Kathryn Purdie

When her friend Ailesse is kidnapped, Sabine must embrace her bone magic to rescue her. . . Bone Criers are the last descendants of an ancient famille charged with using the magic they draw from animal bones to shepherd the dead into the afterlife - lest they drain the light from the living.

Ailesse has been prepared since birth to become their matriarch, but first she must complete her rite of passage: to kill the boy she’s destined to love.

Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier, and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. Now, his vengeance must wait, as Ailesse’s ritual has begun and their fates are entwined - in life and in death.

Bone Grace #1

Bone Crier's Moon

I’m not gonna lie too thus book goes on FOREVER. And its like 20 billion pages if the same damn thing at least thats what it feels like

Stella 💫

Linara K.S

Tatiana

Bone Criers Moon: 3.5/5

“I'm not leaving you. You are worth the risk, do you hear me? You're always going to be worth the risk.”

There are definitely great attributes about this book, such as doomed love, strong female relationships, and dark magic, but some pieces also fell short.

Premise:
Bone Criers Moon takes place in a magical world similar to France. Where there are "Bone Criers" or people who help usher the dead into the afterlife. To do that, though, they must prove themselves by killing their one true love and essentially giving up love for good.

Writing & Plot:
I really enjoyed Kathryn Purdie's writing. She seamlessly weaves together the worldbuilding into the plot, so there arent huge info dumps. I loved how easy it was to follow and believe this world, as well as her top-tier action scenes.

It is fast-paced and highly addictive! I really enjoyed the overall premise of this book and what makes this world unique. I like the idea of Bone Criers and that they must kill their one true love to prove their loyalty. This definitely felt a lot like An Ember in the Ashes in a way, so if you liked that series, you might want to pick this one up.

Characters:
We follow three main points of view in Bone Crier's Moon, Ailesse, Sabine, and Bastien. Ailesse and Bastien didn't really do it for me. Ailesse lacks any depth to her character. We have no idea who she is except for a Bone Crier and fated to kill Bastien. That's her whole personality. 

Along with this, I wasn't a huge fan of the romance between Bastien and Ailesse. It somehow turned from enemies to lovers in a span of one second, and nothing really shows that they have an undeniable attraction to each other, besides Bastien thinking her hair is pretty. 

What saved this book is the wonderful Sabine. What a powerful character. She is #girlboss forever. I'm gonna read the second book for my queen Sabine (yes, it rhymes).

Conclusion:
Plot - Good. Relationships - Not so good. There are some great redeeming qualities about Bone Criers Moon, and I think it is worth the read since the plot is really cool, and the writing is fantastic. The cover for the second one is phenomenal, and I will definitely be picking it up. I think this next installment could make or break the duology for me.

Caroline

This was a poorly written Maas lite fantasy novel about boring fairies or elves or whatever otherworldly being they defined them as. The concept of animal bones giving you powers was fun however sadly not worth reading the second one to see what happens.

Bilge Ince

Tyrus and Elara are the two gods who guard the gates of heaven and hell. Deads are chained, destined to go to hell and unchained to heaven. Leurresses are practically fairies who live in disguise. When the time comes, a Leurress lures her amouré with a melody using a bone flute. The amourè is her soulmate who's going to be the father of the child. And eventually has to be killed by her love. But why? Just because Tyrus and Elara ask for it?

No sé si darle 5⭐️ porque me ha gustado mucho y me ha emocionado más aún pero siento que si le doy 5⭐️ lo estoy poniendo fácil, así que me esperaré a leer el siguiente para decidir si al siguiente le doy 5. Por el momento me ha parecido que es un libro perfecto para salir de un parón lector porque es rápido de leer, pero sin darte cuenta. Me pasaba horas leyéndolo sin enterarme de que estaba pasando el tiempo. Creo que está muy bien escrito.

Isabel Menchón Martínez

Nessa Luna

Teeeeeesha

It's has a refreshing plot and beautiful world building. However, the representation is okayish and the writing is sloppy.

Emily B

3.0 STARS:

This one was a bit disappointing for me. Despite how fast I read it, it didn't do a lot that I loved.

The best part of this book was the magic system/lore. It was without a doubt the most expanded upon element, and it was super interesting. I love learning about mythology and magic, and the idea of moon powers is a favorite.

None of the other elements offer much though. The characters were pretty one-dimensional, with only a few layers to them. Ailesse was my favorite. I liked how fiery she was. She didn't get much development though. Sabine got most of the character development, but even that seemed a bit rushed. And Bastien... was there? I guess? He just seemed to get over his need for revenge really quickly (also, I despised Jules! She made some stupid decisions).

Speaking of Bastien, the romance was fairly rushed as well. It seemed to take a turning point very quickly, and they just sort of got over their adversity to each other in the span of a few pages.

The plot didn't really have any direction. The most interesting part of the plot was what was happening with Odiva. She added a bit of complexity to the story. 

Overall, I don't think I'll continue this series. It offered a few fun parts, but most were lackluster. I've tried another book by this author and had a similar reaction, so I just don't think she's for me.

I enjoyed the world building in this and the the whole ferrying the dead thing drew me in. This book is definitely flawed in that it could do better bringing the reader in. I wanted to be addicted but it had me just slightly interested the whole time.  Still jumping into the sequel cause I am curious to where it will go but I’m hoping it’ll have some more redeeming qualities.

Laura Wilson

Georgia Montague

No I'm sorry. Some people like this book and that's all good with me but in my opinion it was slow, uneventful and I just thought it was very boring. The concept was pretty cool but it was let down by the writing style and just everything.

Megan Lowe

This book grew on me. At first I didn’t like Sabine, Bastien, or Jules but again, they grew on me.
The world building here is done in a great way, slowly, steadily, but not at all obtrusively. The characters are strong, details are many, but not overwhelming.
I do like Aisleen and liked her story. I wish we got a little more of bastien.
I’m eagerly waiting the second book.

lindsey

A fun read. Really enjoyed the way the magic system worked/how the bone crier’s got their magic.

Hannah Williams

Savannah Garrit

ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOKS!!! This is seriously one of the best books I've read in a long time. Everything from the character development, to the storyline, and then the romance that slowly forms between Bastien and Ailesse, and then HER MOTHER. That part really made me mad. If you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about but then after that and what her mother did. WOW. All I can say about her is WOW. I genuinely thought something completely different was going to happen but the way this book just played out was amazing and completely unpredictable. I would recommend this book to literally anyone who enjoys books and slight romance. Truly amazing writing. Going to read the second now but just WOW.

I also want to add that I think the concept of this world they are in is super cool, but it kind of confuses me because I'm not sure if they're on a planet like Earth or in a world similar. Or if they are the place that transitions those people. But then where do the people like Bastien come from. Either way, it was a great storyline and very fun to imagine in my head what it looked like and how the story played out.

devyn ryan

i hardly ever dnf a book but 100 pages in and none of the characters were revealing anything i hadn’t read before a million times,,,, the plot also felt super rushed

Ale ♡

dnf @75%

3 stars anyways.

I don't actually know where to start, so, I'm going to say the things that i liked of this book.

Some things of the plots were fine to me: the Bone Crier's background (although, there was something missing to me). The fact that animal's bones gave them powers and that kind of stuff. Some French settings and that of lead the dead people... Sorry, I don't remember so much bc most part of the plots were boring as hell and I was about to cry. Sabine. She is my queen. She is the only one who has a great development. She's strong as hell and I truly loved her. Marcel is such a baby and I must protect.

I didn't like the insta-love thing and I must admit that I was caught by the cover of this book, but If I'm honest, it didn't convince me at all. I hated Jules the entire book, she was mean with Ailesse the whole time: I wanted to kick her.

3 POVS were actually overwhelming and unnecessary, to me. I didn't care for Ailesse or Bastien like it was supossed to.

I don't think I'd give it a second chance. Nope.

Holly Klein

I really wanted to like this book more. The premise was so alluring and unique, and the romance seemed promising. 

But this sadly just missed the mark for me. 

The romance was not making sense to me and I wasn't understanding why I could not for the life of me get into this book. Then I realized it: the characters had names and that's about it. The depth for each of our main cast went to either duty or revenge and that's it. I wasn't rooting for anyone and the love or romance didn't spark a single care for me because it just felt forced. The plot really only picks up in the latter quarter and parts of it just didn't make sense to me. 

I caught myself redoing the plot in my head and I unfortunately found that more enjoyable. 

Overall I give it a C, I still had fun but it took force to get sucked into the world because I just didn't understand the characters. Revenge and/or a sense of duty is not a personality.

Tamara Turner

I fel in love with this book from the first words, but what really got me completely captivated was how unpredictable it ended up being.
Ailesse is the heiress of the Bone criers- females that have to guide the spirits of the dead into the afterlife.
But in order to become a bone crier, one must kill her l'amour within a ritual of a special ritual. Can she do that?
Bastien is a guy who watched his father be killed by a bone crier when he was seven, and has since sworn to avenge him.
Sabine is Ailesse's best friend(and possibly more but I won't spoil that*evil chuckle*), also a (future?) bone crier, but she is different from her peers: Sabine finds it difficult to kill, even for the bone grace. 
I'm just soooo in love with this book. 
Let's not delve into my conflicted feelings towards Prince Cas(imir), though.

Alexa Jade

Venessa McCoy

I loved this book. I’m so excited for a second one. This is an enemies to lover trope with a great twist at the end. The characters have good development and the writing has a great flow to it. Interesting plot and plot twists throughout.

Hannah Wall

I loved this book a lot, but it did not capture me like some do. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next one!!!

joy cooper

Sofie

I picture a bridge and the girl I’ll kill there. Any Bone Crier will do. They’re all murderers. I’ll take what they stole from me, my father’s life for one of their own.

Nine more days, Bastien. Then my father will be at peace. I’ll be at peace. I can’t imagine the feeling.


There's a terrible price to pay for the ancient magic that allows Ailesse and the rest of her clan to ferry the dead to their final resting place. Girls must lure their soulmate to a bridge with a siren song and kill him with a bone-carved knife. Ailesse, the heir to her clan, plans to do just that... until her soulmate arrives, ready to kill her instead.

I enjoyed this fantasy a lore more than some other fantasy series. I think I've read enough fae lore to last me a lifetime (I get it, they have big dicks). The world building wasn't too in-your-face - as in, I didn't suffer through hundreds of pages trying to make sense of the world - and the story itself was pretty interesting. It's no secret that enemies to lovers is a god-tier trope, and this definitely took it to the next level; I mean, come on. The first time Ailesse and Bastien meet, they literally try to kill each other.

Except.. Purdie included some time jumps (of about 2 weeks or so) twice in the novel, and I feel like we lost some of the relationship development in the process. We have these 2 people, each plotting to find a way to kill the other, and then time jump they are sharing soft looks, acting all awkward around each other, barely resisting the urge to just make out. idk. I feel like the book would have benefitted from a biiiit more of a slow burn. I wanted to see Bastien really battle with himself over his emerging feelings for Ailesse, considering her kind literally murdered his father. I wanted to see Ailesse struggle to unlearn everything her mother has taught her about her right of passage. There was no... angst. I don't want peace.... I want PROBLEMS, ALWAYS.

The side characters were great though. Or, I guess Sabine doesn't really count as a side character seeing as the story is literally told partially from her POV, but she's a side character in my eyes because y'all know I just read this for the romance. I loved her strength. The way she resolved to set aside her own insecurities to save her best friend. The way she, too, had to steel herself against the tradition that has been ingrained in her since she was born.

Marcel was adorable. He really balanced out the tension of the story with his earnestness. Jules... well, I hated her. lmao. I see where she's coming from (considering she, too, lost her father to the Bone Criers, and is own her own quest of revenge), but still. That girl is dumb. Literally, (view spoiler)[ the boy she loves is surrounded by an invisible enemy that only Ailesse can defeat, and she STEALS Ailesse's grace bones and the bone flute??? When she KNOWS she needs them to get rid of said invisible enemy?? I get why she did it (rather, I get that she thought she had reason to do it), but GIRL. Read the ROOM. Priorities, you know? (hide spoiler)]

And honestly istfg if we have a love triangle for book two.... we riot at dawn. Hey, fantasy writers! You can write a fantasy book that doesn't have a needless love triangle!! I believe in you! But hey... if she's aiming for a love square... I can get behind that.

I think I'd really like to read a fantasy where the women fight in fucking PANTS. Seriously. The Loreal (jk it's the Leuress(es?)) are a magical clan of literally ALL WOMEN who are BADASS and FIGHT and have an ancient purpose and they still wear dresses? nAH. 

I will definitely be picking up book 2, but for the record, I think this book could have made a really strong standalone if Purdie had decided to wrap things up. I can think of plenty of ways this story could have been self-contained within one slightly longer novel, and I also think it could have been even stronger. Alas, I am not the author, so the point is moot.

Bone Crier's Moon Bone Grace #1

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