Ivory And Bone: Obsidian And Stars | Julie Eshbaugh
Published by: HarperTeen, June 13th 2017
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Historical
Pages: 368
Format: Ebook
Source: HarperTeen, via Edelweiss
In the sequel to Ivory and Bone—the prehistoric fantasy novel that New York Times bestselling author Amie Kaufman described as a “richly crafted world of life-and-death stakes”—the story shifts to Mya’s viewpoint as vengeful adversaries force her to flee the life she once knew.
After surviving the chaotic battle that erupted after Lo and the Bosha clan attacked, now Mya is looking ahead to her future with Kol. All the things that once felt so uncertain are finally falling into place. But the same night as Kol and Mya’s betrothal announcement, Mya’s brother Chev reveals his plan to marry his youngest sister Lees to his friend Morsk. The only way to avoid this terrible turn of events, Morsk informs Mya when he corners her later, is for Mya to take Lees’ place and marry him herself.
Refusing to marry anyone other than her beloved, and in an effort to protect her sister, Mya runs away to a secret island with Lees. And though it seems like the safest place to hide until things back home blow over, Mya soon realizes she’s been followed. Lurking deep in the recesses of this dangerous place are rivals from Mya’s past whose thirst for revenge exceeds all reason.
With the lives of her loved ones on the line, Mya must make a move before the enemies of her past become the undoing of her future.
In the sequel to Ivory and Bone—the prehistoric fantasy novel that New York Times bestselling author Amie Kaufman described as a “richly crafted world of life-and-death stakes”—the story shifts to Mya’s viewpoint as vengeful adversaries force her to flee the life she once knew.
After surviving the chaotic battle that erupted after Lo and the Bosha clan attacked, now Mya is looking ahead to her future with Kol. All the things that once felt so uncertain are finally falling into place. But the same night as Kol and Mya’s betrothal announcement, Mya’s brother Chev reveals his plan to marry his youngest sister Lees to his friend Morsk. The only way to avoid this terrible turn of events, Morsk informs Mya when he corners her later, is for Mya to take Lees’ place and marry him herself.
Refusing to marry anyone other than her beloved, and in an effort to protect her sister, Mya runs away to a secret island with Lees. And though it seems like the safest place to hide until things back home blow over, Mya soon realizes she’s been followed. Lurking deep in the recesses of this dangerous place are rivals from Mya’s past whose thirst for revenge exceeds all reason.
With the lives of her loved ones on the line, Mya must make a move before the enemies of her past become the undoing of her future.
Did I love this as much as book one? Yes. Actually I did.
I didn't think this could stand up to the tense, romantic, historically-rich Ivory and Bone, but this book is every bit as wonderful. One of my favourite things is how different the action scenes are to any other book I've read, because they're fighting with era-appropriate weapons like spears and darts, and I LOVE IT. It makes every fight stand out when sometimes fight scenes can be flat and dull. In the same way, these details make even everyday tasks stand out in these books, and I adore these authentic touches. In a sea of historical and history-inspired fantasy worlds, this one is so memorable.
But now let me ramble a bit about my main loves Mya and Kol. I love them SO MUCH, and they really show how great leaders they can be in this book. I cannot wait to see what they do next (but can I just pretend this happy ending is the real end and nothing else bad happens?) and how their relationship progresses after that best of endings. Seriously, that end made me so, so happy, especially after the book tricked me into thinking things would never work out (tricky, tricky book.) I live for their relationship tbh.
My only issue is a queer death, even if it was necessary for the story (and another queer, secondary character still survives.) I'd like to see more queer characters introduced into the series with the next book, please, and let them all live!
Characters ★★★★★
Setting/world ★★★★★
Writing ★★★★★
