Life in the Ice Age • Ivory and Bone (+ Giveaway)

June 7, 2016

Life in the Ice Age • Ivory and Bone (+ Giveaway)

If you’re craving a novel that is unlike any that you’ve ever read before, do yourself a favor and snag a copy of Ivory and Bone! It has familiar themes that will be easy for any reader to relate to, including the highs and lows of growing up and the importance of truth. But it is set against the backdrop of the prehistoric era, which is what really set this story apart.

Ivory and Bone is told from the perspective of seventeen-year-old Kol, future leader of his clan, and a boy who leads a fairly simple life. Everything changes when two groups of visitors arrive – first, Mya and her siblings, who share a history with Kol’s clan that is tainted with loss, and second, Lo and other members of her clan, who happen to be enemies with Mya’s clan. The animosity between the two erupts into a full-scale bout of violence, and in the middle of it all, Kol is forced to make a choice.

I was caught off guard by the storytelling style, and it admittedly took me a little while before it felt comfortable. Upon further reflection, this stylistic choice was apt and really worked for this particular story. A lot of that has to do with how it aids the reader to feel both a part of and apart from Kol as a narrator. But once I’d eased into it, I definitely enjoyed this! The plot points are so straightforward, and Eshbaugh does a really great job of weaving them all together. There’s a little bit of everything here - family, friendship, romance, mystery and action – and it was a pretty compelling combination. Plus, it didn’t hurt that I thought the descriptions of the setting were really great! Eshbaugh not only talks about what the places looked like, but she includes details about clothing, tools, traditions and food, just to name a few.

Ivory and Bone is a really unique YA novel! I personally enjoyed it, and would definitely recommend it to readers searching for something a little bit different from their normal reading fare.

Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh

Series: Ivory and Bone #1

Publisher: Harper Teen | Publication Date: June 7, 2016

Source: ARC received from the publisher (Thank you!)
Buy It: Amazon | B&N | Indiebound | iBooks | The Book Depository

Hunting, gathering, and keeping his family safe—that’s the life seventeen-year-old Kol knows. Then bold, enigmatic Mya arrives from the south with her family, and Kol is captivated. He wants her to like and trust him, but any hopes of impressing her are ruined when he makes a careless—and nearly grave—mistake. However, there’s something more to Mya’s cool disdain…a history wrought with loss that comes to light when another clan arrives. With them is Lo, an enemy from Mya’s past who Mya swears has ulterior motives. As Kol gets to know Lo, tensions between Mya and Lo escalate until violence erupts. Faced with shattering losses, Kol is forced to question every person he’s trusted. One thing is for sure: this was a war that Mya or Lo—Kol doesn’t know which—had been planning all along.

Thanks to the lovely people over at Harper, there is going to be a tour-wide giveaway for 3 finished copies of Ivory and Bone! This giveaway is US ONLY and all you need to do is to enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway