*Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review*
After mercenary Viv is badly injured while hunting the powerful necromancer Varine, she is sent to a quiet sea-side town of Murk and things are not quite what Viv expects. She becomes immersed in reading and the power of books through befriending a bookshop owner, Fern. The unlikely duo reinvigorate the fading and outdated bookshop into a bustling haven for bookworms. Along the way Viv becomes embroiled in a mystery that threatens her new found friends in Murk. Bookshops & Bonedust is a high fantasy novel that is filled with love, books, mystery and baked goods!
Review
The concept of the novel was fun and light-hearted with less action than I was expecting. Typically I expect high fantasy novels to be fast-paced with high intensity action, so it was interesting to read a slow high fantasy that allowed the characters to develop in a deeper way. The idea of Viv who is made for battle is helping Fern reinvigorate a book shop was a fascinating take on the stereotypical warrior trope.
I enjoyed Fern and Viv’s growing friendship and attempts to re-vamp the book shop, this dynamic was well-written and in my opinion was the back-bone to the novel. I think the romantic relationship between Viv and Maylee was weak and lacked moments of emotional intimacy and I couldn’t understand their connection. However, the characters individually were interesting to read about. Maylee was a well-rounded and designed character, her sweet personality and rough past contrasted well with Viv and showed what she could become if she laid down her swords.
The novel’s action with Varine was clever and her defeat leading to becoming trapped within a book was a clever nod to reading and characters written within books are therefore always trapped. However, the action was too quick and I didn’t feel there was lead-up or realisation to the reader at how much of a danger this one villain was to Viv and co. I liked Satchel and his character of initially seeming evil but in reality a light-hearted individual.
I understand this novel is a prequel to ‘Legends and Lattes’ and I haven’t read this series so I was unsure about this fantasy world and how the magic operated. I didn’t know if the different species of characters were prejudiced by other characters or a hierarchy. So this made it difficult to understand how the characters sat within this world, but that being said not having this knowledge didn’t greatly impact the plot or character development. The last half of the novel slowed down in pace, which made the reading a little difficult.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading about this cosy bookshop in Murk and its entourage. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is a fan of light-hearted fantasy. The characters were well developed and the vivid descriptions of Murk immerses the reader in a world of mystery, magic and friendship. The comedic scenes and off the cuff remarks from Fern and co made a light and easy read.
Bookshops & Bonedust is published on the 9 November 2023.
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