Title: Bones to the Wind
Author: Tatiana Obey
Genre: YA fantasy
I had the honor of editing this book, but my opinions are entirely honest. I’m hit or miss with YA fantasy. Some of it is just too much for me. But this book was really great. Obey does an excellent job of world-building, which is really difficult to do. She places her characters in their universe while also leading the reader through the maze of a brand new setting. World-building is another layer of writing that many don’t even bother with. When a book is set in our world, there’s no building that needs to be done. Maybe this is why fantasy is so hard for me. Sometimes the worlds just make no sense at all. Thankfully, this isn’t the case here. I loved the world, the characters, and the plot.
From Goodreads: Rasia is determined to destroy her old man’s record in the Forging, a trial each child must succeed to come of age. All Rasia needs to do is hunt down a gonda, hitch its tentacle ass to her windship, and haul it back home in record time. Easy. Or it would be if Rasia wasn’t stuck on the same team as Nico—a know-it-all, spoiled, grubworm who never does anything Rasia tells her to do.
Nico doesn’t care about Rasia’s egotistical dreams of glory. This is her brother’s last chance to pass the Forging or her father is going to banish him from the family. She needs to scour the desert to find whatever team the bones placed him on and help him kill a gonda before it kills him.
Too bad Nico and Rasia can’t get along to steer a windship straight.
BONES TO THE WIND is a coming-of-age sword and sorcery fantasy adventure. Action-packed and humorous, the novel includes strong female characters, LGBTQIA+ representation, and mature themes.
What I really loved about this book is that there’s no actual antagonist. Society itself is definitely fighting against the characters, but Rasia and Nico are both heroic and a mess. Both have good and bad traits. And they are perfect foils for each other. It’s hard to pick which one you want to cheer for because they are both equally loveable and frustrating. I wanted to claim into the book and knock their heads together sometimes because they are so stubborn. When I’m this engaged in a book, I know it’s one that will stick with me. I can’t wait for the second installment to see where this world goes next. This book is available now on Amazon, so please support this young indie author.
Pleasant Nights 