Review Detail

A Burning in the Bones is the third and final story in the Waxways trilogy. It has been impressive that each book maintains the same world of events and main characters but is wildly different in the type of plot that unfolds. In this book, we are building on the foundations of book one where Ren Monroe and Theo Brood establish a bonded relationship. We keep Nevelyn Tin’Vori as a POV from book two and see how she ends up with some of the knowledge about the current predicament. Then we meet a new character, Mercy Whitaker, and through her POV we gain valuable magical insight and special abilities that prove integral.
Ren and Theo’s success at taking over House Brood and killing the tyrannical Landwin Brood has allowed a revolutionary group to slip past the city defenses and plant a magical plague in the city’s water treatment plant. While we are dealing with a magical world, this story having a city-wide plague and throwing off an authoritarian government felt a little too close for comfort at times.
Ren and Theo’s relationship was a subplot in the last two books and I like how he accepts her completely and has established such a strong bond that it is not easily broken. I do wish there was more time together. The action is fast-paced and unfolds well between the three main characters but leaves little time to build on the feelings of Ren and Theo, which was a main draw for me in book one.
I used an audiobook to read part of the story and felt like the narrators did a great job bringing this story to life. Having three narrators keeps the characters separated and proves helpful in hearing how they pronounce certain names.
Overall, this book proceeds at a nice steady pace full of action. It developed in unexpected ways that kept it engaging throughout. The final solution was not one I expected but serves the need to create a peaceful ending after the revolution so the series can resolve everything.