Etched in Bone (The Others, #5) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Feb 02, 2017 D.G. rated it liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy

**3.5 stars**

Quick thoughts:

The main plot of this book annoyed the hell out of me. How is it that The Others keep falling for the same trick over and over again? They're not stupid, they should have learned by now! With so many powerful people at their disposal, they should know how to manage security to make sure the weakest links in the Courtyard are protected no matter what happens! Arrrghhhhh!

Also, I wished the punishment of the bad guy wouldn't have been fade to black. I would have wanted t ...more

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Mar 08, 2017 Katyana rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, uf, fantasy

I love this series, this world, this entire cast of characters.

And I love that this book focused much more on Simon, Meg and the Lakeside characters (where in previous books, they felt somewhat secondary to the plot).

In the end, though, this was a transition book. Lots of major plot happened in the previous book, and the world was dramatically changed. This book is about how our beloved characters adjust to this new world. I loved being able to revisit them, and I loved their relationships with I love this series, this world, this entire cast of characters.

And I love that this book focused much more on Simon, Meg and the Lakeside characters (where in previous books, they felt somewhat secondary to the plot).

In the end, though, this was a transition book. Lots of major plot happened in the previous book, and the world was dramatically changed. This book is about how our beloved characters adjust to this new world. I loved being able to revisit them, and I loved their relationships with each other, and how much they've become a team. But overall, not a whole lot happened.

Or maybe it just felt that way because Cyrus is pretty small potatoes.

In any case, I enjoyed it very much because I love this series and these characters.

Edit to add: Okay, looking over other reviews, people are indicating that this is the end of Meg/Simon/Lakeside story. If that's the case, I'm significantly less impressed. That means this isn't a transition book, it is basically one massive epilogue. And I don't feel like it really resolves the story. It means that overall, I feel like the series gave too much time away to the massive, world-spanning plot, and took away time from the character arcs, because now we're at an end and it feels like a weird anti-climax. I mean, I guess we know Meg and Simon will be okay, but does anything actually feel resolved? Or is it just me who feels that way?

Edit to add, #2: The more space I get from it, the less happy I am with it. I revised the rating to a 3. The series as a whole gets a high 4. This book as a stand-alone gets a 2.

Re-read May 2025
It is an interesting thing to come back and reread this series nearly a decade later. I understand why I felt the way I did in the first read, but I feel better about it this time through.

It is a disappointing end point for Simon and Meg, mostly because we don't get to see them in a relationship. But I think, even more than that, I'm disappointed to leave Lakeside. I love Simon, Meg, Vlad, Henry, Tess, Blair, Nathan, Sam, and Skippy. And the Crows, the elementals, the ponies and Jester, and the human pack. It is disappointing that we're leaving them in a world that is so unsettled, but I think they've formed a broader stability with all the factions working together, and they're all going to be okay.

But I feel like we deserved to see Meg and Simon as a mated pair. So I'm going to leave this at 3 stars to honor the feeling of the original read, but honestly, it's probably more fair to do 4. ...more

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Jun 21, 2017 Samantha rated it really liked it

Shelves: ebook-library, 2017

I've really enjoyed this series and this was a really good story. The only thing that keeps it from being perfect is the sense that it could be a bit more in the plot development. There is so much of the minutiae described for these characters...I don't need to know the breakdown of house payments and phone lines. I would have much rather visited with the characters or had them interact more. However, I can overlook most of it because I got the ending that I wanted. Maybe not as dramatic as I wa ...more

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Nov 13, 2018 Logan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal, 2018-books-read

This book thankfully left a lot of the secondary towns and characters to the background and put Lakeside back in the forefront of the story. I was hooked once again on the bonds forming between the humans and Others. Best new character by far was Miss Twyla, who handled everyone with the gruff no-nonsense only a grandmother can get away with.

I can’t get over how well Bishop can tease out a plot while wrapping us up so completely in a new world that you don’t even notice what’s happening until i ...more

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Mar 11, 2017 Jesslyn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cat-alt-reality, z2017-kindle-reads, audiobook-whispersync-companion, cat-gen-fantasy

While I'm enjoying the series, Ms. Bishop really needs to kick the progress of the story down the road a bit more than she did with this one. Not much happened in this one. Not that it felt like half a book like some do, it was an entire book that didn't tell me anything. At the end, I had the feeling that I could have skipped the whole thing and not missed out.

I will wait for reviews instead of pre-ordering the next one. ...more

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Apr 29, 2017 Vickie rated it it was amazing

First, there is DEFINETLY progress in Simon and Meg's relationship. Anne Bishop did a fantastic job developing their chemistry and love over the 5 books. All those who are looking for sex, this is not the book series for you. This book series is not erotica, and I am glad! Book 5 took us back to the Lakeside Courtyard and my favorite Others. I am so happy with how the series has ended. Anne Bishop is AMAZING! ...more

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