Not going to lie, the main reasons I picked up this book was A. I'm a sucker for purple and green on a book cover and B. The representation. The book includes trans, non-binary, gay, bi, and ace rep as well as non-white main characters, so already it gets point for inclusiveness. I've been on the lookout for transmasc MCs and Wyatt is somewhat of an outlier compared to others I've seen. He holds this deep anger that causes him to lash out at those around him, even when it's not really fair of him to do so, which he acknowledges. He's a messy character, one that feels a little more genuine since it seems he's allowed to be this imperfect person. So often I see people saying that they want flaws in characters, but not too many that would make them unlikable. This balance is so difficult to achieve, mainly because each reader is going to react to them different. In my opinion, one's ability to like this book will really hinge on whether they like Wyatt's character and all the baggage, anger, and trauma that comes with him. And that's okay. I didn't mind Wyatt's constant snarky attitude or his internal or external rage, as the author did a good job of establishing where it comes from, while also making it clear that sometimes it isn't even justified.

That aside, I will admit that this book does have a couple snags in terms of worldbuilding and the overall tone/dialogue in the book. The fae in this book seem very...unfaelike. I'm fine with making a certain species your own, but not when characteristics of that species contradict themselves. For example, Edgmon's fae have the common aversion to iron, and yet somehow they're able to access phones and laptops. Of course, these things aren't made of 100% iron, so they may be diluted enough to not cause any harm, it's just that we don't really see any indication of that. This may just be a small nit pick on my part, it was just a confusing thing to see.

As for the dialogue, there are a lot of modernisms that probably won't age well in the next couple of years. Wyatt's internal monologue is very slang heavy and just gives off the air of "this is clearly how the youth speaks today as according to my social media research." While I sort of rolled with it, it may be a little overbearing for some.

The story, I think, tries to do a little too much at once. It wants to be this this modern fantasy about becoming comfortable with yourself and others while also providing social commentary on at least three different issues, none of which are very subtle, but hey who can afford subtlety these days? There's a part where the book intentionally holds your hand with it, one of the characters basically saying "Oh what witches go through in this world are like what queer people go through in the human world!" Yes, I could definitely pick up on that, being the subtext-obsessing queer person that I am. The author definitely wants this allegory to hit you hard and fast, but the attempt is more like bapping me over the head with a newspaper until I get it.

Though I may seem negative, I did at least enjoy the book. I thought it had potential to go places, which is why I am going to try to pick up the sequel when it comes out. I want to see if this series is capable of extending beyond the common problems that come with a debut work and deliver a continuation with a bit more polish. 

The moment I started this book, I found it so difficult to put down again. It has an engaging pace, one that allows for slow moments in-between extreme bouts of action. It never felt like it was relying too much on exposition and let interactions carry on at a natural place. The world itself is so interesting, with magical tomes being living objects and librarians essentially acting as literal guardians of them and their contents. 

Elisabeth's tenacious personality never came off as grating nor did it propel her into doing rash thing just for the sake of it. Each of our leads have such enigmatic personalities that you just can't help but slowly fall in love with them all: Elisabeth, for said reason's above, Nathaniel's snark and rakish charm, and Silas' reserved but equally judgemental nature. Silas is probably the standout character, being a demon that everyone says is untrustworthy and only out for himself, but darn it you really can't help but love him for how loyal a friend and caretaker he is for Nathaniel. 

And that climax did an excellent job of escalating the action and peril while still giving a thematically and emotionally satisfying ending. Despite it being a standalone, I definitely wouldn't mind a continuation of some sort. 

I think the cover appealed to me more than the story, which is fine, just a very middling middle grade book. The description compares it to The Night Gardner and The Graveyard Book, both exceptional reads, but it doesn't really fall exactly in line with either of them. It doesn't have the tense, spooky atmosphere of the former, nor the charming coming-of-age qualities of the latter. Sure, the Boneless King as a concept is frightening, but probably only enough to unnerve your average ten year old, which I suppose was the intention. It's a fine enough read for the younger crowd, with enough action and suspense to keep them turning the pages. 

Giving my thoughts on this particular book may be a little difficult, as that ending and its message somewhat blindsided me, while I was actually having a decent time with the story up to that point. There are parts of the book that are really engaging: its worldbuilding, its ruthless commitment to showing how terrifying the dangers of the forest are, the foreshadowing, and the resilience and cleverness of Kestrel.

But there's one small thing that sours the pot, and it's

the complete apology of all the abuse Kestrel suffers at the hands of her mother and grandmother, even her father to a degree. In the end, Kestrel believes that all the abuse she went through, all the times her mother and grandmother made her terrified for her life, whether it was the near drowning, physical or mental harm, or really just scaring the daylights out of her, was warranted because it made her stronger. I really don't think there is any good way to swing that kind of message. If anything, seeing the constant abuse from her family and the townspeople really made me squirm numerous times while reading. And the fact that it all culminates to her entire family dying, being run out of her home, leaving her only two friends behind so she can leave the forest with her worst fear at her side, is just....sad. It doesn't feel like a triumph, it just feels like she truly has nothing left to lose so why not try to get out of the forest? I mean, I don't mind bittersweet endings but this is just overkill isn't it?

My rating stands as 2.5 stars mainly because I do recognize a lot of great elements here, but the final message really drags this book down from something that I can enthusiastically recommend to children.

My reaction to the first Dirk Gently novel was "Huh? Wha? But? How? Well at least it was funny." My attitudes are much the same here, albeit maybe to a lesser degree, not counting the usual hilarity that comes with any Adams' venture. This book was much more coherently plotted than the last one, which I remember being a very complicated jumble of plotlines rather than an interconnected narrative. At times, this book is much the same, though probably not until the last third. I thought I was getting a good sense of where everything was meeting up, but either certain paths had no clear ending, or were just placed there just for the chaos of it all. The latter I can appreciate, but I still want to be able to somewhat understand a book when I read it. 

I love Dirk's lovable assholery. Makes it even funnier when he encounters any sort of bad luck or whap to the nose.

Also, yes, I always love the inclusion of Norse Mythology in anything but....no Loki? We have here a series that thrives on the "everything is connected" idea, but no trickster to throw that belief in the bin? Could have served as an interesting antagonist? But hey, that's just me being Loki obsessed again after imbibing too much Loki content.