Bravelands #3: Blood and Bone

Sad book. Favorite character dies. Great shipping!

My 10 year old loved the entire series. He flew through each one and loved them. Great stories.

My son loves this series. Would highly recommend.

I’ll admit that I didn’t like the previous book. However, after several months, the summary on the front flap seemed interesting. And it was at times.

First off, I have to mention Thorn and Nut. Here are two former enemies forced to work together when their whole troop wants them dead. What moves me is knowing even though Nut’s been a bully, he doesn’t deserve to be brutalized for trying to protect the Starleaf. And I feel Thorn knows the same thing due to how much he does to help him.

Next up is the scene where Sky revealed her mission. I’ll admit I wasn’t moved by this scene at all, though. Not because I didn’t like Moon (praised him in my previous review), I felt his death was just to show how evil Titan is. In other words, it was contrived. However, I’m glad that her herd believed her when she came forward about the Great Spirit. That’s a real step up from the first book.

Speaking of herds, I find so heartwarming that so many animals apologized to Sky then joined her to form the Great Herd. It’s clear they understood under that living under Stinger’s tyranny was going to kill them anyway. For instance, a one impala complained that their leader was killed for refusing to abide by the new boundaries.

Of course, I can’t mention the Great Herd without mentioning the great battle at the end. Granted, they got little attention. However, they opened the way for the main protagonists’ struggles against Titan and Stinger. And as much as it was a page turner, I feel the aftermath held a weak plot twist. It’s just that lions aren’t known for being unpredictable fathers with unrelated cubs. That’s because lionesses won’t breed unless their cubs aren’t around.

On another note, to be fair, I’ll forgive the first two surprise rescues because the main protagonists used to be friends. And Valor was being held captive in Titanpride. However, I was so ready to write the third one as a deus ex machina until it was explained that Clean Spitefur’s group lead the attack.

All that said, this did start out a little slow. However, it soon picked up, and turned out to be a real page turner.
It should be noted that the plot twist could’ve been worked on and Valor has yet to live up to her name in the fullest. (A few heroic deeds doesn't overshadow plenty of snide remarks.) Still, there are three more novels in this series so, there’s hope yet. And I have a feeling that Sky and Rock are going to get together just because they’ve had adventures together.