Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > Blood, Metal, Bone

When a book claims to remind people of Leigh Bardugo’s “Six of Crows” and/or SJM’s “Throne of Glass”, I hear a kind of claxon go off inside my head. You know, it kind of sounds like that noise whenever stuff is about to get serious in “Kill Bill”? I’m pretty sure you know that sound. It’s the sound that says to me in Admiral Ackbar’s voice, “It’s a trap!”

There’s only so many times a scifi/fantasy novel can claim they’re like Bardugo or SJM before a reader just starts to become weary and wary of the claim. This is why I have trust issues (this will be my epitaph, I swear).

While nowhere near being like SJM in terms of, well, anything, “Blood Metal Bone” does have a a little bit of a Bardugo vibe. But it’s only a touch. Other than that, it’s its own animal, and I actually think Cummings and Harper 360 should be proud of that fact. About 1/3 SciFi and ⅔ fantasy, it’s the first honest SciFi/Fantasy blend I’ve read in a long time. Usually it’s either/or, but this book is largely a fantasy with a sprinkling of scifi thrown in that’s largely justified by a fascinating technological divide between alien civilizations. This disparatation, along with the usual themes of colonialism and imperialism that come with one alien civilization with more resources believing they are superior to another and therefore have the right to pillage and plunder, make up one portion of the overall story arc. The other portion of the plot of the book is taken up by themes of second chances at life, found family, resurrection, and of saving your planet from being torn apart by those who wish to strip its resources.

While the writing of this book is pretty standard for the genre, it’s the characters and world-building that stand out. The main characters have the vibe of being kind of like a D&D party, but they’re all morally gray. They might save your life, they might steal your knife. Their rough and tumble camaraderie is full of trust issues and strife, but they keep together just the same because all they have is each other. There is no one else like them. They’re outlaws, and they like it that way. They’re full of wounds both internal and external, but their wounds fuel their power. We’re all molded by our experiences, and the extreme trauma these characters went through shaped them into who they have become as well.

I also love that it’s a standalone novel. I still think there should be more of them. I will gladly sit through a more than 500 page standalone novel than read 2 or 3 novels that could’ve been trimmed down and streamlined to craft a much tighter and deft story.

All in all, I recommend it. It’s not knock-your-socks-off fantastic-to-the-max, but it’s a solid hybrid read in the genre.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper 360, and HQ Young Adult for granting me access to this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.