.
In this small novella I got attached to characters in the way sometimes full length novel can't make me. It was a small fast passed story were I was on edge of my seat not knowing what was going to happen how the characters I cared so much about were going to survive.
Ending wasn't expected at all, I have thought of something else happening but sometimes else happened and I am happy with the ending.
Highly recommended!

"But even though she had known death was inevitable for so long, she found she didn't want to be killed. Dying was one thing but to be killed by people who didn't know her, who had no reason to seek her out when she had done nothing wrong. When rested and waited to die in silence, harming no one. That was different."

Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.
I am not the biggest fan of fantasy novels, though I will try one if the premise sounds interesting. That's why I chose "Your Blood and Bones."

I don't know the where or when this story takes places and that hurt nothing.

The girl with secret feathers in her skin and strange bones jutting out beneath her clothes is resigned to her fate. Her deformities mark her a monster and the stories say monsters must die. When her family finds out and turns on her, a village boy saves her and leads her on a frantic escape. The girl believes her death has merely been delayed—until he mentions a cure.

I could not stop reading this, reading into the wee hours of the night. I cared. I cared about this girl and boy and their unfortunate malady. I wanted them to live, to be cured, to love, and to find a happy ever after.

I was moved to smile and hope and as I came to the end, to cry. I could see the end of this novella as the end of my couple, but I too have hope. And I hope I see them again.

J. Patricia Anderson is not an author I know but she is one I will keep my eye out for in the future.

In case you can't guess, I highly recommend this novella.

Your Blood and Bones was previously published 8/27/2023

Thanks to @netgalley and Root of the World Publishing for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

A completely unsettling short story that I absolutely loved. Some people begin showing signs of change, protruding bones, feathers developing under the skin and if discovered even their own family will kill them. ‘Monsters’ are feared and when girl’s family discovers what she is, they attack her. She is saved by boy and they begin their journey for a cure.

Some of this story made me squirm but it was also completely heartfelt and I loved their story of resilience. Who really is the monster?

Love that this was created from the song Your Bones by Of Monsters and Men and off to listen to it on repeat!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review,

This short story was very interesting! considering the length, I felt I got enough information to appreciate the story and understand the world. If you need a quick read that will leave you creeped out in the best way, I suggest you pick this up!

Came for the cover, stayed for (and was swiftly enthralled by) the premise.

The story is at once atmospheric and oppressive, bleak yet evocative. The themes of isolation, persecution and humanity (or lack thereof) are explored well. I particularly liked the "death magic" described towards the beginning of the novella and wish we had delved deeper into this aspect, but that's because I just wanted to keep reading and learning about it. I agree with other reviewers who have stated that the initial attraction between our two protagonists lacked subtlety, but was handled well thereafter. Their dynamic was reminded me of the film 'Bones and All' (2022). As the story progresses, we grow to appreciate the gentleness with which they cling together, and the warmth they choose to share with one another and th world at large.

Personally, I liked the author's decision to refer to the protagonists as simply "girl" and "boy" throughout the entirety of the novella - in fact, seeing this pointed out in other reviews actually enticed me to move this up my TBR pile. One characteristic of the writing style that did not always work for me, however, was the frequent use of fragmented or partial sentences; I feel as though the harrowing, hyperalert effect of these sections would have been amplified if used more sparingly. When allowed more breathing room, the prose is often beautiful.

Overall, I'm a fan of both the dark, haunting substance and narrative style, which makes me curious to follow the author's other works.

This was a good book. I really love the world building and the characters. The pacing was really good and it was an interesting story to read