A review by kaitie_reads
The Road of Bones by Demi Winters

adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

๐Ÿ–ค Strong Feminist Themes 
โš”๏ธ Viking Romantasy 
๐Ÿ–ค Slow Burn 
โš”๏ธ Betrayal and Redemption
๐Ÿ–ค Very Unique Feel 

I really enjoyed this first book in the Ashen Series, and I'm already so invested in this 5-book(!!) series. 

This story follows Silla, a woman who always seems to be on the run with her father and protector in a world dominated by men. I was hooked from the very first chapter. Demi Winters picks us up and drops us right into this cutthroat and cruel world, where the kingdom sentences people [Galdra] to death by stoning for possessing magic-wielding abilities. 

You can feel the craft that the author has layered into the story. It's meticulous. It feels so well-researched and constructed layer by layer. It's unpredictable and unputdownable. There is a little bit of romance that had me swooning (and a hint of spice as well), there are strong female characters, and there is a lot at stake for our FMC. While I did find Silla slightly irritating at times, she comes by it naturally, as she has been very sheltered from the world for much of her life. 

I did find at times I was a little confused because there are many Old Norse words, there are quite a few nicknames and people to follow, and there are alternating POVs, but I'm now working on the sequel and with the groundwork already laid, finding it easy to follow. This is fantasy-forward romantasy, so while the romance is present, the fantasy side is much heavier in this first installment, and there is a prevalent historical vibe as well. 

This is definitely a must-read, and I'm feeling so excited about this series as a whole.

~

๐“˜ ๐”€๐“ช๐“ท๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ญ ๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐“ผ๐“ฎ๐“ฎ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ถ๐“ธ๐“ถ๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ฝ ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“ต๐“ฒ๐”ƒ๐“ฎ๐“ญ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ฝ ๐“ฎ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐”‚๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ญ ๐“ญ๐“ธ๐“ท๐“ฎ ๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐“ถ๐“ฎโ€”๐“ฎ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐”‚ ๐“ผ๐“ต๐“ช๐“น, ๐“ฎ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐”‚ ๐“น๐“พ๐“ท๐“ฌ๐“ฑ, ๐“ฎ๐“ฟ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐”‚ ๐“ด๐“ฒ๐“ฌ๐“ดโ€”๐”€๐“ช๐“ผ ๐“ด๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ญ๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ. ๐“˜๐“ฝ ๐“ซ๐“พ๐“ฒ๐“ต๐“ฝ ๐“ถ๐“ฎ ๐“พ๐“น ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐“ช ๐“ป๐“ช๐“ฐ๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐”€๐“ฒ๐“ต๐“ญ๐“ฏ๐“ฒ๐“ป๐“ฎ, ๐“ช๐“ท๐“ญ ๐“ท๐“ธ๐”€ ๐“ฒ๐“ฝ ๐”€๐“ช๐“ผ ๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ถ๐“ฎ ๐“ฏ๐“ธ๐“ป ๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ถ ๐“ฝ๐“ธ ๐“ซ๐“พ๐“ป๐“ท.

๐“—๐“ฎ ๐”€๐“ช๐“ผ ๐“ณ๐“พ๐“ผ๐“ฝ ๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ด๐“ฎ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ผ๐“ฝ ๐“ธ๐“ฏ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ถ, ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐“ผ๐“ฎ ๐”€๐“ฑ๐“ธ ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐“พ๐“ฐ๐“ฑ๐“ฝ ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ฐ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ ๐”€๐“ช๐“ผ ๐“ผ๐“ฒ๐“ถ๐“น๐“ต๐”‚ ๐“ช ๐“ถ๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“ผ๐“พ๐“ป๐“ฎ ๐“ธ๐“ฏ ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐”€ ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ป๐“ญ ๐”‚๐“ธ๐“พ ๐“ผ๐”€๐“พ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐”‚๐“ธ๐“พ๐“ป ๐“ผ๐”€๐“ธ๐“ป๐“ญ. ๐“—๐“ฎ ๐“พ๐“ท๐“ญ๐“ฎ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ผ๐“ฝ๐“ฒ๐“ถ๐“ช๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ญ ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ป ๐“ป๐“ฎ๐“ผ๐“ฒ๐“ต๐“ฒ๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ฌ๐“ฎ. ๐“—๐“ฎ ๐“ฎ๐“บ๐“พ๐“ช๐“ฝ๐“ฎ๐“ญ ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ป ๐“ท๐“ฒ๐“ฌ๐“ฎ๐“ท๐“ฎ๐“ผ๐“ผ ๐”€๐“ฒ๐“ฝ๐“ฑ ๐”€๐“ฎ๐“ช๐“ด๐“ท๐“ฎ๐“ผ๐“ผ. โ€œ๐“ฃ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ท ๐”€๐“ฎ ๐“ผ๐“ฑ๐“ช๐“ต๐“ต ๐“ผ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐”€ ๐“ฑ๐“ฒ๐“ถ ๐“ณ๐“พ๐“ผ๐“ฝ ๐“ฑ๐“ธ๐”€ ๐”€๐“ป๐“ธ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ ๐“ฒ๐“ผ,โ€ ๐“ฐ๐“ป๐“ธ๐”€๐“ต๐“ฎ๐“ญ ๐“ข๐“ฒ๐“ต๐“ต๐“ช, ๐“ฝ๐“พ๐“ป๐“ท๐“ฒ๐“ท๐“ฐ ๐“ธ๐“ท ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ป ๐“ฑ๐“ฎ๐“ฎ๐“ต.