Bone Criers have a sacred job. Them alone can keep the dead from preying the living. But their power to ferry the spirits of the dead into goddess Elara’s Night Heavens or Tyrus’s Underworld comes with a great sacrifice. The gods order a promise of dedication to their duty. And that promise includes the life of the Bone Criers’ one true love. Ailesse has been molded since her first breath to become the matriarch of the Bone Criers. But first she must successfully complete her rite of passage and kill the boy she loves. Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier which he wasn’t supposed to wittiness, and now he seeks revenge. Along with his companions’ whose family has also been taken as sacrifice by Bone Criers. But when he finally kidnapped one, his craving for vengeance will have to wait. Ailesse’s ritual has begun and now their fate has already been tied. Sabine, Ailesse’s best friend, never had the guts to take part of the Bone Crier’s work. But when Ailesse had been caught, Sabine will do whatever it takes to save her, even if it means breaking their traditions or acting against their matriarch just to break the bond between Ailesse and Bastien. And to just make circumstances even worse the matriarch seems to be harboring dark secrets and Sabine only has one year to save Ailesse, or they will all die.
Like I said before, I despise those characters who are willing to do whatever it takes. However in this book, I feel that it really shows how Sabine struggles to make the “right” decisions and even the matriarch wasn’t ready to sacrifice everything. There is so many twists inside this book and it just made the whole aura even more mysterious. I usually don’t like the idea of “soulmates”, but I suppose this story again proves me wrong. I really liked this book but I did struggle in the begging as it was constantly changing the POV. However, after a while, once I got used to it, it actually became enjoyable and even more interesting. My favorite characters has to be Ailesse and Sabine. Ailese didn’t want to become any role in particular, she just wanted to be the best and to be able to prove her skill to her mother. That really drove her until there was a “turn of events”. While Sabine on the other hand didn’t really like the whole Bone Crier concept at all, but when the one most dear to her was captured you can see how her personality slowly evolves into almost a whole other persona. Bastien was probably the character that developed the least. He saw his father die at a hands of a Bone Criers had he had been fueled by revenge ever since. Yet, I feel as if he dropped his anger and emotions way to quickly and there wasn’t much depth in the way he conflicted with his emotions. Maybe he will grow and branch out more in the sequel? I also really liked Bastien and Ailesse’s relationship, it was really cute and humorous as they constantly challenged one another. My faourite twist is definitely the one in the end regarding Ailesse and Batien. Plus I really enjoyed how dynamic the entire setting was, all the different castles, bridges, catacombs, and the forest really gave the story a nice touch. I would rate this 9/10 and I think its suited for anyone who likes stories about magic, ancient legends, romance, and just a amazing book with great twists and turns.
Bone Crier’s Moon and Kathryn Purdie’s other works can be found here.
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