Bonesmith

Written by Nicki Pau Preto

Narrated by Molly Hanson

“A fascinating world, absolutely delightful characters, and enemies-to-loves romance—this book is one readers will devour before begging for more.” —Tricia Levenseller, New York Times bestselling author of Blade of Secrets

Gideon the Ninth meets the Game of Thrones White Walkers in this dark, “swiftly paced” (Publishers Weekly) young adult fantasy about a disgraced ghost-fighting warrior who must journey into a haunted wasteland to rescue a kidnapped prince.

Ready your blade. Defeat the undead.

In the Dominions, the dead linger, violent and unpredictable, unless a bonesmith severs the ghost from its earthly remains. For bonesmith Wren, becoming a valkyr—a ghost-fighting warrior—is a chance to solidify her place in the noble House of Bone and impress her frequently absent father. But when sabotage causes Wren to fail her qualifying trial, she is banished to the Border Wall, the last line of defense against a wasteland called the Breach where the vicious dead roam unchecked.

Determined to reclaim her family’s respect, Wren gets her chance when a House of Gold prince is kidnapped and taken beyond the Wall. To prove she has what it takes to be a valkyr, Wren vows to cross the Breach and rescue the prince. But to do so, she’s forced into an uneasy alliance with one of the kidnappers—a fierce ironsmith called Julian from the exiled House of Iron, the very people who caused the Breach in the first place…and the House of Bone’s sworn enemy.

As they travel, Wren and Julian spend as much time fighting each other as they do the undead, but when they discover there’s more behind the kidnapping than either of them knew, they’ll need to work together to combat the real danger: a dark alliance that is brewing between the living and the undead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Jul 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781797160696

Nicki Pau Preto

Nicki Pau Preto is a fantasy author living just outside Toronto—though her dislike of hockey, snow, and geese makes her the worst Canadian in the country. She studied art and art history in university and worked as a graphic designer before becoming a full-time writer. She is the author of the Crown of Feathers trilogy and the House of the Dead Duology, and you can find her online at NickiPauPreto.com.

Reviews for Bonesmith

[juliana dalmaso · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great performance by the narrator! The story also was so much fun

[AliveInBooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was amazing! From the start, Bonesmith kicks off with betrayal setting the tone for the entire book. This has everything you would want from an epic fantasy, at least in a YA fantasy novel. A daring rescue, fascinating magic system, political intrigue, a headstrong female MC, packed full of action, enemies-to-lovers vibes, and so many twists it'll make your head spin. I devoured Bonesmith.

I will say this felt like an Older YA geared more toward sixteen and up and one of the best YA novels I've read in a while. I'm so mad at myself for not reading this sooner.

[Weronika Pogorecka · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great storytelling and unique magical world with interesting characters, looking forward to the conclusion in book 2!

[Charity · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was all very predictable, but I very much enjoyed it .

[Tina · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is so good! I just happened to come across it browsing the app, and took a chance. I’m so glad i did! Can’t wait for the next book in this duology!
People compare it to a VERY popular book. That one I didn’t like. This one I loved!
First five-star read of the year for me!

[Kit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

pretty fun read! lighter fantasy without cheesiness or eyerolling as I would expect in many young adult books

[Billie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bonesmith
by Nicki Pau Preto
High Fantasy YA
Scribd Audio
Ages: 16+

Wren dreams of becoming a Valkyr, a warrior who uses her skills to fight ghosts and she wants to beat the qualifying trial spectacularly, but she is betrayed and instead loses spectacularly. For shaming her noble house, House of Bone, her grandmother banishes her to the Border Wall, where the dead roam a wasteland called the Breach.

There she can not prove her worth because while the Breach had once been active, it is no longer, but when the third prince of the House of Gold arrives to inspect the Wall, he is kidnapped and now Wren has the chance to prove herself.

But on the other side of the Breach, Wren discovers that there is more going on and that not all the stories she was told were truthful.


The story started off great but then slowed down with pages of info dumps right in the middle of something that was going on. For me that much at one time interrupted the flow and when the story came back, I had to stop and think of what was going on before the dump.

At first, I didn't care much for Wren, and in a way felt she deserved the betrayal, but at the same time felt that her grandmother's punishment was way off, but Wren should have stood up for herself better.

As for Julian and Leo, the other two MCs, I liked Leo more because he had a sense of humor and I felt that meshed with Wren a lot better than Julian, he, on the other hand, came across like the typical love interest stereotype, but he did have uniqueness to his character. And even though this book is labeled as romance, that's an exaggeration. Yes, it's hinted at and something was starting, but it never left that point.

While the twists were good, I had already guessed the major one, but I still liked the story. The characters and plot were well developed and while it's mostly suitable for readers over sixteen because of language, violence, and minor romantic innuendos, I could see mature younger readers also liking this story.

4 Stars