The Omen of Stones by Casey L Bond: Review

The Omen of Stones is the indirect sequel to When Wishes Bleed by Casey L. Bond, by which I mean the characters from When Wishes Bleed play small roles, and one of the two main characters, River, is the son of the Sable, the MC from the first book. You don’t need to read When Wishes Bleed to understand The Omen of Stones, but I recommend that you do! We return to the same world, where magic and technology coexist and witches are feared, yet constantly needed for their magic. 

This book opens with a frantic scene: a young witch giving birth to her triplets, named Omen, Lyric, and Sky. At the same time, River, the next Fate Witch, is born in the castle of Nautilus, the spiral-shaped kingdom where this book takes place. Questions are raised immediately when we find, years later, Omen was found alone by the river.

Thus the mystery begins. What happened to Lyric and Sky, and the girls’ mother? A series of twists and turns that will lead you to gasping revelations is set in motion when River is kidnapped by Purists, residents of Nautilus who protest having a witch as queen. His ability to see ghosts adds to the mystery as the spirit of a dark-haired woman appears to him again and again, unraveling a web of lies that was woven around Omen’s childhood and just what happened to her and her sisters.

This book also presents a change from how Bond usually writes. Many of her books utilize instalove (though they do it better than most, with much more development of the relationship after the initial swoony meeting), but this one goes the opposite direction. Omen and River have a slow burn, and every time they’re together I was just waiting for them to kiss. However, it doesn’t distract you from the rest of the plot with all of its plot-twists.

Bond’s prose flows, setting each scene and all of the emotions you’re meant to feel in it flawlessly. Tense and uncomfortable scenes shine the most here, whether it’s Omen constantly having to stave off unwanted advances from the village jerk, or a group of our main characters preparing for a battle the likes of which they’ve never seen before. Yet, at the same time, the quiet scenes, the gentle scenes of shared emotion between two characters, were my favorites. The tenderness in the center of what is, for the most part, a rather dark story was always a welcome break.

Overall, it's a witchy, swooning, and wild adventure with wild twists and turns that make sure you never know what to expect.