Nora Roberts’ ‘Of Blood and Bone’ Celebrates Girl Power [REVIEW]

A young girl races toward her future in Nora Roberts’ Of Blood and Bone. (Photo by Canva)

A pandemic wiped out billions. Those who remained fought valiantly to survive. Now one young girl must prepare to lead them all toward redemption. Welcome to Nora Robert’s enthralling second installment in her Chronicles of the One trilogy, Of Blood and Bone.

St. Martin’s Press

Fallon Swift has always known she was different. From the day she was born, her mother and adoptive father never kept their knowledge about her future a secret. One day she would leave the farm and her brothers to receive her training, to become the One of legend. But she’s never been far beyond the boundaries of the family’s small farm because danger lurks outside its perimeter and unimaginable threats lie in wait, ready to pounce.

Now that she is turning 13, however, the time has come to leave the security of her family and risk encountering violent gangs and radical fanatics in search of their next victim. Now she must disappear into the woods to train with the only man ready to give her the tools she will need to embrace her fate, a man named Mallick who has dedicated his life to serving her and has thus spent a lifetime honing his skills. He alone can teach Fallon how to fight evil in all its forms and to embrace the power inside that will enable her to heal the world once again.

Of Blood and Bone moves past the survivors of the Doom who established New Hope in Year One. That book, which I eagerly compared to a cross between Dean Koontz’s Strangers and Stephen King’s The Stand, is a tense, nail-biting read that captures exactly how most of mankind implodes and how the few disparate people who survive join forces to fight off their enemies and maintain their existence.

This second book in the series, however, feels more like the author’s previous Guardians trilogy as Fallon discovers new talents and learns new skills alongside the mysterious Yoda-type figure who becomes her master/mentor. This isn’t to say that this volume in the series is a bad read, it just focuses on a young girl coming into her own and summoning the courage and strength it will take to fight the epic battle that is sure to come in the third and final book in this trilogy. Perhaps Fallon can be best likened to Katniss Everdeen from Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series, and thus just like Katniss she is one tough cookie, even in those moments when she is feeling all the raw emotions that make her human.

Because this story is an exploration of self discovery and pushing one’s boundaries, this book may not keep the same rhythm as its predecessor. However, it is still an engaging read, one which fills us with wonder, examines what is possible, and focuses on a future where it takes a woman to banish the dark and lead humanity into the light.

Nora Roberts
(Photo by Bruce Wilder)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nora Roberts is the number one New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Year One, Shelter in Place, Come Sundown, and many more.

She is also the author of the bestselling In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

To find out more, visit Nora’s home on the Web at NoraRoberts.com. You may also like her on Facebook and follow her on Pinterest.

OF BLOOD AND BONE
By Nora Roberts
464 pp. St. Martin’s Press. $28.99

Purchase Of Blood and Bone at one of these fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, IndieBound, and Powell’s.