Bone Crier's Moon

By: Kathryn Purdie

Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham, Alex Wyndham, Billie Fulford-Brown

Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

From number one New York Times best-selling author Kathryn Purdie comes a high-stakes fantasy duology flush with doomed romance and macabre magic, perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber and Roshani Chokshi.

Bone Criers are the last descendants of an ancient famille charged with using the magic they draw from animal bones to shepherd the dead into the afterlife - lest they drain the light from the living.

Ailesse has been prepared since birth to become their matriarch, but first she must complete her rite of passage: to kill the boy she’s destined to love.

Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier, and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. Now, his vengeance must wait, as Ailesse’s ritual has begun and their fates are entwined - in life and in death.

©2020 Kathryn Purdie (P)2020 HarperAudio

It was okay at best.

The story was alright. I had a big issue getting over the males acting. It was like every sentence was told as a question. There were also times when the women's readings would have a weird section that I assume was an edit or reread, and it was edited in poorly.

Creative ideas, boring execution

So overall the book was ok. I really like the concept of the book and appreciate the creativity. But it got very boring. I felt like the same things were happening but in different ways the entire book. It felt like it was missing something. Seems like there will be a sequel, I don't think I'll be listening to it.

Could not finish

The concept is good and the story has potential but each chapter felt repetitive! Same questioning thoughts, same pettiness in characters. I made it almost through the book but just couldn’t finish it. I rarely write bad reviews but this book should have been edited better!

What a beautiful love story...

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I agree with everyone else that the reader for Bastian is really terrible.. not in line with the character he was trying to portray. But once you get past this the story really takes off! It digs into the core of bonds of the main characters and makes you question their relationships... How important the love of a mother, a significant other, and a best friend are to the Ailesse.m..and which is more important! Love, love, loved the concept of grace bones and the power given for the accomplishment. If only! Cant wait to read the next one!

Great Story

I loved it!!! I thought it was a great story for a YA novel, and I feel like it jumped right into the story and took off. The narration was a little hard to get use to in the beginning, but once I got used to it, I really enjoyed it. There were some iffy parts to the narration, but not enough to really bother me. I'm excited about the next book.

Good and bad

Pros:
Inventive and interesting Lore

I enjoyed the narrative about Ailesse's mother

Sabine's narrator

Interesting multi-twist ending

Cool matriarchal society

Neat and unique magic system


Cons:
Bastien's narrator is *terrible.* He has this weird whisper tone, and is up talking the entire time. It sounds like he's in pain with every line he delivers. It's honestly almost unbeatable to listen to.

Inconsistent pronunciation of French things

Lack of LGBTQ+ characters

Lack of racially and ethnically diverse characters

Weird jealousy thing between Jules and Ailesse is something I could do without

Main love story isn't particularly convincing

Bastien seems like a side character even though he gets PoV

Sabine kind of immediately gave up on her values which was a bit odd.

Slight lack of world building information beyond the Bone Crier's themselves. I'd like to know more about the country they live in, etc. This could have happened during Bastien's chapters but instead they're almost entirely taken up with him thinking about either Ailesse or Jules or his father's death. His chapters honestly seemed unnecessary.

loved it from the start

I have a hard time liking a new book usually, but with this one I really enjoyed it from start to finish!

Okay

The performance was excellent, the cover art is beautiful, the story eh. I thought the start of the book was excellent, the premise had such promise and my mind was racing with possibilities..however I just didn’t like how the story unfolded. It probably is just me, but it just didn’t meet my expectations.

Just Ok

This has been on my TBR for a while and one of my most anticipated to get too. I love the book cover and the premise was promising. Well, unfortunately, it didn’t live up. It was just ok. It was kinda meh the whole way through. Maybe I would’ve liked it more if I read it instead of doing the audiobook. The male narrator was awful to listen to. Why did he talk like he was hiding in a basement the whole book? It was really off putting. Overall, was ok.

A deliciously French soap opera.

Beautiful worldbuilding, delicious romance, parents who arent all dead, and death around every corner. I was kept on my toes the entire time and found myself dreading the conclusion of this one. Fresh and inspired. Lovely tension and the stakes stayed high the entire time. My only negative comment was that the pacing wasnt as varied as I would like. Too fast for too long. I needed at times to take a breath and digest the things happening on page and never got one. A must- read. One of the best books of 2020 by far.