Blood Iron & Bone by Sera Foxe is an epic fantasy that immerses you in a richly crafted world of Fae and Humans on the brink of prophecy and chaos. The story unfolds through six POVs, each adding depth and complexity to a plot woven with fate, duty, and survival under a cursed sky.

Aurelia’s mysterious call and Andar’s internal conflict over his fated mate set the tone for a narrative that feels like peeling back layers of a tightly packed mystery. The characters are distinct, and their individual storylines provide a diverse look into this realm. However, with so many moving pieces, the fated mates’ connection, a pivotal part of the story, felt somewhat overshadowed. I found myself craving more focus on the emotional and romantic depth of their bond.

The pacing leans heavily into world-building and description, giving the book an almost oral storytelling quality. While this style adds richness, it also demands careful attention to keep track of the various characters and plotlines. It’s a book that challenges your focus but rewards you with a tapestry of intrigue, destiny, and dark enchantments.

If you enjoy sprawling epic fantasies with multiple POVs, intricate narratives, and a touch of mystery, Blood Iron & Bone is worth diving into. Just be ready to flex your mental muscles as you journey through this elaborate tale!

Foxe masterfully sets the stage for a high-stakes adventure. We're introduced to a kingdom teetering on the brink, its future hanging on the fulfillment of a long-awaited prophecy. The author creates a palpable sense of unease and foreboding, painting a vivid picture of a land threatened by a creeping darkness.
The narrative is driven by the contrasting perspectives of Aurelia and Andar. Aurelia, the mortal girl, is immediately relatable. Her bewilderment and courage in the face of the unknown make her a sympathetic protagonist. Andar, the Fae prince, adds a layer of internal conflict. He's bound by duty and societal expectations, yet he grapples with a feeling that something is amiss, a dissonance that will likely be at the heart of the story’s conflict. The contrast between their worlds and their initial confusion create a compelling dynamic.
"Blood, Iron, and Bone" is a captivating read, blending elements of fantasy, romance, and adventure into a promising narrative. With its intriguing characters, compelling premise, and high stakes, this book is a page-turner for fans of fantasy novels. Readers who enjoy stories about fate, duty, and unlikely alliances, set against a backdrop of a troubled kingdom, will likely find themselves engrossed in this world.

Blood, Iron and Bone is a fantasy romance book with a very interesting premise. I really enjoyed the mystery behind each of the character’s fates and how they intertwined and I thought the birth prophecies were a very interesting aspect of the story. The Fae world is very fleshed out and we get a lot of insight into the politics of the world between the different clans of Fae and humans. Our four main characters, Andar, Lark, Aureila and Cillian were all very different from each other. I really enjoyed their banter and how they interacted with each other.

While this book had a lot of promise, I struggled my way to the 60% mark, it was very slow up until that point. The book features six different POVs which alternate during each chapter through the third person narrative. I found this to be very hard to follow and it took a lot of brain power while reading to keep up with everything. There was also a lot of jumping between timelines at the beginning of the book which also made it hard to get into.

Aside from the pacing, the other big issue I had with this book was the use of the Irish Language, while I completely understand wanting to create your own fantasy language based off of another language, I found it very jarring to see Irish words and phrases used in strange context or mistranslated. This is purely my preference when reading and most people-especially those who do not speak Irish-won’t even notice this, it is something that just takes me out of a story. .


I’m very interested to see where things go in the next instalment of the book, there's a lot of groundwork done and I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
If you enjoy fated mates, prophecies, multiple POVs and an Irish based fantasy world, you will love this debut!

Wow, what a trip! I genuinely didn't know WHAT could happen next and was on the edge of my seat practically through the whole book. Although it took me a minute to get in tune with the writing style and POV's in this book, by about 20% I got into the swing of things and I was absolutely invested in finding out how everyone and everything was going to come together. Blood Iron And Bone was beautifully and whimsically written and has me comparing it to Alice In Wonderland and The Cruel Prince. This is definitely going to be a book that sticks with me and have me guessing and re-guessing on what's to come for these lovely characters in future books!

Thank you NetGalley, Agency Press, and Sera Foxe for the ARC.

The premise of the book is interesting and sounded perfect for me. Unfortunately, the writing style is too halting and short sentences are employed a little too often for me to enjoy it. Employing short sentences / a halting style to convey adrenaline soaked action works well but overusing them undermines their intended effect. I did not finish it because of this. Perhaps it would work better as an audiobook?

I have given the book 2 stars as I can see it has potential.

The book presents a story told through multiple perspectives, and although these perspectives are not distinguished between the different characters, it wasn’t too difficult to figure out which character is narrating at any given moment.

The dialogue feels like brief snippets, often too abrupt to fully convey the characters’ emotions or advance the plot meaningfully. As a result, key plot twists unfold without the impact or buildup they might have deserved.

The author provides rich and descriptive backstories for the characters and their connections, but the fragmented structure makes it challenging to follow. While the plot twists lack impact, the excerpts from the ‘Book of Maw’ stand out as beautifully written, offering rare moments of depth in an otherwise erratic story.

Although this book did not resonate with me, I admire the authors effort and creativity that went into crafting this story.

Thank you NetGalley and agency Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Sera Foxe for this Advanced Readers Copy!

Romance, Danger, and Fae.... What more could you want in a book?

This book has so many unique and wonderful ideas that, up until now, I haven't come across in a romantasy. Although the format is the same as most, the plot points within make Blood Iron and Bone interesting. There is plenty of intrigue to keep you guessing all the way through. The writing itself is difficult to get used to at first and it was a bit of a slog, but towards the end of part 2, this righted itself and became far more accessible and began to flow. This is also where the story really begins to take flight.

The main characters (and there are a fair few, so be prepared to keep track of them all) are all likeable, and I fell completely in love with Aurelia, Nova, and Maw. Sometimes the switch between character perspectives is not always as obvious as it could be which can be confusing but this was minimal and did right itself towards the end of the book.

Overall a great novel with some very loveable characters. I look forward to reading the next!

I admit that I was looking forward to this series as the synopsis captivated me immediately. As I started to delve into Sera's imagination, I realize this book is not for me. I almost never not finish reading a book, even if I don't like it, because it's in my nature to follow through. However, I could only make it to chapter 11 begrudgingly before realizing it's not it. Sera does a great job sucking you in about Aurelia and Andar's story and how they seem to be two halves of a whole separated by something. Then, all of a sudden as I'm mid chapter, it seems like I'm now reading the viewpoint of another character?? There's a lot of jumping from perspectives without any warning or specific chapters identifying that (it's literally happening mid paragraph) and then on top of that, there's just waaaay too many non-vital details. I remember reading about Aurelia walking across the river and then it starts talking about another being looking at her from far away and then it starts reading from his point of view and then it seems like it goes on and on and on and on about nothing of importance... Too much. I sincerely hope I'm wrong and others find this one a gem, but I cannot get past all the jumping viewpoints and too many details.

What an excellent way to start off my reading year. This was a wholly unique take on Fae romantasy. The world-building was not like many of the other fae fantasy I have read. The stage is well set for multiple stories and histories to be told, and a world that has limitless possiblilities. Magic, lore, politics, mystery...it's all there with a splash of slow-burn spice. Some may not appreciate that the story is told in multiple POV's, but the characters introduced were woven together seamlessly so the transitions between characters and situations felt natural. I already cannot wait for The Lightbringers #2! This will be an amazing series!

Thank you Netgalley, Sera Foxe, and Agency Press for the ARC Copy to enjoy!

This was such an amazing and well written story. The world building portions of this story were well written and much needed to dive into this world. The plot keeps you on your toes and the characters are so much fun to adventure with!

If you're looking for your next epic fantasy romance obsession, Blood Iron and Bone is it. This book is a sweeping blend of high stakes, rich world-building, and heart-wrenching romance that will keep you hooked from the first page to the last.

🌌 What I Loved:
• Aurelia & Andar: Two complex, compelling protagonists navigating a tangled web of duty, fate, and undeniable chemistry. Their journeys—both individual and intertwined—kept me on the edge of my seat.
• Fated Mates Meets Dark Magic: The tension between what’s destined and what’s chosen is palpable, adding emotional depth and thrilling stakes.
• Epic World-Building: From cursed skies to vivid kingdoms, Sera Foxe creates a fantasy world that feels both magical and dangerous, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black, and Rebecca Yarros.
• Found Families & Prophecy: The ensemble cast adds so much heart and intrigue, each character bringing their own secrets and motivations to the table.

⚔️ Why You Should Read It:
• If you love stories with fated mates, gritty battles, and a touch of forbidden romance, this one delivers.
• The emotional rollercoaster of love, sacrifice, and redemption is perfectly paced, leaving you desperate for the next book in the series.
• It’s a perfect blend of high fantasy and romance—two genres we all need more of in our lives!

🌙 Final Thoughts:
Sera Foxe has crafted a masterpiece that’s both breathtaking and emotionally raw. Whether you're here for the action, the romance, or the magic, you’ll find it all in Blood Iron and Bone.

💬 Have you read it yet? Let’s chat about it in the comments!

✨ #BloodIronAndBone #SeraFoxe #FantasyRomance #FatedMates #EpicFantasyReads #BookstagramFantasy #RomantasyLovers #MustReadFantasy #LightbringersSeries

Goodreads review posted on 12/01/2025

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC!

First of all to the author Sera Foxe: thank you for adding the Glossary as well as the Pronunciation Guide to your book, it was so helpful! ❤️

Sera, you have an amazing talent and this book gets you in your feels!

This book tells a story from so many perspectives and it's honestly not hard to follow them all, each character so unique. It truly lets you escape your normal everyday life, sucking you in with each chapter. My favourite characters would definitely be Aurelia, she's unique and feels like she doesn't fit, until she does, and doesn't care to air her opinions! Nova, she's such a good person with such a brave heart and then of course, Cillian! I see big things coming and I can't wait to read the next book, I couldn't put this one down!

Thank you for the opportunity to have read this one!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219347840-blood-iron-and-bone

Imagine stepping into a maze blindfolded, only to have the walls suddenly shift into perfect order just when you’re ready to give up. That’s exactly what reading Blood, Iron, and Bone felt like for me. My first foray into Sera Foxe’s world left me baffled at first—six POVs, an excerpt from the cryptic Book of Maw (no spoilers, I swear!), and narratives so disjointed I thought either Foxe was a madwoman or a genius. Spoiler alert: it’s the latter.

Yes, the tropes are familiar—prophecies, destined lovers, political intrigue, and enough long-buried secrets to fill a fae court’s gossip column. But what Foxe does with them is nothing short of alchemy. She takes the well-trodden path and crafts it into something shimmering and wholly her own.

The six POVs, which initially made my head spin, are the book’s true brilliance. Each perspective is richly layered, contributing to a story that blossoms into something breathtaking when their threads finally converge. And though keeping track of who’s who feels like a mental marathon, it makes the eventual payoff all the sweeter.

Foxe’s world-building is as lush as a fae forest at twilight, with sharp political conspiracies, ancient lore, and tantalizing mysteries that demand your full attention. This isn’t the kind of book you skim. It’s one you savor, sweat over, and eventually clutch to your chest in triumph (and maybe a bit of relief).

However, fair warning: this is not a casual read. If you’re hunting for a breezy fantasy romance, this isn’t it. But if you’re ready for a cerebral, trope-polishing adventure with a definite HEA (huzzah!) and enough unresolved threads to make you immediately crave book two, dive in.

Blood, Iron, and Bone isn’t just a book; it’s a challenge, a reward, and a gem of a story that proves Sera Foxe is a name to watch. My advice? Buckle up, take notes, and prepare to be dazzled.

This book was wild and fantastic I loved every minute second of it highly recommended to my friends and family 5/5 stars

This one is 4.5 stars!!!!

What an unexpected delight! I was given the opportunity to read this arc, and honestly that can be hit or miss, but luckily this one was a HIT!

Multiple POVs, characters fully fleshed out, and WHAT a PLOT!

One of the best parts of this book was the way you never really knew what was going to unfold next as you moved from character to character and even back and forth along time lines. There were also subtle clues in the pre chapters(?), which makes me hope there will be a prequel explaining what happened with that one character in particular. (Not going to give away anything lol.)

In reading this prepare for a deeply woven and detailed story of Fae, prophesies, fated mates and found family. The basic premise is one young woman who has never belonged in her human village, who feels the call of the other. Meanwhile in the other, a young warrior and a princess are prophesied to save the land, but what they are supposed to feel, they simply do not. Among these three main characters are supposed side characters whose paths intersect and change everything you are told is true in the beginning.

It was a layered, exciting tale, with snippets and foreshadowing that all just came together in a way that makes your brain go...WOW!

This was the first in a series that will be fully released in 2025. Yay! I look forward to seeing this plot unfold and seeing exactly who ends up with who and how the world of the other ends up.

Read this if Fae and their drama is your kind of thing.

📚 ARC Review 📚
First off, thank you to NetGalley, Agency Press, and author Sera Foxe for the opportunity to read this ARC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! There were a few things about it that make me feel like it won't be for everyone, but I personally loved it.

To start, it is heavy in world-building and storytelling, so it's more of a slow-paced plot. But then again, I genuinely liked that. Even in the moments where not a whole lot was happening plot-wise, I was still very interested in the story because the writing was done so well. And there were a handful of characters to keep track of as you read, but their points of view were woven together brilliantly!

I liked all the characters, I'm intrigued by the overall plot, and I have so many questions and can't wait to see where the story leads next!

I struggled with how many POV there were BUT it was overall a very intriguing and enjoyable story full of suspense and action and lots of storyline.
The world building was wonderful and you can tell how much thought and care went into the development.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for the next book in this series!

Woo! I am still sitting with this book. There is A LOT going on throughout it, and I'm processing it a bit slower than I normally would. I think part of this is because there are many POVs in this story, which I LOVE but I think I found it a bit hard at certain points to keep straight who was talking when and doing what because the "voice" of each character didn't seem to be that different. I constantly had to look back at who's chapter I was in to keep track of the plot points. I would not want this to be a deterrent to anyone considering reading this, but just something to know! You aren't getting a book you can skim/half way pay attention to details on!
*additional note - I love an audiobook with this many POVs where the voices switch. It would be exceptionally compelling for this book.

All that said, I did enjoy this story. The "world" this story is told in is a refreshing change on what I think we are used to seeing in this type of tale. I loved how each character's side was very singular, but it was also fun to let myself think of how it would be if all of this "magic" was just the other side of a veil in my own day to day. That said, there isn't a lot of magic magic in this story (so far). The bits that we get are done very well, and you can tell that we are building up to larger magical elements in the next books. I appreciate the lore and foundation for what's coming being laid out clearly and early on, to let readers get familiar with the concepts rather than just throwing it at us.

Lastly, I would want to note to others that this story (the first book at least) is leaning more towards a fantasy with romantic elements rather than a romance with fantasy elements. Yes, there are fated mates, magical beings, curses and prophecies, but they are wound beautifully into a larger storyline that had me consistently coming back to this book for more!

Thank you so much to Sera Fox and the team at Victory Editing/Net Galley for the eARC!

Wowww, what a ride!! Cannot believe that the books timeline was only spanned over a couple of days, completely action packed and so much intrigue!

I admit I struggled with the multiple third person POV of this story, Not so much because of how many characters had a voice, but the POV would sometimes swap over mid paragraph and suddenly we’d be reading through someone else’s thoughts, before then flipping back to who we were following a moment before. It was quite jarring and had me pausing ALOT to wrap my head around it, made for quite a brain workout.

But the story kept me absolutely captivated through the confusion!
On the one side you’ve got this magical kingdom with a rebel force, suss prominent figures and a princess locked in a tower - and on the other side you have a misunderstood girl in the modern world who’s constantly feeling out of place. When they finally mix, it’s so funny hearing references from the modern world in a regency-style environment - but I really enjoyed the clash.
We’ve got fated mates, found family, mistaken identity, there’s an animal guardian and an interesting magic system. Well worth the read!

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4 stars.

This is a debut novel by Sera Foxe and the first book in the Lightbringers series. It shows a lot of promise, but ultimately, it didn't completely win me over. The fact that this was primarily a fae book, along with the world-building and magical creatures were some of the highlights for me.

However, I did struggle with a few aspects of the story. A few of the biggest challenges for me was the use of 6 different POVs combined with the third-person narrative which for me affected the pacing of the book. Keeping track of all the characters and their storylines was a bit overwhelming at times. I found myself getting confused, especially early on, and it took me out of the story more than I would have liked. In addition, this book was close to 600 pages which is typically too long for me and my attention span.

Ultimately, I gave this a 3.5-star rating because, despite the struggles, I did overall enjoy it and I can appreciate the effort and world-building that went into this book by the author. I’d say this is more “high fantasy” than “romantasy”. There are romantic elements, but they’re secondary to the world-building and plot, which might be a pro or con depending on what you’re looking for in a book. For fans of high fantasy, this might be right up your alley, but those looking for more romance may be a little disappointed.

𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺, 𝘚𝘦𝘳𝘢 𝘍𝘰𝘹𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.