Picture it. It's early in the morning on May, 2019.
I was sitting on my bed after pulling an all-nighter reading The Bone Charmer by Breena Shields. The ingenuity of the plot and the concept of two different timelines existing simultaneously made for an engrossing combination. What initially started as a bedtime reading session turned into an evening of bone scrying and dual realities where blood and bone can alter the course of your future or give you a grisly picture of your life's ending. The author's imagination and ability to convey her story with familiarity, and originality, made The Bone Charmer one of my favorite reads from 2019 and I couldn't wait to see where the story would lead next.
Flash forward to May, 2020 and - after a long awaited year - I was elated to have the chance to read a copy of The Bone Charmer's sequel, The Bone Thief. This time around though, I made sure to have my provisions of comfort ready (cup of tea? check) to thoroughly immerse myself into the life of Saskia, our main protagonist. The Bone Thief picked up right at the juncture of realities that The Bone Charmer left off on and I was immediately drawn back into the world of Kastelia and the humming bones in Ivory Hall.
There was a difference though.
In her latest work, Shields brought an added narrative flourish that proved to be a powerful force throughout the book. The details of the world were no longer faint black and white lines, but they were instead painted with Leiden's colorful City of Glass. Saskia's emotional range from: longing for her family, quest for revenge, and wavering gaze towards the future, allowed readers to find themselves directly into Saskia's headspace and walk the branching paths of the past, present, and future alongside her.
There was no cardinal direction to steer Saskia towards a definite future, but she was able channel the guidance of her mother, grandmother, and the support of her friends to gather the strength to listen to her own inner voice. By doing so, Shields wove together a tale where a brave young heroine embarks upon her life's trails with a compass of courage.
Although revenge seeps into Saskia's very bones and her grief manifests the extent of her powers as a Bone Charmer, Shields demonstrates through Saskia that sorrow and rage are a combination that narrows our futures and navigates us towards dark paths. In the process of Saskia's journey, her honed powers allow us to peek behind the curtain of her tormentor's past and, instead of seeing a life tainted in villainous deeds, we see the duality of man and how the branches paths of life lead to alternate versions of ourselves and our circumstances. Like its predecessor, The Bone Thief explored the great extent of choice and how we are defined and altered by every action we choose. Because of this, the future comprises of fluid forks along life's passages and we see through Saskia's eyes that these infinite possibilities can enable one to unlock a greater self that can sometimes be lost by a convergence of actions.
Can you feel a hum in your bones? Have your eyes began to wander to the life of The Bone Charmer that leads us to the hand of The Bone Thief?
It's time for you to accept an invitation to Midwood's kenning.
BOOK INFORMATION
The Bone Thief (The Bone Charmer #2)
by Breeana Shields Publisher: Page Street Kids Release Date: May 26th 2020
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
“I was absolutely swept away by the world of The Bone Charmer.” – Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Three Dark Crowns series
A deft exploration of the weight of grief and cost of revenge, Breeana Shields’s Bone Charmer duology reaches its spine-tingling conclusion in this high-octane fantasy-thriller.
Saskia returns to Ivory Hall to train in bone magic, determined to stop Latham from gaining the power of all three Sights—past, present, and future. But danger lurks within the fortress’s marrow. Trials are underway for the apprentices, and the tasks feel specifically engineered to torment Saskia, which is exactly what Latham wants.
As she grows increasingly more suspicious, her thirst for revenge becomes all-consuming. Together with the friends she can trust and the boy she loved in another lifetime, Saskia traces clues from Latham’s past to determine what he’ll do next. Their search leads them across Kastelia and brings them to a workshop housing a vast collection of horrors, including the bones Latham stole from Gran, and the knowledge that the future isn’t all that’s in jeopardy—but the past as well.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Breeana Shields is an author of fantasy novels for teens including The Bone Charmer, The Bone Thief, Poison’s Kiss, and Poison’s Cage.
When she’s not writing, Breeana loves reading, traveling, and playing board games with her extremely competitive family. She lives near Washington D.C. with her husband, her three children, and two adorable, but spoiled dogs.
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TOUR SCHEDULE
Prize: Win a copy of
THE BONE THIEF by Breeana Shields
(US/CAN Only)
Starts: May 20th 2020
Ends: June 3rd 2020
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