This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase using that link, a small commission is made from the sale. There are no additional costs to you.
Fire and Bone by Rachel A. MarksOtherborn #1
Published by Skyscape on February 20, 2018
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Young Adult
Format: eBook
“Gossip Girl meets Percy Jackson in the glitz and grit of L.A...."
In Hollywood’s underworld of demigods, druids, and ancient bonds, one girl has a dangerous future.
Sage is eighteen, down on her luck, and struggling to survive on the streets of Los Angeles. Everything changes the night she’s invited to a party — one that turns out to be a trap.
Thrust into a magical world hidden within the City of Angels, Sage discovers that she’s the daughter of a Celtic goddess, with powers that are only in their infancy. Now that she is of age, she’s asked to pledge her service to one of the five deities, all keen on winning her favor by any means possible. She has to admit that she’s tempted — especially when this new life comes with spells, Hollywood glam, and a bodyguard with secrets of his own. Not to mention a prince whose proposal could boost her rank in the Otherworld.
As loyalties shift, and as the two men vie for her attention, Sage tries to figure out who to trust in a realm she doesn’t understand. One thing's for sure: the trap she’s in has bigger claws than she thought. And it’s going to take a lot more than magic for this Celtic demigoddess to make it out alive.
A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.
I can’t tell if I’m actually disappointed with Fire and Bone or if I feel disappointed with the book.
I started Rachel A. Marks’s new book right after I finished The Heart Forger, and I was very much ruined for other books at the moment in time because Rin Chupeco’s book was that good.
Fire and Bone is the first novel in Marks’s Otherborn series, which is based on Celtic mythology and set in modern-day Los Angeles. The story follows Sage, who struggles to live on her own in the streets and has the urge to burn things until she finds out she is the daughter of a Celtic goddess.
Sage is very independent – we’ve got the kid goes through a rough childhood and gets shifted around from foster home to foster home until they say, “Screw it!” and go off on their own (because who has time for rough homes?) trope. The one friend in her life is Ziggy, at least until she is plucked into the Otherworld where she eventually has to pledge her allegiance to one of the five main deities, known as houses.
I’m a huge fan of books that focus on character, plot and action, so Fire and Bone, being the first in a series, won’t be a novel that I will enjoy as much compared to my reactions when (and if because so many books) I read the sequels. This novel is more of a setup – there is a lot of information about the world (though certainly not an information overload) that is revealed as Sage navigates the Otherworld and is getting attention from her bodyguard and a prince. She also tries to uncover the past that is revealed to her through dreams.
There’s no surprise that there seems to be a love triangle of sorts that will most likely reveal itself in future novels. The interactions between Kieran, Faelan and Sage are telltale signs that there is probably going to be one, though I could be wrong. Assuming this will be a love triangle though, I’m not shipping any of them and feel it is out of place to the overall plot of the story.
I love the side characters Marks introduces to us in Fire and Bone. It was hard to like the characters early on, but as I continued reading the book, some of the characters had hilarious lines. I’m curious how the characters will develop in book two, so character development will be one of the things I’ll be looking forward to.
Along with character development, I’m looking forward to how the plot will unfold. While a major plot point was predictable, I did not guess the ending of the story, and I want to KNOW what happens next. If anything, Otherborn #2 will tear my heart to pieces and ruin me for whatever book is read next like The Heart Forger did.
Sophia started blogging in February 2012 for the hell of it and is surprisingly still around. She has a GIF for nearly everything, probably listens to too much K-Pop and is generally in an existential crisis of sorts (she's trying her best). More of her bookish reviews and K-Pop Roundups can be found at The Arts STL.
If you enjoy her posts or found them helpful, consider tipping on KoFi!