Blood Iron&Bone

4/5⭐️

This story is about Aurelia and Lark, two girls, two sides of the same coin, grown up in different worlds, and destined for the same fate, bound by an old and ancient prophecy.

Reading this book felt like reading a modern version of a fairytale.
I liked that the beginning of the book was more character driven, which gave me the opportunity to get to know the characters well, before the plot starts to become more important.
In total there was six different POV‘s in third person perspective. So, at some point the story followed six different people until their ways merged with each others.
I found it surprisingly easy to follow each character’s thought, as they‘re all have their own unique character traits and everyone had a different mission.
I really liked Aurelia‘s character in the human world, but unfortunately she fell a bit flat for me in the Fae world.
Lark is definitely my favorite character of the whole book. She‘s strong and fierce, she‘s not scared to face whatever is awaiting her and I have the feeling she might turn into a warrior princess in the next book! I really hope we will get to see more about her character and get to know her even better.
Even though the world building was a bit lacking in some places, I still enjoyed the world and was so happy to see some Fae world similarities with other worlds that I love. But still, this particular world had it‘s own unique touch.

In my opinion this book is perfectly imperfect and I had a great time reading it! I would recommend it to anyone who loves Hidden Identity, old prophecies and the fae world.

Thank you to Netgalley and Agency Press for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review!

This was a straight 4 star read for me, a multiple POV mortal to fae slow romantasy with an intricate plot. This story had me at the very beginning from a heart pounding prologue filled with a lot of mystery and gore.

I really enjoyed our FMC Aurelia, who is stuck in the mortal lands until she comes face to face with a path that may lead her to places and people she’s only dreamt of. She is determined and stubborn and born for a life filled with *more* and she knows it. She has a lot of gumption and curiosity and is even able to fly by the seat of her pants. I loved watching her discover her surroundings and finding herself within the story. Our MMC, Andar, has a lot to parse through in this novel and I feel as though he is our white knight, a loyal protector - I hope to see more of his growth and arc in the next novels of the series!

The plot was ever winding, and with multiple POVs, we sometimes experience the same scene, the same moment, from the point of view of different characters. This can make the novel feel a little cumbersome but it does give important details and insight into the characters. The plot and the intricacies and mysteries within were something I deeply enjoyed and am excited to see more of in the next installments of the series. Each point of view starts off somewhat separate and then converges together and it was so satisfying to read through that. I was worried that I’d find it hard to track each perspective, however, it felt easy for me to read and keep track of!

I also enjoyed the writing for the most part, but felt that some parts were a little prolonged and redundant and that there are many different “parts” and interludes to the story, whereas I would have preferred to see it in 3 larger segments instead of 8 or so smaller splits to the story. Even still, this didn’t take away from my enjoyment in a large manner.

Overall, I enjoyed this and would definitely love to read the next book when it comes out. I would recommend it to any romantasy reader who loves a *hot* slow burn romantasy with a mysterious curse and many moving parts to a story!

Thank you so much Netgalley for giving me an opportunity to review this masterpiece!

Oh. My. God!
What a book!!
I enjoyed the High Fae, political drama and outstanding world building!!! The characters were very beautifully written. I loved the inscriptions given before every part of the book. It definitely cured my fae-slump 😂😂 I am in love with the writing!! Eagerly waiting for its paperback to binge read it again!!
Super excited for the book 2
Sera Foxe....You have a gifted brain with beautiful world gifted to us!

DNF at 15%. there’s something about the writing style I’m not vibing with. I do think it’s a “it’s not you it’s me” thing because the plot seems interesting, the characters well fleshed out, & the writing is fine. but I’m just not enjoying it & keep soft DNFing it, so I’m calling TOD.

Thank you NetGalley and author Sera Foxe for the eARC of Blood, Iron & Bone.

This book was a multi-POV Romantasy with good world building and lot of characters. I really enjoyed Aife, Nova, and Cillian as characters. I did not feel I learned enough about Andar for him to feel like a fully fleshed out MMC. Aurelia, one of our two FMC’s, is an interesting character but her character development did not seem to change much over the course of the story.

The pacing was very slow and the multiple POVs gave the story a disjointed and sometimes repetitive feel. The movement of the story was dependent on discussion amongst the characters; however, this was often interrupted by character introspection. The main conflict of the story occurred after the 80% mark.

This book had some romance and some spice. There was angst and insecurity, and a focus on the impact a parent’s love has on their children. Also, discussion of caste and race throughout the story.

Some tropes: Fated mates, Found Family

Overall, this story was interesting and kept my attention. I would read the next book in the series.

ARC REVIEW ✨

Blood Iron and Bone by Sera Foxe

Rating: 2.5⭐️
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, (a smig of) Mystery
Yes, no, or maybe: Maybe!

Read if you like:
-The Chosen One
-Secret Identities
-Fated Mates
-Strong FMCs

This book had good bones! We are introduced to a new world, the Otherworld, where darkness has taken over the sky, humans are servants, and every Fae child has a prophecy spoken at birth. Aurelia is a human girl who has never felt like she belongs. Lark, the Fae princess, has been told all her life she is destined to be the high queen. Andar, the Fae soldier, has been prophesied to be mated to the High Queen. This story follows all three characters closely has their fates collide.

The world Sera Foxe is building is detailed and intriguing! We learn about each subspecies of Fae and their roles within the world. I loved the concept that every Fae child has a prophecy or destiny! The book does end with a segue into a second book, which I do intend to read.

Why wasn’t this a 5⭐️ read??
I very much understand that reading is subjective! My 5⭐️ can be another 1⭐️! In this case, I just wasn’t invested in the characters. Perhaps it was because this was the first book and there was a lot of focus on world building! But the narrative jumped around to a lot of characters and it felt like I didn’t really get to be invested in any of them. There were also I few times where I got confused.. and I am aware that could be a me problem! When the “big reveal” happened, I didn’t understand.

I still enjoyed the world that was presented and would like to see what happens next!

Unfortunately had to DNF this one around 28%, it is a dense book with a lot of POVs and I was just not able to connect. Anytime I felt like I was starting to connect with a character, they’d disappear for 5 chapters and meanwhile multiple new plot lines would appear.

I can see how sticking it out would make this a super cool story, it just sadly wasn’t it for me at this time!

Thanks so much to NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This story has a large cast of characters with intricate world building. The Kingdom of Aithrim had been cursed to darkness, but there is a prophecy to end the curse. At first glance, it is simple and requires a marriage, yet the two supposedly dated to be together feel nothing more than friendship for the other. As the other characters are introduced, the feeling that there is more going on grows. I enjoyed this book, and I look forward to reading what happens next.

Thank you to Agency Press, @serafoxe, and @netgalley for the advanced eARC.

I unfortunately had to DNF this book. I just couldn't get into it. The premise sounded so promising and maybe I just need to revisit at a later date.
I will give this another try later this year.

Book: Blood Iron And Bone (The Lightbringers Book 1)
Author: Sera Foxe
Publishing: March 21st, 2025
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (4.5/5)
Review:
I'm so happy this had a pronunciation guide. 😅
What to expect:
- Fated Mates
- Prophecy
- Magic
- fae
- Multiple POVs
- World-building
- found family(just starting)
- Some explicit content
At first, I had a rough time getting into this story. The characters are well-developed. The story flowed well for the most part. 6 povs were a little hard to keep track of, but it's worth the mild confusion. I definitely recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley, Agency Press, & the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
*All thoughts & opinions are my own.*

#TheLightbringers #NetGalley #SeraFoxe

This was NOT an easy read! I struggled with the multiple POVs (there are 6!)! The Romance is more of a subplot in this one but the prohepcy and the Fae world were very interesting. I did find the authors (there are 2!) to be very engaging and they kept me wanting to push through even though I was struggling to keep up with some of the world building. There were plenty of twists, fated mates, prophecies. Also, this book is told in 3rd person.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Agency Press and Sera Foxe for this ARC!

In a kingdom on the precipice of the fulfillment or failure of its most famous prophecy, thrown together by fate and terrifying circumstance, a motley band of Fae and Human alike must come together for the good of the realm, even as the darkness that covers the land threatens to become permanent.

This was a fun and enjoyable debut novel. Like most fantasy novels it takes a moment to really get your bearings and understand what is going on and with 6 different POV you need to take your time digesting this story bit by bit.
Like many fantasies, this story is centered around Fae and humans alike, plus you get a good dose of world building, prophecies, curses, magic and fated mates.

Since this is a book that introduces the reader to a plethora of characters, I feel the need to purchase a physical copy to annotate so that I can prepare myself for the next book in the series once it is released.

I desperately wanted to love this book, but the many differing POVs were quite confusing for me. It had the bare bones of a brilliant story, but something just didn’t hit right. I’m sure that there’s definitely readers that will adore this book, but unfortunately for me it didn’t.
Good luck to the author and I wish her all the best in her endeavours! ☺️

Dnf at 30%

I liked it at first. The betrothed couple were really interesting and had a fun chemistry. The fae world had some fun elements with traditional lore that I really liked. I just really struggled to feel connected to the story since so many povs kept being introduced and I didn’t like the human girl (Aurelia) at all. The story felt a bit disjointed and I was left feeling very confused and asking myself why? the whole time, which didn’t really grab my attention. This is just my honest review and doesn’t mean it might not be for you😊 Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 ☆

Very unfortunately to say, I didn't enjoy this story as much as I wanted to. It felt to me a little bit of chaotic that it would be quite intriguing if it was more actions than merely words through and through.
I'd say the concept itself was what drove me to read it, although it is poorly delivered.
And to alert you, it is a multiple pov, like more than 4 POVs. If you're not that type of person who's fond of it, you will likely not enjoy this one. Because I also didn't know it, and it made me detached from all the characters, and I felt nothing, not even a care towards any of them.

And if you're thinking, "Oh, it's romantasy!" Well, let me tell you, you will only get a glimpse of the romance, and it's not even necessarily a slow burn. It was just too many descriptive words and so little action

Idk if it's only me, but the whole world building doesn't make any sense to me, but perhaps it's just me not enjoying the whole ride.

Thanks to NetGalley and Agency Press for letting me read this E-ARC, and the whole review is purely my honest opinion

This story was very confusing. Six different points of view in third person is hard to follow. I feel like most of the beginning of the book, all the flashbacks of Aurelia’s childhood, were not necessary to the plot and was very slow and clunky to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the advanced/ARC copy of this book!

4 stars!

This was a very fun fantasy read and I loved it! I haven't been in much of a fantasy or romantasy mood lately, but this one really hit the spot and sucked me in.

I thought the world building and fantasy elements in this one were nice. I liked the story, and I really enjoyed the romance. I also think this was very well written and thought out. I will say though - I struggle with multi POV, especially if its like...2-3+ characters, so a little minus there for me with this one - but overall it was fairly easy to keep up with.

I'm excited to read the next one and other books by this author!

Thanks again for the advanced copy, I'll be picking up a paperback of this once it is out! I do recommend this one to others as well.

This has a distinct voice and vibe, but it was very much not for me. The characters all felt very young, younger than their stated ages. And the story took far too long to start happening- we saw our characters in multiple situations that gave us the same information over and over again rather than moving into the plot or even new character information.

Rating: 3.25/5

Tropes:
- Fae
- Fated mates
- Mistaken identities
- Court intrigue
- Prophecies

Thank you to the authors and NetGalley for the chance to read an advance copy.

The storyline seemed to be really compelling, but my ADHD brain made it hard for me to keep track of who was speaking when. It was a lot on me mentally. But the book holds promise, and I would probably continue with it in the future.

Unfortunately I DNF this book. The character introductions were lacking and therefore I was often confused by who was who. The multiple POVs is also ALOT to follow. I think some editing to the world building and chapter development could go a long way here. I was really hoping to love this one but I just couldn’t get into it. I tried several times over the last few months to pick it back up.