Review: Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop

Etched in Bone
(The Others #5)
by Anne Bishop
Publisher: Roc
Publication Date: March 7, 2017
Genre: Fantasy

After a human uprising was brutally put down by the Elders—a primitive and lethal form of the Others—the few cities left under human control are far-flung. And the people within them now know to fear the no-man’s-land beyond their borders—and the darkness…

As some communities struggle to rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard has emerged relatively unscathed, though Simon Wolfgard, its wolf shifter leader, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn must work with the human pack to maintain the fragile peace. But all their efforts are threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery’s shady brother arrives, looking for a free ride and easy pickings.

With the humans on guard against one of their own, tensions rise, drawing the attention of the Elders, who are curious about the effect such an insignificant predator can have on a pack. But Meg knows the dangers, for she has seen in the cards how it will all end—with her standing beside a grave.

Have you ever put on a new outfit, felt great, received compliments, then got one nasty remark on your look and that’s all it takes to ruin your night? That’s the affect Lieutenant Montgomery’s brother and nephew had on me. While I really enjoyed most of this book, especially since the Elders are around more, I just can’t shake those two characters when I look back.
Etched In Bone was the first book in the series to make me cry (more than once), and I laughed during them all. If you read my reviews on the rest of the books, you know I’ve said how gruesome and gory they’ve been and this one was just as good, if not better. Having said that, I feel I should let you into my mind some…I started watching horror movies with my Dad and became a fan around the age of 5. My parents explained that no one ever got hurt, that it was make-up, special effects, and pretend. That’s when this monster was created, or so my Mother thought to herself as I laughed when someone lost their head or limb and blood went all over. Guess I was that “Someone who laughs at the gore that makes weaker men vomit”…had to thrown in a New Moon quote by Stephenie Meyer. That’s one thing I really liked about this series, you have humor, dark humor and yes gory parts that made me laugh.

This book took the bond between the human pack (new & old) and the Others even further. Whether it was the Wolves “playing chase” while Office Kowalski rode his bike or when Twyla Montgomery not only demanded that Skippy, who was in a mix of wolf and human form be allowed to attend a potluck dinner but also cut his food, taught him to eat like a human and even said since he doesn’t have one, that she is Skippy’s Grandma.

Then you have the Elders, Namid’s “Teeth and Claws”, who cracked me up. In my review for Marked In Flesh, I mentioned how the Elders went crazy for the wolf cookies, here in Etched In Bone, it’s no different. This time instead of breaking into the Liaison’s Office, they left a written request, “want cukkies!”. Meg, thinking it was a child, human or Other, went outside and scolded them (she didn’t see anyone, but assumed they were hiding) because a proper request would include the word “please”. Then with the help of Nathan, Meg realizes the request didn’t come from kids but from the Elders. Both are now shook when another request is left, “want cukkies pleeze”. The thought of these beasts not only requesting cookies but then saying “please” just made me laugh.

With the arrival of Jimmy Montgomery and family, everyone in the Lakeside Courtyard are on high alert because Jimmy is nothing but trouble. One morning Lieutenant Montgomery had a thought, ‘In a weird way, the Sanguinati became a kind of neighborhood watch. Wrongdoers weren’t arrested and their fines weren’t paid in money, but the blood that was taken seemed in proportion to the wrongdoers misbehavior.’ An event takes place that has humans, the Others, and even the Elders in motion to fix a mistake and right a wrong.

I can’t believe my trips to Lakeside are over. All-in-all, I really enjoyed this series. It’s funny, in the beginning I wasn’t feeling Meg, but by the end of it all, I’m totally “Team Meg”. I have to admit, (even though I know it was a book) I can’t help but think, “is that Jenni looking for a shiny” when I see a crow, or “what ticked the ponies off” as a storm rolls in and have to fight the urge to “Arroo!” when a bush or tree branch moves for no apparent reason to say, “we are here, keeping watch, we are here”.

Favorite quote…

Nothing about Meg was simple. She was the pebble dropped in a pond that was the Lakeside Courtyard, and the ripples of her presence had changed so many things, including the terra indigene who had befriended her.”

This was a great conclusion to the series. I loved that we got a lot more time with the Elders as they watched and observed the Lakeside Courtyard trying to figure out what humans to keep and which ones to eliminate. Their involvement led to some conflict in the story and I’m really glad that we got some POVs from them. Plus, I loved the chapter where the Elders, these big bad mamajamas who all the other terra indigene fear, go off on a hunt to try to find the “wolf cookies.” Not only that but they put in a request for cookies from Meg and the whole scene had me laughing out loud.

I loved how when I started this series you could clearly see the difference between the terra indigene and the humans, but now the terra indigene have their own human pack that they take care of and they’ve started to sort of soften the way they interact with humans. You see them look at things differently and I loved that you slowly saw the progression to this point. However, with that being said, they are still terra indigene and they are still deadly creatures. I felt like the author did a great job balancing the two and also giving the characters that pause as to whether or not they were becoming too human by interacting with humans all the time.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in the lack of romance in this novel. From the first book we’ve been watching Simon and Meg grow together. I mean, if it wasn’t for the close relationship of Meg and Simon, there wouldn’t be a human pack in the Lakeside Courtyard. Their friendship changed the way the terra indigene interact with the humans. Heck, their relationship helped save the human race. So, the fact that this has been building and is so monumental, I felt cheated that there was no romance in this. We never got to see these two come together and become mates. However, with that being said, this is a fantasy novel. There was never any real romance in it and maybe if the author had written in some lovey-dovey crap where Simon goes all googly eyes on Meg, I would have called foul and screamed that it wasn’t true to the characters or the story. However, the romantic part in me REALLY wanted to see these two hook up and become a mated pair.

Favorite part…

I won’t go into details but Skippy is this wolf who has a “skippy brain.” He doesn’t understand everything that goes on around him, he forgets things easily, and he doesn’t shift into a human form. He’s always this wolf that is running around getting into trouble because he just doesn’t understand what’s going on around him. So, when he’s told he can’t attend the big potluck between the terra indigene and humans, he does all that he can to be included in the potluck, even attempting to shift. The fact that Miss Twyla recognizes this and scolds Simon and the others for even thinking about turning him away just pulled on my heart strings. She took Skippy under her wing and made sure he was included in the potluck. <3

Previous reviews from The Others
Written in Red
Murder of Crows
Vision in Silver
Marked in Flesh