Review: Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop

Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop
Series: The Others #5
Published by ROC on 2017-03-07
Length: 490 pages
Reviewing eBook from My Book Shelf
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2017 New Release Challenge

New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop returns to her world of the Others, as humans struggle to survive in the shadow of shapeshifters and vampires far more powerful than themselves…

After a human uprising was brutally put down by the Elders—a primitive and lethal form of the Others—the few cities left under human control are far-flung. And the people within them now know to fear the no-man’s-land beyond their borders—and the darkness…

As some communities struggle to rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard has emerged relatively unscathed, though Simon Wolfgard, its wolf shifter leader, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn must work with the human pack to maintain the fragile peace. But all their efforts are threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery’s shady brother arrives, looking for a free ride and easy pickings.

With the humans on guard against one of their own, tensions rise, drawing the attention of the Elders, who are curious about the effect such an insignificant predator can have on a pack. But Meg knows the dangers, for she has seen in the cards how it will all end—with her standing beside a grave.

Well….I don’t even know where to begin.

I was so excited to read Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop. I mean seriously guys, I was super excited. I devoured the first part of the series. I loved the off-beat humor, Simon and Meg, the Courtyard….all of it. I had extremely high hopes for the ending of the series, but y’all….it was SO boring! Almost 500 pages and really I can’t tell you what the plot was, it moved so slowly.

The premise of Etched in Bone is that the Elders, the big scary Others who even the scary ones living in the Courtyard are scared of, come to observe the humans’ interaction with the Others of the Lakeside Courtyard. They’ve come to see how much human to keep and which ones to exterminate. When I realized that’s what they were coming to do, to determine if humans were worth saving or if they should keep them on the bottom of the food chain, I was thinking that I was going to be reading an exciting, unputdownable read. I was wrong. Instead it caused all kinds of problems and the plot dragged.

The biggest issue with the book though came in the form of its villain, Monty’s brother Take everything cliché about bad men and you have Monty’s brother. He’s a thug, honestly I don’t see how he and Monty can even be related. He takes everything in life for granted and has his hand stuck out for more. He thinks everything bad that’s happened to him isn’t his fault but someone else’s. He thinks he deserves a free ride. And don’t get me started on the things he says about and TO the Others. I’m surprised they didn’t rip his head off, but alas the Elders wanted to observe how this human was bad and the other humans were good and how this bad human could cause such destruction.

And then there is Meg and Simon. I have loved these two from book one, but their romance isn’t what I expected it to be. Meg is this fragile, delicate girl and Simon is the alpha male. The dynamic between these two was something I enjoyed at the beginning of the series, but there’s been little to no growth in their relationship. Five books and I thought….no I hoped, there would be progress, but instead it’s more of the same.

via GIPHY

To say I was disappointed in the ending of this series is probably an understatement. Etched in Bone was long, drawn out and not at all what I wanted after investing so much time in the series. Regardless, the off beat humor, the naive Meg, and the over-bearing protective Simon still hold a place in my heart. The spinoff series that comes out next year though….I’m on the fence about reading it now. I feel like the first part of this book was setting that series up rather than concluding the story for these characters which left a bad taste in my mouth for the next part of The Others. If you are a fan of the series, I highly recommend you read and judge this book for yourself. If you enjoy paranormal, urban fantasy with a touch of romance, I suggest you read the series from the start!

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