Review: Unbury the Bones by Coyote J.M. Edwards

Unbury the Bones (Ember Bones #1)
by Coyote J.M. Edwards

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: no romance

Blurb:
Luck is NOT on their side.

When a series of bizarre coincidences leaves a man bleeding out in an alleyway, the Ember Guard call on their secret weapon: a takeout-fueled nonbinary vampire and their werewolf partner who’s more puppy than beast.

Grim knows Embervein like they know their own skeleton — a little too well. They may have a knack for sorting out the arcane, but their freak ability to see every body’s bony insides has left Grim hiding from the one thing they really crave. If they can’t learn to accept their unique talents — and the friendship of a good wolf — how will they be able solve this mystery before someone else gets hurt…or worse?

The Ember Bones novellas feature an honest depiction of platonic intimacy, thrilling mysteries, and happy endings galore. Sink your teeth into this cozy modern fantasy.

My Review

I got this book along with the other 3 books of this author when I saw them during a book promotion. They sounded like the type of cozy fantasy I enjoyed and as they were all free or cheap I got all 4 books then. I already read Coffee, Milk & Spider Silk earlier this year and decided now was the time to check out Unbury the Bones and see if I enjoy this series as well. Unbury the Bones is set in the same world as the Embervein Emporia series, which was a fun surprise.

Unbury the Bones is told from the point of view of Grim, they are a vampire and have white sight which has isolated them and makes it hard to connect with others. They’re investigating a weird series of coincidences. So there is a sort of investigation/ mystery plot line as well as a strong plot line surrounding Grim’s struggles with opening up and making friends. I liked how these two intertwined and it hit some emotional notes with Grim’s struggles. And the investigation plot line was interesting and kept me curious to figure out what was going on, I thought it was an interesting reveal and also made sense.

I really liked side character Argyle and how he wanted to be friends with Grim. He’s so eager and excited to be friends, but also is hurt by Grim’s reluctance to be friends and I liked there is some depth there too. Argyle’s instant shifts to werewolf form were pretty cool and I liked how often Argyle shifts in this book. The world is pretty fun with lots of unique monster species and I liked reading about the sky soul as well as the jumper-host.

I had a really good time reading this one and just wanted to keep reading. The story is broken up in shorter chunks and made for easy reading. My only complaint is that there are no actual chapters, which meant I couldn’t see how long each chapter was as formatting wise they are just scene breaks. I also was a bit disappointed with the ending as I was really anticipating a certain scene, but while it ends on a hopeful note it introduces the plot for the next book and I just really wanted that other scene. I hope to get to book 2 soon as I want to continue the series.

To summarize: This was a great start to this cozy fantasy series. I really enjoyed this one with an engaging plot and some emotional notes as well. It’s set in Embervein like the author’s other series and features a variety of monsters, which are fun to read about. This book follows Grim as they investigate a strange series of coincidences as well as their struggles opening up and being vulnerable and letting someone be close to him as a friend. I liked side character Argyle who worked together with Grim and he wants to be friends. They both are interesting to read about and have some emotional depth with their struggles and feel real. And there are some of the interesting characters they meet on their investigation. I liked the world and the interesting monster creatures. The ending wasn’t quite what I expected, but sets things up for the next book and I hope to read that one soon.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.