Bonesmith

Wren, 17, has always stood out among her peers, though usually for not so good reasons. Being the daughter of the heir to the House of Bone, a bastard one at that, she has striven all her life to earn both her father and grandmother’s approval and to become a worthy valkyr, a bonesmith that fights violent ghosts so the reapyr can sever their tie to the earthly realm. Wren figures that the Bonewood Trial, where one qualifies to be a reapyr or valkyr, is the best time to prove herself worthy of her family name. However, during the trial, Wren’s cousin, Inara, sabotages her, disqualifying Wren from the trial as well as earning Wren’s family dagger in a bet that the two made just before the trial.

Inara’s betrayal disgraces Wren enough that she is banished to the Border Wall, the wall made to guard the Dominions from the Breach where Wren’s father and uncle fought in the uprising of the ironsmiths years ago. The Breach is now a wasteland where the dead roam unchecked, and the ironsmiths are cut off from the rest of the Dominions, now a destitute house stripped of its former glory.

Upon arriving at the Border Wall, Wren meets Odile, another bonesmith that worked with Wren’s uncle Locke during the uprising before his death. Odile welcomes Wren and tells her more of her family’s history in the uprising than Wren’s father ever did before. Odile also seems intent on helping Wren earn her family’s respect back, going so far as to put Wren in direct contact with Prince Leopold, a goldsmith and third son of the King of the Dominions. However, when the prince, Wren, and their party are attacked on the Border Wall by a group of ironsmiths, the prince is kidnapped and Wren is stranded beyond the wall with an ironsmith. She sees this as an opportunity to save the prince and regain her standing with her family. She only has to work with a rouge ironsmith and survive crossing the Breachlands filled with revenants and bandits.

Wren has possibly bitten off more than she can chew though when family secrets are revealed, political mysteries unfold, and untold magical powers are found. Wren must learn how to rely on others and reevaluate whom she can trust in a world filled with politics, betrayal, and magic.

Bonesmith is a novel that kicks off with action and keeps up the pace throughout the remainder of its story. The novel’s action is interspersed with breaks for the characters to bond, digest the events of the story, and explore the dense world that Preto has created. These breaks also give the reader time to spend with the world and the characters, giving them time to breathe in between the moments of action.

The pacing of the novel is actually quite crucial to what makes this book as successful as it is. Preto has created a world with an intricate magic system that is tied to its politics, geography, and history, and, while in some books this sort of thing may cause a slog of exposition to read through, Preto expertly gives readers information about the world and how it works over the course of the novel so that readers aren’t overwhelmed with it in the beginning. This approach makes the novel’s four hundred plus page count exciting and engaging to read, rather than a chore to get through at times.

In addition to the novel’s pacing and world building, the Preto’s character work is also notably well done. While mainly told from Wren’s perspective, readers are occasionally treated to a chapter or two from both Leopold and Julian, the ironsmith. These chapters, while rare, are both exciting to come across and serve to develop both these characters and the story in ways that Wren’s perspective wouldn’t be able to.

There is also the matter of Wren’s character development, another achievement the novel earns. Wren begins the book as a fun character that has a rebellious streak and a need to prove herself. She also starts as a rather selfish character that is interested mainly in how she can prove to her family that she deserves to be an heir to the House of Bone. Over the course of the novel, she learns to lean on Julian and trust his judgement, not just diving headfirst into danger and disaster. Wren’s development is something that is a pleasure to see over the course of the novel, but it is also something that seemingly will be continued in later installments of the series.

All in all, Bonesmith is an exciting, engaging, and entertaining first book in what will surely be a series to be consumed as soon as each new book is released. Preto’s novel is one that most first series books strive to be: complete in its own right, but also leaving room and mystery for the next book.