The Bone King and the Starling fulfills the “B” square of CBR17 Bingo.
I enjoyed Elizabeth Stephens’ Xiveri Mates series and recently loved All Superheroes Need PR, though I’ve been hesitant to give The Bone King and the Starling a try based on the content notes (which can be found on the author’s website, and definitely encourage checking them before checking this book). I finally succumbed to curiosity. I read through several reviews, and the thing that stood out is there is supposed to be an extended sex scene that many folks found to be the biggest selling point. Elizabeth definitely writes some top tier sex scenes, but for a novella, I was curious how such an extended scene would work with the story. For me, I could see the skill and why so many folks, especially in the current romance market (BookTok in particular), would find it appealing, but I would have enjoyed more story.
That isn’t to say this didn’t end up still being a good story and I really liked the way Calai, the bone king, brought out fierceness and strength in Starling, and she brought tenderness out in him. After the sexcapades in the beginning, Calai’s people picked on him for being a tender king instead of the bone king because of how sweet he’s been to Starling. But the next day, when Starling is taken out of his bed by Rosaline and hurt, he proves why he is feared and known as the Bone King.
There was a lot I liked with the romance though I think I would have enjoyed it being more fleshed out and given more time and space to grow to love. I’m also not the biggest fan of the way Calai failed to clearly communicate his intentions with Starling, though that definitely worked to move the plot in the sense her insecurities created the situation where he could protect her, though he learns the hard way that his idea of protection only scares her, especially because, again, he’s using his might and not his words.
I definitely see and understand why The Bone King and the Starling has been doing well and I’m glad I gave it a shot, but I can also say I’m not the target audience. I would probably try more books set in this world and I’m glad this was a book Elizabeth got to write; she talked about it being a pure self indulgent kind of project, and I’m glad it’s worked so well for her.