Welcome to book spotlight where instead of giving you another book review, I’m just going to talk about books I’ve read recently that I enjoyed. Prepare yourself for the fangirl gushing.
Sequels! So many sequels everywhere! I feel like most of my anticipated releases this year are sequels. And sequels scare me. Because sometimes book one can be fantastic and the sequel(s) will be a huge letdown. Sometimes they’re so disappointing, I can’t even enjoy the first book anymore.
When I read a sequel that is just as good or maybe even better than book one, I take note. And Bone Crier’s Dawn by Kathryn Purdie, sequel to Bone Crier’s Moon, is a great sequel.
So much happens in this book! So much bad happens in this book for the characters. The stakes are higher, the tension is tenfold, but I love the character arc and growth they each go through. Especially Sabine. My heart hurt for her so much, but where she ends up at the end of the book is so, so good. She’s so much stronger, so much better. And I love it. Basically, where (mostly) everybody ends up is good, which makes for a great ending to this duology. It was so worth the wait to read.
But beyond just the ending, I love so many aspects of this book. I don’t think I’ll ever get over how cool the bone magic is. That magic is what swept me away in book one, and it just gets better in book two. I also absolutely adore the relationship between Sabine and Ailesse. It was a nice change of pace for YA. I like the romance as well, even if one couple getting together was a bit of a surprise to me. At first, I wasn’t totally on board because it seemed like trying to “pair the spares,” but by the end off the book, I was okay with it.
There are some Things That Happen that I’m a bit sad about, but I understand why they happened? A lot of the characters make some crazy, rash decisions. Normally, that would annoy me in a YA book because I want to grab them and shake sense into them. But with this book, I could track the thought progression so it made sense why they made such bad decisions. It wasn’t just because they’re “dumb” teenagers and have to make “stupid” decisions all the time. It fit with the world and the plot.
Basically, I’m really glad I gave this sequel a chance, and I will definitely be reading more Kathryn Purdie books!
Keeper of the Wood Between Worlds 
Sounds like a good series, I do appreciate it when I can see a character’s motivation for the bad decisions. And those covers are lovely!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! Sometimes I feel like that’s what is missing from YA books. They show the bad decision making but not the why. Just the “Oh, because they’re teenagers.”
LikeLike
Exactly! I mean, I made bad decisions as a teen, but I had a reason for them. I didn’t do dumb stuff just to be dumb. Even if the reason seems silly to me now, it made sense at the time.
LikeLiked by 1 person