Published: May 2023
Pages: 412
Series: Standalone
Summary
On the fringes of Errigal, Morana longs to exchange a life of hiding for a peaceful one with her husband, Percy. While Percy’s bloodgift lets him grow plants and heal broken bodies, Morana’s a boneweaver, despised and feared because she can hear bones and raise the dead. Morana doesn’t want to be seen as a villain from the old stories and instead spends her time gardening, writing the stories of the dead, and fending off a spiteful chicken.
Morana and Percy’s lives are shattered when a group of Failinis tasked with capturing boneweavers and rogue bloodgifted find them. On the run and battling the elements, ancient creatures, and the loss of all they called home, Morana and Percy search for any sanctuary left in Errigal. Morana must choose between the call in her blood or the family she holds so close to her heart if she and Percy are to survive.
My thoughts
What an emotional journey this book was. Another little gem I discovered through Kindle Unlimited, this book plunged a knife in my heart and just kept wiggling it with every passing chapter.
“Grief doesn’t shrink, but we grow around it.”
First of all, I did not realise that this book was based on Scottish culture/ mythology. I am Scottish so this was an absolutely delightful realisation and I enjoyed the accuracy immensely. The slight misspellings over the Scottish Ghaelic that was used are very minor and easily forgiven, especially since the rest of the Scottish accent/twang was so on point. It’s so true when returning home and being surrounded by family does the Scottish accent really come out and I absolutely loved that detail in this story. My husband often asks me if I have subtitles when we have gatherings with extended family because it’s just so natural for me to fall into. But anyway, back to the book!
My accent slides across my tongue so easily once my heart recognizes that it’s home.
I don’t tend to read romance, that is not news to anyone that follows my blog, I’m not sure exactly why but I have felt that more modern romance books follow a very formulaic plot and it just doesn’t keep my attention. This story is not purely romance, there is a love story at its heart about this married couple just looking to live. Their love was heart-warming, hopeful and honest. I love this couple, the sacrifices they make for each other and despite everything going on in the world, the love they hold for each other is true.
It’s why this book hurt me so much, there seems to be no place for Morana simply because of what she was born with. I’m not sure if the author intended for it but I loved that Morana and Percy’s gifts seem to be exact opposites but that didn’t come inbetween them and instead, turned into something they each loved about the other even despite the situations they find themselves in.
Growing plants is how he copes with heavy things.
This is a very heavy book and I would caution you if you have known triggers to read those before diving in. But it handled the themes very well and delicately. This book explores prejudice and propaganda quite heavily. It was very insightful and gut-wrenching to read. We can take a lot of what we read in this story and apply it to the real world, it was brilliantly written.
On the flip side is that for a devastating book there is a light of hope and our characters go through a lot of self reflection and acceptance on their journey. We can see where things start to shift and the slow change that comes in. I loved these characters so much and to have their friends, family and complete strangers around them fuel their confidence and be there to pick up the slack when it was needed, was so great to see. In a world where you can be hunted and killed for the way you were born, to see that not all of humanity has been lost was that flicker of light in the darkness. But it also makes the reader ask themselves a question – this has been the way it’s always been, does that make it right?
“I can’t fix tomorrow,” he finally whispers as thunder rumbles, the words empty of any emotion. “All I can do is try to fix what’s in front of me today.”
Now, I absolutely adored Morana. A woman in her thirties with arthiritis who requires a walking stick to help her get around. It was so nice to get a different type of main character. As I get older I also tend to gravitate to older characters but in the fantasy space it tends to be heavier on the younger side. It was also nice to have this focussed around a married couple. No drama, no third act break-up, just two people that care for each other deeply trying to figure it out.
I also love a pet companion and in this instance we get a spiteful chicken that seems to hate Morana for being married to Percy. She is determined to stick by Percy no matter where the journey takes them, she is a very determined chicken.
“Sometimes we have to remember that it was better to have those moments than to never have had them at all.”
I really enjoyed the nature based magic. We see it commonly in fantasy but I really liked the quirks. For using magic there is a cost attached. For Morana she needs to write the stories of the dead otherwise they fill her mind. For others, they may need to draw for example. There is a price to pay for leveraging their abilities so I liked that aspect for them to consider whether it was worth the cost as there are real life consequences. I dislike books that can just draw on magic whenever and wherever so bonus points for that piece of the story.
“You can’t fight prejudice with weapons. It’s only defeated by the truth, but only by those who listen to it. And truth can’t be shouted at a mob that’s been deafened by their own noise.
This book was heartachingly devastating. I was not completely sold on the epilogue, I expected a bit more but I want add my thoughts in case of spoilers. If you’ve read it I’d love to know what you thought.
“I know. Their bones told me.”
Would I recommend?
Yes, yes and yes. This is a brilliantly written story that really impacted my emotional wellbeing. It is a heavy book but there is also a heavy reward by reading it. As a Scot I loved the pieces of Ghaelic and the influence from Scottish mythology. I really enjoyed this one and would absolutely recommend to others.