I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Bone Roots by Gabriela Houston Series: Standalone
Published by Angry Robot on 2023 October 10
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 320
Format: E-Arc
Source: Edelweiss
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
A tale of two mothers, each desperate to protect her child. But only one of them can succeed. And only one of them knows why.
---
The Bone Roots is a salvic-folklore inspired fantasy that explores how far a mother will go to protect her child…
It’s been 40 years since the Fox took Kada’s brother. Though she ran and kept herself hidden, she fears it may be stalking her again, this time to steal her daughter.
Every year, Vedma Kada gives thanks to the bone roots – those that belong to the child-bearing tree who gave Kada her desperately-wanted baby, Secha. Kada lives her life in service of the bone roots and the goddess Zemya, but they cannot keep her daughter safe. Not when Secha’s emerging powers, both mysterious and brutish, threaten to out her for who she truly is…
Meanwhile Sladyana, a rich noblewoman, has spent the last fifteen years searching for her missing daughter, Luba. She was snatched from their home by the Fox thief and Sladyana has heard nothing from her since. But the one who gave Sladyana her daughter has come within her grasp once again, and so has the secret of her daughter’s fate.
After finishing Bone Roots, the first thing that came to mind was “This was weird. Weird in a very good way.” It’s not your typical Disney fairy tale story but nonetheless, Bone Roots has all the feels of a good fairy tale story. The lore, the characters, the setting, and the plot were all perfect. I am not so familiar with Slavic folklore so there’s also the novelty when I dove into the book. Also, it was a very refreshing read on my part because the only love story involved here was that of two mothers trying their very best to protect their daughters.
At first, the plot of Bone Roots seemed a little simplistic and so-so but as you go along with the story, bone chilling revelations are dropped gradually that you just can’t help saying: “WTF. These women are straight up insane. Shit! So that’s what had happened in the past? Why oh why?” After reading so many fairy tales and their retelling during the previous years, I sincerely thought I that was already immune to all the plot twists lurking in each page. But surprise, Bone Roots extinguished such assumptions because it just perfectly delivered the right kind of twists at the right time. No info dumps, no verbose description of this and that… just whimsy story telling that makes you feel good, anxious, and excited all at the same time.
If you are already fed up with reading about princesses finding their princes or princes turning into frogs and beasts, I suggest to pick up Bone Roots now. And yes, be mind blown that fairy tales are not just limited to beautiful princesses finding and kissing their one true love in the end. Give Bone Roots a try and go crazy with its two leading characters. I kid you not.