Thursday, May 9, 2019

I Knew There Were Gonna Be Snakes....

TITLE: The Cold is in Her Bones
AUTHOR: Peternelle van Arsdale
PUBLISHER:  Margaret K. Elderberry Books
PUBLISHING DATE: January 22, 2019


FROM GOODREADS: Milla knows two things to be true: Demons are real, and fear will keep her safe. 

Milla's whole world is her family's farm. She is never allowed to travel to the village and her only friend is her beloved older brother, Niklas. When a bright-eyed girl named Iris comes to stay, Milla hopes her loneliness might finally be coming to an end. But Iris has a secret she's forbidden to share: The village is cursed by a demon who possesses girls at random, and the townspeople live in terror of who it will come for next. 


Now, it seems, the demon has come for Iris. When Iris is captured and imprisoned with other possessed girls, Milla leaves home to rescue her and break the curse forever. Her only company on the journey is a terrible new secret of her own: Milla is changing, too, and may soon be a demon herself.  


The Cold Is in Her Bones is a novel about the dark, reverberating power of pain, the yearning to be seen and understood, and the fragile optimism of love. 



MY THOUGHTS:  I sort of picked this up on a whim at the beginning of the month.  Basically it was a library book I knew had to go back soon so I thought I'd give it a chance. And honestly, at first I wasn't sure about it and even when I finished, I was still kind of undecided but after a few days have passed, I realize how much I really enjoyed "The Cold in Her Bone." 

Let's get the obvious out of the way.  There are snakes.  Lots of them.  In fact, the main character, Milla, ends up with two growing - yes I said growing, in her hair.  And they all sort of become best buds.  In a snake-in-your-hair-what-are-you-gonna-do-way.  I managed not to totally freak out but have to admit I did not read it before bed, or in bed, you get the picture.

So the MC Milla has grown up in the country, near a town which has been cursed.  She has only her brother, her mother and her father and none of them really like her all that much.  She lives a very sheltered life so you can imagine how she feels when Iris moves next door and she finally has a friend.  However, Iris becomes possessed and is taken away so Milla decides she wants to rescue her only friend and hey, if she can learn more about this curse and the snakes growing from her head, then that's a plus as well.

Now while you definitely won't gather it from my review, the author has written a really lyrical tale. It's a great mix of folklore and fairy tales.  She has also done a great job featuring strong female characters.  Milla wants to rescue her friend and is not depending on anyone to help her.  And Milla is not afraid of battles.  Of course with her permanent hair friends she usually has the upper hand.  I think the novel is as much about friendship as it is about snakes, oops I mean Medusa. And I have to admit I know little about the Medusa myth.  Does this surprise anyone?

So basically this was kind of a hidden gem for me.  It's a rather short book and I did find it a tad slow at times but the story was worth a few pacing issues here and there.  If you like fairy tales, mythology or retellings, then I'd highly suggest you pick this book up.

RATING: 4 PAWS



If I can give a snaky book 4/5 paws then that's definitely high praise right?

22 comments:

  1. You probably enjoyed this more than me, though I thought it was a nice airy fantasy YA. I think I was mostly disappointed because I saw all these blurbs comparing this to Medusa, only to find there's nothing much at all to do with the Greek myth :P

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

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    1. See, not knowing a whole lot about Medusa because if you couldn't tell, the snake thing, I didn't have a lot of expectations for this one. Which now that I think about it is probably why it worked for me.

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  2. Don't you love it when you pick something up on a whim and it turns out great? The Cold is in Her Bones sounds like a fun read.

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    1. It was pretty good and the fact that it was a shorter stand alone added to its appeal.

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  3. I think I mentioned this in a Waiting on Wednesday post last year, but just never got around to reading it. You don't see many Medusa retellings so it sounds like it could be fun😁

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    1. It was different which is another reason I liked it.

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  4. I will have to give it a try even with snakes...lol.

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  5. can't get enough of hidden gems. i do love book surprise.
    sherry @ fundinmental

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  6. I've always liked the Medusa myth. And Milla sounds like an awesome character. I think I have to give this one a try. :)

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    1. Milla is pretty cool and the folklore aspect of the tale was pretty interesting as well.

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  7. That actually sounds pretty terrifying! Snakes in her hair?? Did she have to feed them? What did you do? Hand them mice? What about when they had to poop? I feel like having snakes growing from your head would have a LOT of complications. ;)

    Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬

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    1. All good questions. I guess since they were attached to her scalp, I assumed the bathroom thing wasn't an issue. It did mention them eating bugs and stuff when she was out walking in the woods and stuff. The whole concept is just WAY creepy.

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  8. I think I would enjoy this (even with the snakes!). I like the idea of a Medusa retelling.
    Lynn :D

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    1. I definitely think anyone interested should give it a try. The least that can happen is a DNF read right?

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  9. Oh my, snakes! The cover gave me a completely different impression when I first saw it, but now I see the snake. I am not observant at all. I love the sound of the folklore/fairy tale feel. I always enjoy novels like this. Great review.

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    1. Yea they kind of disguise it very well. It's a book I'd definitely recommend.

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  10. Great review. It isn't often that a book takes days for me to really like after reading it. When that happens, I will be reading more from the author.

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    1. Thanks. I will be interested in more and always wanted to read her first one so now I have an excuse.

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  11. I used to read a ton of the ancient myths so I know Medusa quite well! I guess if you had snakes in your hair, you'd want to be on friendly terms!

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