Quick Synopsis –When her father is killed by mercenaries and Silla discovers she’s hunted by the queen, Silla has no choice but to travel the Road of Bones. She sneaks onto a wagon to escape. When the crew discovers her, it turns out to be the notorious Bloodaxe Crew. They begrudgingly agree that she can travel with them, only she leaves out that she’s being hunted. Will she make it to safety? Or will this adventure be her last?

Song This Reminds Me Of – Decode by Paramore

Publication Date – Nov. 5, 2024 (previously self-published)

Content Notes – This is an adult fantasy novel. There is violence, some blood, attempted sexual assault, addiction, kidnapping, forced drugging, and mental health issues.

Spicy Rating – 🌶🌶🌶

Overall Rating – ⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Review – I already bought the second book, so I mean the story hooked me. Even though I was invested, I thought there were a few plot points and characterizations that could have been better done. The central story is about a young woman who discovers her whole life has been a lie. There’s magical prosecution of Galdra and running from assassins. Silla spent her whole life believing she wasn’t special, but now she’s learning there is so much more to her past.

When Silla joins the Bloodaxe Crew to travel north to a safe haven, she hides who she is and the trouble she may be in. The Bloodaxe Crew had the chance to be really interesting, but this is where I had some issues with the book. Jonas, Hekla, and Ray are all very well fleshed out. But the rest of the crew are very one dimensional. It was kind of strange to have well developed characters and then just super thin barely named characters in the same crew. I thought there could have been an opportunity to beef up the story, but it was just kind of meh.

I did really like Jonas as a character, I think maybe his arc isn’t what people are expecting, but I think it injects more realism into the story. No spoilers, but if you read the book you’ll get what I mean. I also thought the magic could have been better described. We get a few characters and see what they do, but otherwise it’s very vague. I get setting up more intrigue for the next book, but it felt like there could have been a quick explainer at some point during this book.

Overall, I thought this was a fun fantasy novel, though it could have used some more development.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine and Delacorte Press for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.