Is Bone Crier’s Dawn (Bone Crier’s Moon #2) by Kathryn Purdie a PERFECT SEQUEL?

Is Bone Crier’s Dawn (Bone Crier’s Moon #2) by Kathryn Purdie a PERFECT SEQUEL?Bone Crier's Dawn by Kathryn Purdie
Narrator: Fiona Hardingham, Alex Wyndham, Billie Fulford-Brown
Series: Bone Grace #2
Published by HarperCollins
Published on 30 March 2021
Genres: Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Magic, Young Adult
Format: Audiobook
Source: my local library
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RRP: $19.99
5 Stars

Love is a matter of life and death.

Bone Criers have been ferrying the dead into the afterlife for centuries, a dangerous duty only possible with the powers they gain from sacrificing their amourés the men destined to love them and die. But Bone Criers Ailesse and Sabine—along with Ailesse’s love, Bastien—are working to chart their own course and rewrite the rules of the afterlife. If they don’t break the soul between Ailesse and her amouré, she could die—just as Bastien’s father did.

Sabine struggles to maintain her authority as matrone of her famille—the role always destined for her sister—even as she fights to control the violent jackal power within her.

Bastien is faced with a new dilemma as the spirits of the Underworld threaten the souls of his friends—and his father.
Ailesse attempts to resist her mother’s siren song as she’s drawn into her own version of the Underworld. How will she save her friends once she’s cut off from their world?

This pulse-pounding follow-up to Bone Crier’s Moon is a story of love, sisterhood, and determination as three friends find the courage and power to shatter the boundary between the living and the dead.

I don’t know what to say about this book that I didn’t already say about its predecessor, Bone Crier’s Moon.

I absolutely loved it.

The conflicts were all so wonderfully customised to the characters, the characters were all beautiful and I would die for them with excellent relationship development, and even the romances were really cool in that one of them cooled off and one of them heated up. I loved how it handled the several love triangles with grace and compassion.

I especially loved how the author wrote this whole ‘magical soul mate’ amoree thing and then actively tried to dismantle her own worldbuilding. I loved what that commentary said about instalove or ‘fated mates’ vs genuine connection.

I’m not going to go into this, but I do believe soul mates are different to fated mates, so that’s why I’m okay with ‘fated mates’ not being the best or only form of love, and for people to fight for different kinds of love.

I loved how the two female leads found their own identities in spite of being groomed for certain roles in life.

I loved the progression of the villain and the scooby-ness of the gang coming together and working as a team. I think I loved it more because of the character that ultimately grew into the villain. I didn’t see it coming in book 1, but I think I may have a weakness for this kind of villain.

What is there not to love? I feel like this was nonstop action, adventure, romance, and trying to kill or rescue each other.

True, maybe some people might find the first half of the book a bi slower paced, but I really loved Sabine and Bastien’s determination to rescue Ailess, so I found it hugely enjoyable to watch them go to extremes to save their loved one.

And yes, everyone was suitably dramatic and wholly invested in their goals, which I really liked, and I didn’t mind so much because most of the characters were teenagers and when are teens ever reasonable? I WANTED the drama. I wanted the conflict. A book without conflict is boring. Having them care about their goal made me care about it.

And the stakes in this were so high! It felt like in the first book it was just the will-they won’t-they of Bastien and Ailess needing to kill each other. In this, the team were literally trying to save the world. I loved how the author made the whole plot about this fucked up worldbuilding! Make everything terrible and then make everyone fight to fix it. Wonderful! I think I liked it so much because I was invested in this world.

I haven’t said anything about the audiobook narrators because they were just perfect, and at least this time there was no weird quality issues with rerecordings.

Although I kind of want a third book just because I want to prolong my stay in this world, I also appreciate its beauty in finishing as a duology. I just want to live in this world and be friends with these people. I feel personally victimised that this is fiction. I am genuinely going to miss these motherfuckers.

Nemo
Nemo

About Nemo

A lover of kittens and all things sparkly, Nemo has a degree in English Literature and specialises in reviewing contemporary, paranormal, mystery/thriller, historical, sci-fi and fantasy Young Adult fiction. She is especially drawn to novels about princesses, strong female friendships, magical powers, and assassins.

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