A River of Golden Bones Book Review

“A River of Golden Bones” was my first foray into “wolf” romantasy, and it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. The fated mate thing was tackled nearly immediately at the start of the novel, and there was no weird alpha/beta/love triangle dynamics, which I think is typically a trope of those types of stories?

Instead, we get to focus on Calla as she works to figure out who she is and her place in the world. Ultimately, she ends up deciding she is neither man nor woman, but merem — basically, this world’s non-binary gender. (I am still calling her “her” because she didn’t pick pronouns and it’s just easier).

I do feel like it got quite preachy at times when detailing her decision-making process — especially when she has to explain to other characters that she isn’t a man or woman. And for all the preachy explanation about how gender is fluid and people should just be who they want to be, I still don’t particularly understand why she identifies as merem, perhaps because the story never shows her being in any particular discomfort as a woman. She seems just fine with her curvy body, and this world allows women to wear pants and be fighters, which is her primary role. She does say she doesn’t want to be a frilly princess, but I think there is some room between being a dainty princess and a complete other gender.

At the end of the day, though, it’s definitely not up to me to worry about her choice because people can feel and be whatever they want. And I support that. If she feels like she’s not a woman, that’s all I need to know. The issue I have here is that I think Calla is a bit of an undeveloped character. We live in her head, so I was hoping for her decision to be more clear rather than just a narrative tool for proselytizing against gender norms.

All these woes aside, I thought this was a fun little fantasy that takes us on quite a journey. We go on a full, epic quest that takes us across the world. Along the way, Calla finds a merry band of companions to aid her, and it’s fun to see that dynamic. The romance is good too, even if Grae is a very undeveloped character that basically just exists to be Calla’s sidekick. I felt the deep connection between them, and the love scenes felt well-deserved.

Overall, I’d give this 3.5 stars, but I’m rounding up because I feel generous. If you want a low-key, light-hearted fantasy with world-roaming adventures, romance, and werewolves, I think you’ll have a nice time. No, it’s not written amazingly, and yes, it’s cliche in some places. But I felt entertained while reading it, which is the most important thing.