Book Title: Bone Crier's Moon (Bone Grace #1)
Author: Kathryn Purdie
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Description from Goodreads:

Bone ​Criers have a sacred duty. They alone can keep the dead from preying on the living. But their power to ferry the spirits of the dead into goddess Elara’s Night Heavens or Tyrus’s Underworld comes from sacrifice. The gods demand a promise of dedication. And that promise comes at the cost of the Bone Criers’ one true love.

Ailesse has been prepared since birth to become the matriarch of the Bone Criers, a mysterious famille of women who use strengths drawn from animal bones to ferry dead souls. But first she must complete her rite of passage and kill the boy she’s also destined to love.

Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. Yet when he finally captures one, his vengeance will have to wait. Ailesse’s ritual has begun and now their fates are entwined—in life and in death.

Sabine has never had the stomach for the Bone Criers’ work. But when her best friend Ailesse is taken captive, Sabine will do whatever it takes to save her, even if it means defying their traditions—and their matriarch—to break the bond between Ailesse and Bastien. Before they all die.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars 

I found the synopsis of this book immediately intriguing, my interest piqued by the unique folklore and French setting, along with the promise of strong female friendships. However, the premise and characters fell completely flat from the very first chapter through the end of the story that I unwillingly pushed myself through.

The crux of the issue is a lack of believability stemming from underdeveloped characters, a tendency to tell rather than show, and an unrealistic plot. Let’s start with the characters. The chapters alternate between three points of view: Ailesse, Sabine, and Sebastian. Ailesse is… fine? I guess? She’s a nothing character to me, which isn’t great for a protagonist. Sabine isn’t any better, so I don’t really care about either of them or their friendship.

Sebastian, Ailesse’s potential “soul mate,” doesn’t seem at all like a real person. Like I’m supposed to believe this boy, who tragically lost his father at a young age, is capable of murdering a sixteen-year-old girl who ISN’T directly responsible for his father’s death? Out of some convoluted sense of vengeance? Who does that?

Meanwhile, Ailesse is also trying to murder Sebastian because that’s how being a Bone Crier works and this book is all murder, all the time. The fact that Ailesse doesn’t get why Sebastian doesn’t want to be murdered defies belief. Girl, would you be down if the roles were reversed? It’s like she expects him to just stand still real quick while she stabs him. She’s just trying to win her mom’s approval, after all. Shouldn’t Sebastian, like, get that?

Now look, generally I’m all about a little stabby stabby. Celeana Sardothien is one of my personal heroes. But the vibes here are all wrong. Ailesse and Sabine are raised in this cult and expected to start small by killing animals (which is like a huge indicator of future violent tendencies in an adult, by the way, and not in a “sexy magic” way) before working up to killing their human soul mates as some sort of balance for getting magic in the first place. It’s all just literally insane. Sabine is apparently the only Ferrier to question their ways and rituals. Everyone’s okay with all this murder of innocents??? None of this folklore makes any sense!

The relationships between characters aren’t developed well or in a believable manner. I couldn’t care less about the Ailesse and Sebastian romance, nor do I buy their insta-love connection (which, judging by the ending, can’t even be chalked up to the soul mate thing). Ailesse’s fraught relationship with her mother is comical. Every time her mom shows up inexplicably hating Ailesse to the point of letting her die… I’m just like, WHAT? Really? Why are you such a bad mom? What is going on with these people?

I honestly hated the first half of this book and pushed myself through the second half in an effort to understand what was supposed to happen, what the climax and resolution would be. I still don’t get it. So little happens throughout the middle of the story, then there’s this big convoluted fight scene at the end that I can barely follow. There are no good answers to the many, many questions the characters and plot inspire. This one is a huge miss for me.