Review: Crown of Bones by A. K. Wilder

Crown of Bones is a fresh take on YA fantasy, and is a pure delight to read! Whilst it has a magic system, it has people on the run, and a fight for control; the adventure takes us deep into the story! With themes such as adventure, friendship, and a little bit of romance - this is not one to miss. Even better, is that it is the first book in a brand new series!

I enjoyed the characters and the plot immensely, and having the underdog - Ash, a lowly scribe who discovers that she might have powers really took the cake. The story itself was super high-stakes (obviously with people trying to control all the cities, it definitely isn’t low-stakes), and it made it all fun. The banter that was had, especially with Kaylin on the ship. I found that I did want more from the characters personally, but they do appear to take a back step in comparison to the world building aspects. I also did find some characters to fall into instant love, which was something I didn’t expect even though it happened anyways. I also enjoyed Marcus’s storyline as the next heir, because to me, he didn’t feel as power hungry as the rest. Even better still is that Marcus and Ash are best friends. I love best friend stories, and I love that friendship is such a prevalent theme within this book.

Speaking about world building, it was super detailed and made the whole context of everything so much better. Everything wasn’t info-dumped (my pet peeve), but rather developed along the way, including the magic system with the Savants and the Non-Savants. It was interesting to find that the Savants had a magical power to conjure up a phantom, because in my head that’s kind of super wild. I could also imagine all the scenery as I was reading, the writing gave me so much detail on that, and I was definitely hungry for it. The writing also was interesting, as it wove both Ash and Marcus’s stories together with their different points of view. Having that magic system in place made a lot of sense because of the power hungry people in the book, and I was interested to see how that panned out. The way it did caught me off guard, and I was honestly surprised about it. I honestly enjoyed Ash’s surprises, as well as Marcus trying to contain his phantom.

Writing wise, I really enjoyed how the pacing was mild, as it felt like there could be more to the story (and thankfully, there is apparently a sequel planned). The multiple POV is my sweet spot, and I honestly felt like Wilder did it justice, honestly. Whilst different POV books aren’t to everyone’s taste, this one definitely had such distinct voices to it, and it made the characters stand out more to me than they may have otherwise would have. As I mentioned earlier, I just wish I had a little more for the characters, but that might be my personal taste, really.

Overall, I found this a fun, refreshing fantasy read that appeals to my love of friendships and discovery. The characters are fun, and the world building is enjoyable, and I highly recommend it to those who really enjoy fantasy with different POVs.

Rating: 3.5/5

Note: This review was first published on The Nerd Daily, with a review copy given to me via The Nerd Daily. Link: https://www.thenerddaily.com/review-crown-of-bones-by-ak-wilder/