Bones of the Gods: BotG 1 (ebook) by Mel Polk

In the kingdom of Iskrendour, magic is anathema. Only the Crows are permitted their engineered shape-shifting—and only then, for the good of the kingdom, where they act as spies and assassins for the Crown.

As a Crow, Fenn has been taught her life holds no meaning outside of service to the king. When he sends her and Bastien, the surly, devilishly handsome scout who owes her a life debt, on a secret mission to infiltrate the kingdom of Maehryth, she believes her task to be both righteous and straightforward—it is for the Crown, after all, and the king’s orders are above all else.

But before she can complete her assignment, Fenn is confronted with a series of revelations about the truth of her task and her heritage. Her mission is thrown off course by her pursuit for answers and the certainty that her destiny is larger than spying for the king. Her choices are complicated further by the strange attraction she feels toward both Bastien and the woman he’s oath-bound to serve.

The gods have their fingers in her destiny and she must find a way to choose between her loyalty to duty and her heart. Her past and the secrets buried there are the keys to saving not just Iskrendour but the whole continent of Araspeyha from ruin at the hands of a power-hungry man who seeks the complete abolition of magic.

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content/trigger warnings: 

• Claustrophobia
• Death / Death of a loved one
• Violence
• Blood, bloodletting and consumption
• Explicit sex
• Body Dysmorphia (re: shapeshifting)
• Alcohol use
• Torture
• Animal death (hunting)
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Depression
• Self-harm (re: blood magic)

links, playlists, etc can be found on my website.

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cover art by Fay Lane