The Bjorn Curse strikes again! Apparently, 2024 is not my year for Viking books because I am really not vibing with them.

The Road of Bones is a fantasy adventure filled with romance, Vikings, and hidden magic. I think it originally ended up on my TBR because of the found family trope, but I honestly didn't love the found family in this one. Before I continue this review, I just want to note that although I did not really enjoy this book, I think there is a large audience out there who would (I'm just not a fan of smut or possessive romances).
The plot of the book was pretty decent. There are multiple POVs, but only one of them is really "different" (there's an assassin chasing the main characters). Silla's life is thrown into turmoil when her father is murdered in front of her, leaving her with only an address to find at the other end of the very dangerous Road of Bones. She meets the Bloodaxe Crew and convinces them to take her across the Road, but on the way, they are met with danger in the form of forest creatures, soldiers, and even their own relationships. I thought the plot was pretty well-paced, although there were sections that dragged. I did find the plot twists to be fairly predictable, especially the main ones (I only missed one, but I had considered it at one point). I thought the ending was okay, but I don't know that I will be continuing the series.
The characters were the part that made me not enjoy the book. Silla is portrayed as an innocent, naive, blushing maiden who hasn't cursed, got drunk, or had sex...and apparently, that's the hottest thing on the planet for the male leads. She refuses to even witness "violence" until halfway through the book, and I just found her to be annoying. Most of the "found family" was forgettable, although I would have preferred a book about them rather than Silla. I did not like Rey because I thought he was 40...and because he's just boring, in my opinion. I hated Jonas even more, though. I could rant about him and his toxic little behaviors for days (buddy was excited to find out that Silla was a virgin because that meant he got to take it from her...)
The Road of Bones is a fantasy adventure story that borders on romantasy and is filled with popular tropes sure to make it enjoyable for fans of the genre.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-copy!

3.25/5

‘𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴. “𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢’𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘴,” 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘦𝘺, 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦. “𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬.”’

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴, 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧.”

☠️Multi POV
☠️Found family
☠️Vikings & Magic
☠️Morally grey characters
☠️Enemies to Lovers
☠️Hidden powers/secret identities
☠️Banter & Betrayal
☠️Spice 🌶️🌶️/5
☠️Check TW

After Silla’s father is killed, she embarks on her journey through the Road of Bones in order to fulfill her father’s final wish. Unfortunately the road is long and full of murderous people and creatures. Silla decides her best bet at making the journey alive is to sneak onto a wagon and hitch a ride with a crew also traveling the road. Silla unknowingly hitches a ride with a mercenary group known as the Bloodaxe Crew.

I really enjoyed watching Silla’s character development and the relationship she slowly builds with the Bloodaxe Crew - the banter between the Bloodaxe Crew was some of the best I’ve read in a long time! I think what made Silla very relatable was the fact that she constantly had to make a lot of difficult decisions knowing that they could have a major impact on her life and the relationship with the Bloodaxe Crew.

After the shocking twist at the end, I began questioning myself and wondering if I either blatantly ignored or just wasn’t smart enough to see the many hints throughout the book that pointed to said event! Ugh it hurt so bad! I am still not okay.

Loved the way the author touches on domestic abuse and addiction. She doesn’t shy away from showing the trauma that is inflicted on the victims and the ugly road to recovery. I also loved that the author isn’t afraid to build characters up, have us fall in love with them and then smash our hearts to bits and pieces.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND you read this book ASAP!

This book is everything and more! Perfect for fans of "A Fate Inked In Blood." I remember seeing this book before it went traditionally published and I missed out on it. When the opportunity came here I JUMPED so fast and I'm so glad I did. The world building is fantastic and intriguing while also being easy to follow. The characters have depth and emotions, and honestly I just wanted to be in their world.

There is not enough good things I can say about The Road of Bones.

I am not a huge viking fantasy reader but with this one I definitely could make an exception. This one started off a bit slow but finally picked up around the 130 page mark. I really enjoyed Demi's writing and I definitely know I will be reading more of her books in the future and of course reading book two in this series. I enjoyed reading about Silla and Jonas and all of the other side characters and reading about the crazy journey they were on to get Silla where she needed to go!

I was beyond thrilled to be approved for this. I read the indie edition and diving back into this world was so satisfying. The plot is so well thought out and the characters are all complex with really interesting developments. The author sure has a way with world building and creating dynamic characters.

The Road of Bones is an enjoyable read. The first half reads a bit slow as it is primarily world building. But by 70% I was fully invested in Sills’s story and how she will survive the journey to safety in the North. I look forward to the next in the series.

3.5 stars

Silla Nordvig is desperate for safety after her world is upended. She will do anything to get to Kopa and follow the instructions her father left her. When she sneaks into a wagon, she has no idea that she is joining the Bloodaxe Crew who are on a separate mission. Although Ren, the leader of the Crew, allows her to travel with them, she struggles to keep her secrets as she grows closer to the mercenaries.

It took a few chapters to get into the book. The world reminded me of <i>The Witcher</i> with all of the magical creatures. I didn't care for the constant POV changes for certain chapters. I enjoyed reading about Silla's journey with the Bloodaxe Crew. The romance part of this book was a bit disappointing. I couldn't figure out if Silla was supposed to end up with Jonas (the handsome member of the Crew) or Ren. If you enjoyed the Viking romantasy and angst of A Fate Inked in Blood, you will like The Road of Bones.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. (via Netgalley)

I enjoyed this. I really liked the world and I thought the characters showed progression (some positive, some negative) as the story went on. Super curious where the next one goes after some of the twists at the end!

I absolutely loved this! I love anything viking inspired and this was excellent at weaving that in. The plot was so unique and fast paced and kept me guessing what was going to happen. I also loved the characters they were flawed and interesting. Will be recommending this to anyone and adding to our library 100%!

I absolutely loved this book! I read it in one setting because it was so good and I could not get enough of the characters. I really loved the characters the author created and there journey that they took. The story was fast paced but detailed where I felt immersed but not bored. I will be recommending this book to all of my family and friends.

"𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘸𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.
'𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴,' 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢, 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭."

I really liked this one! So many twists and turns. The ending gave me chills. I'm a sucker for a Viking story and this one did not disappoint. Silla started off the story naive but she became a warrior by the end. There is a bit of romance in this one. Unfortunately, I was rooting for her to be with someone else throughout the book. Maybe I'll get my wish in book 2 🤞🏻 I highly recommend this one for fantasy fan.

Thank you to the author and Penguin Random House for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciated this books Nordic literary style and I felt that the found family created for heartwarming adventure! The world building was vast and felt unique to other fantasy books I’ve read. I do unfortunately feel like the middle 50% of the book focused less on progressing the story or plot and more on the relationships at hand! I also thing 4 different POVS makes the story seem frenzied and erratic. Recommend for fans of Sarah J Mass.

Listen, I was not prepared for this book. I had heard that it was a good read, but I did not anticipate that it would be so good that I stayed up until 3 AM reading only to become incredibly frustrated because I was too tired to keep going and I desperately needed to finish this book.

First, the writing. This is well written to the point that it brought me unbridled joy. I am not a person who can "see" a book playing out in my mind's eye as I read. Instead I need immersive description that isn't necessarily repetitive, but is crystal clear. There was no annoying repetition of descriptions, just beautifully written prose that showed when appropriate and told when appropriate. I was never bored even in the quieter parts of the story and that is saying something because with fantasy like this, there is almost always an inevitable lull to the story. Here, it wasn't action every chapter, but each chapter had purpose and the multiple points of view worked so incredibly well that I have zero notes.

Second, the characters. Silla is equal parts sunshine and badass. I loved watching her growth. If you like your FMC's interesting, realistic, and as soft as they are blade-edged...Silla is your gal. I loved every point of view of the story. Instead of feeling overwhelming, each character had a unique voice that brought something necessary to the story. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I will say that I only partly saw one character's arc coming and I am hoping for a satisfying resolution in book 2 (they know what they did).

Third, the romance. If I say too much, I'll inadvertently drop spoilers...so instead, I'll say this: this book is the perfect balance of a romance blended into what I can only describe as high fantasy.

I need book 2 in my hands right now. I slept on this when it was indie published and I am now deep in the throes of regret.

*Please be sure to mind the trigger warnings, this story has some very dark elements. The author has a list on their website, I am copying them here from her website directly:

Domestic violence (discussed, some emotional abuse) | addiction (strong themes; includes withdrawal experience) | religious persecution |execution by stoning | blood letting | violence & gore | graphic sex | sexual assault (implied, attempted) | agoraphobia & social anxiety | captivity | mental health problems (psychosis, loss of a parent, loss of siblings) | kidnapping | forced drugging


THANK YOU NetGalley, Random House/Delacorte Press, and Demi Winters for sharing an e-arc of the soon to be republished version of this story.

After reading the content warning list, I’ve decided that this book will not be a book for the faint of heart. There is violence, sexual content, and mental health situations. I appreciate the content warning because some of these topics can be triggering to individuals or it can be a matter of personal preference. I think I will pass on reading this book, but I appreciate the opportunity. I rated this book 3 stars in the middle because I have not read it and cannot contribute a meaningful rating.

This book is an absolute gem! It is packed with heart-pounding action, romance and breathtaking fantasy elements. The enemies-to-lovers adds a delicious layer of romance. The high-stakes journey and richly detailed world-building make every moment captivating. I’m already buzzing with excitement for the next installment. This series truly deserves all the love and is a must-read for fans of gripping fantasy and thrilling romance.

I have mixed feelings about this book and I’m not sure what my final ones will be.

The beginning of this book grabs you by the throat and holds on. The book starts off with our character on the run after her father is brutally murdered in front of her. Her only course of action? Is to take a stretch of road that is dangerous, even deadly, called the road of bones. After many close encounters she ends up weaseling her way into a caravan run by a nefarious crew on their own mission. They don’t want her there, yet she proves her usefulness along the way.

This is where things get dicey. Not much happens during this book. They have some close calls and the cliffhanger is amazing but honestly, I don’t really recall there being much to the plot. Aside from quick action sequences that keep pulling you back in, the book is largely dialogue, world building and some bits of spice and romance. I just wish there was *more* going on, as much as it pains me to say.

I absolutely LOVE the world building that the author delivered. I became so engrossed in the lore and the politics of the world that it felt like I was in the book. It was so well thought out and executed, and in fantasy that’s such a hard thing to accomplish. The author handles world building in a way I have to admit you don’t see too often. The setting was the most important draw for me, namely the Viking inspiration.

The main character development is pretty decent. We do get some cool training sequences where our FMC learns to fight and defend herself. We get to see some interesting conversations within the Crew that offer some insight into how the world works. However, the details between each side character wildly vary. Some are flushed out and given clear motivations and behaviors, while others read like a stiff board. You could instantly tell which characters were more of the throwaway characters and which would be important to the plot.

I was invested from the beginning but the book feels like it lost its way from 10% until around 70% when I felt like I couldn’t put it down again. It’s clear that this is a debut novel and I hope that book two finds its groove much quicker, but overall it was a decent read!

I cannot thank the publisher enough for the e-arc!

I also cannot express how much I enjoyed this viking, action packed, a sprinkle of romance, and overall fun story of a woman determined to find answers and face her fears as she searches for a place to be safe.

Triggers to be mindful of: death, lying, and violence.

I believe that this book is absolutely perfect for anyone who enjoyed A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle Jensen or Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young.

I ADORED this book so much. I originally read it as an indie and was so so so excited to read the traditionally published edition. It was just as good and I truly can't stop thinking about. If you're looking for a viking romantasy with some great found family-- look no further!

I don’t think this one was for me! It started off strong and I was so invested with the world building, but then I fell off for me half way through. It just kept dragging on. I definitely see the allure for this book, but it fell flat for me

I absolutely loved this book. I previously read this when it was self published so I was excited to see Winters get picked up by a publisher. The fantasy romance outlook has been a bit bleak as of late; with what feels like the same stories over and over again. This book was a breath of fresh air. I loved the character work and the world building was just enough to lay the foundation for the future of the series. I liked the multiple POV and the Norse mythology world. The plot was awesome and I was actually surprised a couple of times by the plot twists which never happens for me. I have seen some people lament over the length, but I love a good long book. I'm excited to see where the series goes!