A River of Golden Bones by A.K. Mulford
Published on December 5, 2023 by Harper Voyager
Fantasy Romance
Reviewed by Kate

I was attracted to A River of Golden Bones because of the fairy tale elements to the story – the sleeping curse, a princess named Briar, you know, the usual. Once I got into it though, I realized that there was so much more to love about the book. It’s one of those books that just sucks you in and makes you want to keep reading into the night. 

Please note, for this review I am going to use she/they pronouns for Calla, as that is how they end the book and the description of the book uses she/they, though I don’t believe it is ever explicitly stated. 

A River of Golden Bones is a fantasy romance novel, and thus has a happy ending, but I would characterize it as mostly the story of Calla’s journey. They start the book having spent their entire life sheltered in a tiny little village, not having been exposed to much of the outside world, and through her experiences over the course of the story, she learns so much about the world that she had not been aware of, and grows as a person. At times, the introspection was repetitive, but overall it felt realistic to their character and arc, especially as the first 20 years of their life was spent so isolated. Calla’s growth also includes her shifting relationship with Grae, and how they go from not trusting Grae to trusting him after he shares more of his history as well. And of course they have to get to know each other physically as well! There’s definitely more than a bit of spice in this book, though it comes later in the book as Calla and Grae’s relationship builds slowly. 

Not only was there Calla’s internal growth, but so much happened around them as well. She takes a long trip in an enchanted wagon and meets humans whom she begins to become very close to. In Calla’s world, wolves are at the top – the rulers, and then humans live on the margins. Calla comes to think about the fairness of this and the rigidity of the wolf society that she was meant to be part of. She gets to see so much of the world around her as she ventures out on her rescue mission. The world is an interesting one, and the world building was fairly well done, though I wish there had been a little more about the actual physical world – sometimes monsters were just dropped in with no warning or explanation.

I think my only issue would be how the ending of the book wrapped up. It felt more than a little rushed at the end. I think part of that is because I expected this to be the beginning of a series, and for the relationship or plot to continue over to the next book (as it is advertised as a series called The Golden Court). For the majority of the book, the pacing seemed to indicate that the story would continue in a second book, because it felt like there was SO MUCH more that could happen – Calla had to fight the sorceress, Calla and Grae had to fight back against his father, they needed to rescue Briar, etc., but then all of a sudden the events of the book happened in a way that tied up a bunch of the loose ends at once, so there wasn’t a cliffhanger or a plot that seemed like it could continue. As a result the ending felt a little squished. 

All in all, A River of Golden Bones is an enjoyable addition to the “romantasy” genre, and I would definitely recommend it to those who like fantasy romance books and who want a book with a good internal, as well as external, journey. 

Grade: B+

Content notes: Brief mentions of spousal/child abuse, violence and deaths of characters