Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Review: Ivory And Bone

Ivory And Bone by Julie Eshbaugh
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: June 7th, 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Date Read: 5/17/16 to 5/21/16
384 pages
Rating: 


A prehistoric fantasy—with allusions to Pride and Prejudice.

Hunting, gathering, and keeping his family safe—that’s the life seventeen-year-old Kol knows. Then bold, enigmatic Mya arrives from the south with her family, and Kol is captivated. He wants her to like and trust him, but any hopes of impressing her are ruined when he makes a careless—and nearly grave—mistake. However, there’s something more to Mya’s cool disdain…a history wrought with loss that comes to light when another clan arrives. With them is Lo, an enemy from Mya’s past who Mya swears has ulterior motives.

As Kol gets to know Lo, tensions between Mya and Lo escalate until violence erupts. Faced with shattering losses, Kol is forced to question every person he’s trusted. One thing is for sure: this was a war that Mya or Lo—Kol doesn’t know which—had been planning all along.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes taken from ARC may or may not be in the published edition.

I am really hesitant to write this review. Really hesitant.


I guess you can say that I read this because of the hype. I honestly did not read the blurb carefully, all I saw was a prehistoric setting and that's what got me hooked. So I guess, my disclaimer is that I didn't know this would be solely focused on relationships (and that is totally my bad).

Kol is part of a clan, one that has a serious lack of women. They are on the constant lookout for other clans, so when another family makes their way up north for a visit, there's a huge celebration. And of course, Kol is captivated by "you", Mya, even though "you" kind of aren't. But then you are! Later. Oh and then there's this huge backstory between "your" clan and another clan, in which another girl named Lo wants revenge.


I promise there is more to that then the paragraph above. Maybe.

I'm really disappointed with how this turned out, sadly. First off, the novel is written in second person. I honestly did not mind it in the beginning, but I think after awhile, it started to get on my nerves. It did not help that this was the first published book that incorporated second person, so I just wasn't used to it. (Fun fact, I wrote a short story in high school that was in second person. It wasn't that good though hahahah).

But more importantly. Nothing happened. I was BORED. Kol meets Mya, clans go hunting for mammoth, saber tooth cat tries to eat everyone (if only this actually happened, spoiler, it did not), Kol visits Mya, Mya appears a lot, marriage drama. It really wasn't until 61% did the plot reveal itself, and by then, it just wasn't enough. The synopsis (which I finally read after I finished) does mention allusions to Pride and Prejudice. And it's true, I actually can see aspects of it in Ivory and Bone, but just on the surface.


On the other hand, how is this a prehistoric fantasy? I didn't even know this was classified as such, until I talked about the book with MC @ Blame It On The Books. At most, I could say it's alternate history, but this wasn't a fantasy at all? Maybe I am just too used to fantasy worlds being completely different from our own, whether it is historical or in the present.

I was really looking forward to Ivory and Bone, and I have myself to blame for not enjoying this. I guess this is a reminder that I should read book blurbs more often! (Although I love going in blind).
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