cry of metal & bone

4 stars

Once again we are treated with an exciting, action-packed book about the struggle of Elsira and Lagrimar, two nations that have been at war for centuries. The book starts fast and doesn’t slow down until the satisfying cliffhanger. (I mistakenly thought this was the last book in the series, but no, we will be treated to at least one more book!)

It’s been six weeks since the Mantle fell and Lagrimar refugees are fleeing their barren land and flooding into Elsira looking for a better life. Despite the Goddess wanting the countries to unite into one country as it once was, a faction of citizens in Elsira are dead set against Lagrimar citizens living in their country. This is the over arching focus of this book, with a few side story lines sprinkled throughout.

Between helping the new King and Queen set up their government, and his “errands” for the Goddess, Darvyn, the Shadow Fox, searches for his love Kyara, the Poison Flame. She was captured at the end of the last book by a group of people that want to use her Neathersong to power their inventions. Two characters that also play a big part in the book are Lizvette and Tai. Lizvette is a disgraced socialite who was charged with treason, along with her father. She ventures on a journey for redemption. Tai is a foreign smuggler that is determined to keep a promise he made to a dead man.

Darvyn, Tai and Lizvetter are sent on a mission by the King and Queen to try to find Lizvette’s father and bring him to justice. Darvyn and Tai both have secret missions to also carry out. Meanwhile, a covert investigation is undertaken in Elsira to root out the group that wants to carve out a northern part of Elsira and force the refugees to live there.

This book is fast-paced and thankfully doesn’t lag in the middle. We discover more information about the Goddess and her motives, and Kyara learns more about her power and how to harness it. This book is character driven and has interesting ones that I could get invested in. The villains are rather one note and their motives aren’t clearly explained, but based on how the book ended, we may get into that more in the next book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read the next one. I recommend you get into this series. It’s creative, full of action and has interesting characters.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.