Name: Moth's review of The Cold Is in Her Bones by Peternelle van Arsdale
Item: The Cold Is in Her Bones
Rating: 3
Author: Moth

Peternelle van Arsdale

“A dark and enchanting tale.” —Bustle “Fiercely written and beautifully feminist.” —Lisa Maxwell, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Magician One girl must uncover secrets of the past to save her friend from a terrible curse in this “dark, angry fairy tale” (BCCB, starred review) filled with love, revenge, and redemption that is inspired by the myth of Medusa. Milla knows two things to be true: Demons are real, and fear will keep her safe. Milla’s whole world is her family’s farm. She is never allowed to travel to the village and her only friend is her beloved older brother, Niklas. When a bright-eyed girl named Iris comes to stay, Milla hopes her loneliness might finally be coming to an end. But Iris has a secret she’s forbidden to share: The village is cursed by a demon who possesses girls at random, and the townspeople live in terror of who it will come for next. Now, it seems, the demon has come for Iris. When Iris is captured and imprisoned with other possessed girls, Milla leaves home to rescue her and break the curse forever. Her only company on the journey is a terrible new secret of her own: Milla is changing, too, and may soon be a demon herself. Suspenseful and vividly imagined, The Cold Is in Her Bones is a novel about the dark, reverberating power of pain, the yearning to be seen and understood, and the fragile optimism of love.

The Cold Is in Her Bones

Jeff James

Moth

I was very excited for this book on premise of demons and a story high in feminism. However, this book left me unsure how I felt about it. Though the story is unique, the girls who are possessed by demons seem more like girls who suffer from mental illness too closely to leave you feeling good and in turn doesn’t hold up to the idea of being feminist for this reason.

Milla is an interesting character who isn’t what you come to expect from female protagonist of late. She’s just messy who feels anger and doesn’t fit the perfect mold of the female in this world. Which is a bit ‘not like other girls’ annoyingness, but she was more flawed then those characters. She’s a girl who was unloved by her family due to the fact she could become possessed by demons, like all the girls in the village due to a curse put on it by her own aunt when she was killed. However, Milla is cursed differently, to become a monster herself, where snakes grow from her head. 

I was hoping for all and all a better book. When I first read about it, I thought someone had called it a Medusa retelling, which it’s far from. But I stayed for the demons. But instead of getting creative on what it’s like to be possessed by demons, they simply sound like girls with mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Which is lazy on the part in the writing. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth and feels empty. For someone with mental illness it simply didn’t sit well due to the fact in the history of mental illness people believed them possessed. Due to this, it takes away the title of being feminist. Yes, the women save the day. Ish. But nothing really changes in the end. The end was disappointing. 

As for the writing, it was good all in all in style. I enjoyed the hints of Russian like mythology, but the bigger plot holes left it a bit of a disappointment.

Savannah Winchell

3.75 ⭐️
-again, almost extraordinary but fell flat
- fascinating concept and atmosphere
- pacing was waaaay off and it ruined the plot and character development
- 10/10 cover tho

Cynthi

3/5 stars

I really liked the prologue probably my favorite part.
The rest was okay.
I liked the end but I wanted to stop reading multiple times.
After the prologue is just downhill until part 4 and it was still a little dumb.
Kinda predictable.

My favorite character was Hel.
Liss was so cute.

Some things that Milla did make me want to fight her.
She was stupid asf and childish.

Eryn Bradshaw

Thank you for the ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This dark fairy tale is very loosely based off of the Medusa myth (read: Snakes in your head, snakes in your hair, snakes just about everywhere). I would have almost rathered it not even mention that it was inspired by Medusa because The Cold Is In Her Bones is its own beautiful fairy tale.

Throughout the book, we follow a girl named Milla. She tries hard to be good but has some strange tendencies she tries to suppress while growing up with her mother, father, and brother Niklas. When Iris, Niklas's future wife, moves in with her grandparents, Milla's world is turned upside down. She's curious about the stories Iris has to tell her and quickly becomes friends with her. However, a curse that has been placed on the village inflicts Iris and Milla begins a journey to save Iris, her family, and herself. Throughout the journey, she grows and discovers who she is and comes to accept who she is as well.

The pacing of this book was a little slow, but despite that, I kept wanting to continue reading. The story was so hauntingly beautiful, I wanted to know what would happen next. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a different kind of fairy tale. One where the protagonist isn't beautiful or gets the boy or any of the normal stereotypical things.

Toni Turner

4.5

I’m honestly speechless right now. That was so twisted and beautiful and I cried a lot. That wasn’t really what I was expecting but looking back I’m not sure what the hall I was expecting. 
I was right about one thing though...
Peternelle van Arsdale is a new favorite author because MASTERPIECE!

Sheila Goicea

See this full review on my blog along with others at: foalsfictionandfiligree.com

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much! All included quotes have been taken from an ARC and may not match the finished publication.



WARNING: If you don’t like snakes...then you may not like this book very much, because there are a lot of them!

Content Warning: Curses, Death, Emotional Abuse

  And this anger became bitterness, and this bitterness turned her into a monster. And the monster that she became wanted to hurt everyone that had hurt her. So she did. She punished everyone until there was no one left to punish. No one at all.

Yet another hauntingly beautiful tale by Peternelle van Arsdale. I believe this author has captured my attention wholly when it comes to writing style and character building (and setting and plot and...you get the picture). There are elements in both of her novels, The Beast is an Animal and The Cold is in Her Bones that are so unlike anything I’ve ever read. There is an otherworldliness accompanied with twisted reality which makes these tales familiar, yet very, very foreign. 



The Cold is in Her Bones is a loose Medusa retelling. While yes, I see the correlations, I also see a lot of differences between this tale and the mythological one. That doesn’t really matter to me, as I read this book as its own story. I’d say that if you are looking for a hardcore, follows-along-the-same-tale type of retelling of Medusa mythology, I don’t feel like this quite fits that bill. I wouldn’t write it off just for that reason, though! This story is stunning, and mixes the twisted, beautiful, mysterious, and whimsical. 

A brief, yet, very effective Prologue gives a look into the story of Hulda, introducing the lifestyles of the characters, setting, and snakes. It then shifts to Milla’s perspective for the rest of the story. The plot itself isn’t overdone, which is another element of this author’s writing that I admire. Not everything is fully explained, and it allows room for the reader to imagine. I feel that if more was explained, then it would take away from the message this story is conveying. 

Very strong themes based on feelings resonate throughout the plot. Themes such as anger, forgiveness, vengeance, and regret. Milla dances with most, if not all touched upon. The Cold Is In Her Skin speaks loudly about how if anger is left unchecked it turns into vengeance.The metaphorical is taken literally and feelings materialize. Another theme that stands out is facing your demons.

  ...I made messes for you, and you can’t wish your messes away. I’m here, Mamma. A big mess. And I’m taking you to your other big mess. And you will apologize, and you will make this right.

The only thing I wished that had more explanation was the ending. I felt it ended rather abruptly, and could have been fleshed out further. Otherwise, I loved everything else about this story. 

Vulgarity: None.
Sexual Content: None.
Violence: Some. Certain scenes are more eerie than anything. 

My Rating: ★★★★1/2

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Jessica Williamson

3.75

I swear, I'm not just giving everything I read this month a 3.75! It's just turning out that way =)

I wasn't sure how well I was going to like this one. It had never been on my radar and was passed on to me by a friend who had read it and just felt okay about it, but knows I love Medusa. Because although it doesn't say it anywhere, this is definitely a light Medusa retelling. 

This story has that thing I hate but that I always love in books because of how enraged I get. A world where women (young girls especially) are feared for what they may become and are only worth anything if they are well behaved and listen without question to their fathers and/or husbands. Worlds where girls have the power within them to stand up for themselves, but are told if they do, a demon will take them over. 

This story begins with two sisters, who love each other. One sister is perfect. The other is just a little odd. The perfect sister betrays the other and so, the odd sister curses the entire town (which is a bold-ass power move for sure). 

Our MC lives in this world where young girls are often taken over by a demon. And when this happens they're sent somewhere just ominously called "the place". Except it's not just those who are taken over by the demon. But girls who misbehave or have a moment of anger. "Yeah, Susie yelled at her little brother last week for breaking her toy. She's been taken over by the demon, we gotta send her to the place." Yeah. You know, THAT kind of life.

I really enjoyed our MC Milla. She was an interesting head to be in because she was around these people that she loved but also wasn't sure if she should hate them or be afraid of them, but she loved them still. 

Our villain was both creepy and pitiful (in the sense that I kinda felt bad for her). The demon was a dick but that's normal. There's an old witch too. Her I loved.

I liked the relationship between Milla and her brother Nikolas. It's rare to see a decent relationship between siblings in YA so I enjoyed it. 

The plot meandered a bit and felt a little long, which is interesting considering how short this book actually is, but I think the main focus of this book was the character work vs. being all about the plot. And I'm okay with that because I liked the characters. 

The epilogue was great. One of my favorites. I really like how is showed the future but also left some things up to the readers interpretation. 

Cover 4; characters 3; plot 3; pace 4; writing 4; enjoyment 3; cry*

danielle bush

** spoiler alert **
           I have tried a few times to write a review on this book, and I don't really think i can explain it well. 
Its a loose retelling of medusa. With demons, and snakes. the betrayal of family and a whole town.
Then the making of your own family bonds, some by blood some by choice. and ultimately forgiveness. I really like how our main character Milla kind of came into herself and ultimately accepted who she was and how the snakes play a part in her life.. 
I think it can be enjoyed by both YA and Adult readers.

Laura Springall

★★★.5

Man I've been super lazy with reviews the last few weeks

I liked this! Didn't love it, but it was enjoyable for the most part. I adore the concept but feel like the plot and pacing could have used some better development. It was a fairly simple story, and one that probably won't stick with me for too long in all honesty. But I'm still glad I read it, and even more glad that I own it because WOW that cover is stunning

Abi Baker

Probably more like a 2/2.5 but I'm being generous.

I've just finished reading this but I honestly couldn't tell you anything about the plot other than 'I guess this is a YA medusa retelling and there's something about demons in there?'

It's slow, it doesn't make sense at times, characters are referenced and I had absolutely no idea who they were and how they were meant to influence the plot. All in all this book is going to be completely forgettable to me in probably a week's time.

Gabriela Roxana 

"There was once a girl who loved to lie in the grass and let it tickle her skin. 

Sublime, eerie and haunting. This book will stay with me for a long time. Hope I'll have the time to write a much more detailed review soon because this was exceptional.

Jeff James &
The Cold Is in Her Bones by Peternelle van Arsdale

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