Week 46 Review: The Bones of Ruin

From Goodreads:

An African tightrope walker who can't die gets embroiled in a secret society's deadly gladiatorial tournament in this thrilling historical fantasy set in an alternate 1880s London, perfect for fans of The Last Magician and The Gilded Wolves.

As an African tightrope dancer in Victorian London, Iris is used to being strange. She is certainly a strange sight for leering British audiences always eager for the spectacle of colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret that even "strange" doesn’t capture…​

She cannot die.

Haunted by her unnatural power and with no memories of her past, Iris is obsessed with discovering who she is. But that mission gets more complicated when she meets the dark and alluring Adam Temple, a member of a mysterious order called the Enlightenment Committee. Adam seems to know much more about her than he lets on, and he shares with her a terrifying revelation: the world is ending, and the Committee will decide who lives…and who doesn't.

To help them choose a leader for the upcoming apocalypse, the Committee is holding the Tournament of Freaks, a macabre competition made up of vicious fighters with fantastical abilities. Adam wants Iris to be his champion, and in return he promises her the one thing she wants most: the truth about who she really is.

If Iris wants to learn about her shadowy past, she has no choice but to fight. But the further she gets in the grisly tournament, the more she begins to remember—and the more she wonders if the truth is something best left forgotten. 

My Review:
This was a fantastic story! That prologue really set up the intrigue, and I just needed to know what the heck was going on! And then we met Iris, and her story was captivating, I wanted to know her past and her secrets, same as she did! I just loved this story!

I enjoyed getting to know these characters and this world, though there were some points where I was just infuriated. Like that auction scene. And overall the way people of colour were treated in this book was about as horrible as you can expect. That was just so awful, and that they had to go through that was just terrible! 

Throughout, Iris wants answers, of her past, and the memories that she's lost. And Adam knows, but has decided that going through this tournament is the best way for her to gradually get them back. But that was annoying, the way he dealt with that whole situation. But those answers? Wow were they fantastic! 

I loved the gang of characters that we meet, from Iris who only has a few years of memory, her partner Jinn, who has a few secrets of his own. Max, who can't seem to take anything seriously. Plus the romance, though I was a bit nervous about that, some poor decisions were made, and there were some reveals that I can't wait to see where it goes from there!

The way things ended, I'm really excited to see where the sequel goes from here! The building blocks were placed in this book, and I can't wait to see what is going to be made of them, and if things are going to go the way that Adam was thinking they're going to! 

This was such a fantastic read, and I can't wait to see where the series goes from here! 

Author: Sarah Raughley
Series: The Bones of Ruin #1
Read: November 16th, 2021
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded really great, and it's a Historical Fiction 2021 Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2021 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: September 7th 2021

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars