Blood Metal Bone by Lindsay Cummings
Product details
Web ID: 16130969Magic, space, and Betrayal
3.5 stars rounded up This book threw me off a little when I first started reading. It is a Young Adult Fantasy/ Sci-Fi story. It started with medieval castles, horses, and swords for weapons and then switched super quickly to advanced technology, international space travel, and weapons beyond imagination instead, which was pretty confusing at first. After reading about seventy-five pages into the story and getting the plot straightened out, I found that I liked the mix of new and old, it gave the book an interesting twist. It actually reminded me of the Movie Avatar a bit but with magic. This story was full of action, heartbreak in spades, and a couple of good surprises thrown in. It follows mainly two perspectives, one of which is Sonara, who is a shadowblood, which is a type of magic that I thought was a unique take on how characters develop magic in this world, her life is spent on the run after she is accused of murdering her half-brother the prince. It follows her desperate mission to find out what really happened to him. This book was full of heartbreak, betrayal, and suffering so just be aware there are quite a few trigger warnings. Overall, while I did enjoy this book, I found it a little hard to get into at first and some areas a bit confusing and jumbled, but still a good time. Trigger warnings: abuse, torture, imprisonment, murder I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Thank you Netgalley and Harper 360!
Thank you Netgalley and Harper 360 for allowing me to read and review this book! All thoughts and opinions are my own. Blood Metal Bone is a mixed blend of sci-fi and fantasy. I requested the book for the cover initially because it's a gorgeous cover and I couldn't resist the temptation of a great looking cover. The story though, I was a little blind to what the story was about. I did love the book and thought the dark, twisted world of Blood Metal Bone was thought out and intriguing. However I almost DNF'd a few times due to pacing issues but I powered through because I did really like the weird blend of genres. Sonara is a fun character to follow and the world building is well-written. I was reminded of how I felt while reading The Other Side of the Sky by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. 4.5 stars
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
SFF Book Falls Short
Blood Metal Bone by Lindsay Cummings is a new SFF release that follows Sonara and Karr as their paths intersect on Sonara's quest for justice after her brother was taken by a spacecraft ten years prior. This book combines science fiction and fantasy elements, features multiple points of view, and details a three-part story in which Sonara must use the magical abilities she despises to figure out what happened to her brother all those years ago. While the description focuses mostly on Sonara, Karr is a major character in this story arc, and his storyline is what brings the science fiction elements to what would otherwise be a fantasy-only novel. Unfortunately, this book was pretty disappointing to me. I read my first Lindsay Cummings book while I was in middle school, so I was excited to see this title (and cover) for a new release. The description really drew me in, and I love reading fantasy novels about young women learning how to use magical powers to disrupt the political norms of their fantasy realms. It seemed really promising, but it ended up falling short of my expectations. I felt the pacing felt slow despite being a very quick read, and it was really difficult to connect with the characters. The main characters felt a little flat and driven by only one or two elements of their personality instead of having a more complex character development arc that would really urge the reader to push forward through this book. A lot of the twists and turns were very predictable, and it felt like each chapter tried to end on a cliffhanger but ended up being overdone. On a personal preference note, I generally prefer when paragraphs and chapters are a bit longer in fantasy books, as I appreciate the world-building that that style provides in a way that was lacking in Blood Metal Bone. Ultimately, I think this novel just tried to do a little too much and may have been better off broken into multiple books so that each event could be better detailed and developed. I'm not sure how much agency authors have in writing the book description, but I also would recommend updating it to give a better preview of the science fiction elements (or Karr's storyline more generally) featured in this book. If this wasn't for a review, I likely would've DNF'ed this book. It ultimately just isn't my cup of tea. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper 360/HQ Young Adult for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. (Please note the digital version is already published, and this digital ARC review precedes the paperback release in May).
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com