A Lair of Bones (Curse of the Cyren Queen)

SPOILER FREE REVIEWFirst I'd like to say that if you have not joined Helen's email list and gotten the three prequel novellas for this series--do it. While some prequels add an interesting perspective after the fact, in this case I think you'll have a deeper appreciation for some of the events and characters if you read them first.As for A Lair of Bones itself--I enjoyed reading it. Though the three-events-in-a-tournament plot device is one that we've seen before--the added twists to this one (specifically Odi) made it unique.But as was the case in the Oremere Chronicles, Helen's genius is in her description and ability to create atmosphere. Long after I've read her books and forgotten some of the finer details--I always remember how the realms she creates feel. And in Lair of Bones a lot of that centers around her description of the music that is ever-flowing in the lair. As a trained musician myself, I've often lamented that words just don't do it justice. But Helen has come as close as I think a person possibly can to describing how music affects one at a soul-level.I definitely recommend this book and can't wait to read the next in the series!

My main issue with this book is that the MC isn't very fleshed out in regards to her motives. We're thrust into a world of cyrens, who as a race are highly ambitious, cunning, and even cut-throat. I love reading books from this perspective as it's a nice change from the typical 'fling self into danger for no reason other than glory and spontaneity,' but this particular writing of an ambitious and cunning MC fell VERY flat.We're not given any reason why she wants to enter this tournament. We see her go to extra lengths to make sure she gets in. The background and supporting characters are all written well enough to have their ambitions make sense, and the cunning of one of the side characters gets revealed to be absolutely, astoundingly impressive.Our MC, however, doesn't seem to even know why she wants to do the things she does. As we get further into the plot, she comes up with reasons to explain her cunning and determination to win this tournament. A lot of these things make sense, and would have been much better if the MC had clearly gone into this BECAUSE of them - but instead she enters just.. because.The overall story is good, and the world-building interesting. I will likely finish the series to see where things go (or rather how they get there, bc the direction of the plot is rather obvious). I won't keep or reread any of these books though, because the lack of fleshing out of the MC is so disappointing.Best interpretation I can make is that the author wanted to make the MC develop her reasons as a way to show how much younger she is than the other competitors, but this wasn't believable motivation for her actions throughout the book.

I’ve read a lot of fantasy & sci-fi but I’ve not come across much that delves into the background of sirens. This book is a little like the Hunger Games for sirens (Cyrens) - only, far more original than that comparison makes it sound like. The book is as cool as the cover art. Really enjoyed this and am excited for the release of #2

Loved this new world. What a great read! The main character clearly has some growing to do in emotional maturity but she is coming right along and the author is doing a really nice job in that character development. Can’t wait for the second book.

I absolutely loved the Oramere Chronicles and this series is off to, I think, an even better start! It is so different from her last trilogy but still is fast paced and well developed characters. Couldn't put it down and absolutely can't wait for next book.

Helen Scheuerer has done it again. After creating a fascinating new world she’s found a way to expand it and open our eyes to the Cyrens of Saddothian. I’ve been following Helen for a long time and this book takes the cake! The characters and their development is amazing and complex. If you haven’t read it do so

I really like the unique world and characters that this book creates. I just wasn't sucked into the story enough to want to continue the series. There just wasn't enough excitement or plot twists to keep me turning pages. I really didn't care about any of the characters, probably because most of them are still children basically. This would definitely appeal to a much younger age group.

The world In this story is rich and new, I loved the concepts for this book and following Roh on her journey to rise above her station. If you love a detailed rich fantasy world with a chosen one vibe this is the book for you.

I inhaled it when it first popped onto my kindle. It had been so long since the prequels but I enjoyed it. A quick read, very hunger games but underwater, with more interesting world building. To be honest, I lost a lot of the nuance and subtle details in that first read through.I went back after and reread the prequels about Deelie and Cerys, and suddenly there was *a lot* more context and insight. Some of the twists had more obvious foreshadowing on the second read through, and I’m hoping other hints set up the second book. It really bothered me how Rohesia hated Odi for no good reason, and was especially rude to him in the beginning. The “what kind of queen do you want to be” comment came way too late for me. I was thinking that when she was making assumptions about Odi and Finn. She’s very unempathetic if people are mean to her. You can be hurt and try to understand others perspectives too. I figure this gives her room for character development in the following books, so fingers crossed for that!Part of having a queen from the lower socioeconomic sections is that hopefully, she’ll be more empathetic to her people’s plight (and hopefully make things more equitable for the lower sectors, improving the lives of the poor). Except that she’s not really thinking about how to lead her people or what kind of leader she’ll be, she’s just desperate to read the book and understand her history. Shes going to be a rubbish queen, is my interpretation. Perhaps the third and fourth books is where she gets the experience to be a better leader.Also, it made me eye roll when she made a big fuss about getting the law of the lair book and didn’t even read it. So much emphasis was put on the “law of the lair” and she didn’t once pick up the book to understand the rules. So stupid.Still, I liked the world. I liked the fey, and the continuation of the prequels. I’m obviously very keen to know what happened to the Cerys we knew. The gap between here and the prequels is huge.I’m excited to read the second book.

I just love this writer, the world's she builds and the characters are wonderfully magical but at the same time feel authentic and real too. I don't always love the main character, her choices are often questionable, but her steady growth in this book makes me excited to read the next. All the side characters are solid too, all with unique and strong personalities. But what really topped the book off was the 3 novellas I received at the end. I just want to know more about Deelie and Cerys. Where did things go so wrong between these two ? Cannot wait to read the next book!

Wonderful original story with fantastic characters and a well thought out plot.A Lair of Bones is as enchanting as it is dark.

If you're into... a) intricate, immersive worldbuilding of dark and dangerous realms; b) complex, compelling characters with dynamic and layered relationships; c) gripping trials and tournaments with ever-increasing stakes; or d) all of the above, you NEED A Lair of Bones in your life. I devoured this book and can't wait to continue Roh's journey (and also ensure that precious Odi is protected at all costs). An amazing start to the epic Curse of the Cyren Queen series!

A Lair of Bones is an imaginative, heart thumping, nail bitingly good read. The characters are all brilliantly complex and the magic system was unique. All ideas I had of siren mythology were completely thrown out the window as I was enraptured with Scheuerer’s interpretation of these mythical sea creatures.My original expectations were that this book was just a hunger games with mermaids, but the plot was actually curated carefully enough that it didn’t read like previous YA novels. Without spoiling anything, the plot took unexpected turns and did not follow any typical tropes. It was refreshing to read something so imaginative. I stayed up late tonight to finish the book because I was desperate to see what would happen - only to feel sad when it finished and i am now ravenous for the next book. The first thing I did was preorder ‘With Dagger and Song’ and right now you can claim an exclusive sneak peak and download a bonus dairy full of the author notes that she kept while writing A Lair of Bones. (Such a cool gift for fans!) Do yourself a favour and add this book to your tbr and then go and download her back catalogue and discover all the other worlds she has created!