Yashima reviewed Etched In Bone by Anne Bishop (The others series)
Review of 'Etched In Bone' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This wasn't the strongest in the series. It felt "smaller" in scope somehow than for example [b: Marked in Flesh|22062202|Marked in Flesh (The Others, #4)|Anne Bishop|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1438874868s/22062202.jpg|41392342] which had this epic showdown with the Elders. Yes, the Elders are watching and what happens at the courtyard will be a template for how Humans are dealt with everywhere but we don't get to see any examples of this in this book.
Vlad stared at Simon . “ Meg told the Elders they were . . . ”
“ Bad puppies , ” Simon finished . “ Yeah . ”
A minute passed before Vlad said , “ Why ? ”
“ They didn’t say ‘ please ’ when they asked for cookies . ”
“ I don’t know what to say . ” Simon scratched behind an ear that was now Wolf - shaped and furry . “ That’s okay . Meg …
This wasn't the strongest in the series. It felt "smaller" in scope somehow than for example [b: Marked in Flesh|22062202|Marked in Flesh (The Others, #4)|Anne Bishop|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1438874868s/22062202.jpg|41392342] which had this epic showdown with the Elders. Yes, the Elders are watching and what happens at the courtyard will be a template for how Humans are dealt with everywhere but we don't get to see any examples of this in this book.
Vlad stared at Simon . “ Meg told the Elders they were . . . ”
“ Bad puppies , ” Simon finished . “ Yeah . ”
A minute passed before Vlad said , “ Why ? ”
“ They didn’t say ‘ please ’ when they asked for cookies . ”
“ I don’t know what to say . ” Simon scratched behind an ear that was now Wolf - shaped and furry . “ That’s okay . Meg said plenty for all of us . ”
Bishop, Anne. Etched in Bone (A Novel of the Others) (p. 209). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Mostly this book has a lot of conclusions to different aspects of the series.
Meg and Simon are starting to realize they are not just friends and they actually kiss. So this brings the tension of their long long romance to an end. Although that might mean a continuation of a trend of misunderstandings... which may be fun to read or not.
There's a fun scene somewhere at the start where the Others play chase with Monty because he "accidentally" agrees to play. But mostly the Others have figured out so much of how the Human Pack behaves that this interesting part of the series also seems to slowly come to an end.
Meg is resisting cutting more and more often. Although with Cyrus cutting her up so badly during the final chapters all her improvement in this area might vanish in the next story, although I'd prefer to see her fight through it
In this book I really liked Twyla's resolute hands-on attitude. And for some reason I enjoyed reading Cyrus POV. He's pretty dumb for an antagonist though. And it's strange how three such wildly different children as Cyrus, Sierra and Monty could come from the same parents...
There's another one coming next year [b: Lake Silence|35463752|Lake Silence (The Others, #6)|Anne Bishop|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1497821052s/35463752.jpg|53651626]. The girls from the Lake came up a bit short in this book, so the ominous title seems promising and I will continue to read if only to get "more of the same" because this "same-ness" is just too nice to pass up. Despite Meg living in a darker world than ours which also has been through some terrible up and downs, the Courtyard remains a cozy place whose inhabitants--both human and Other--remain so nice (there's no better word to explain them) that makes this series a good read for days when reality isn't so nice.
