Early Review – Bones of Jade, Flesh Like Ice by Garcie Marsden (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 304 pages
Publisher: Viking
Release Date: November 10, 2026
ASIN: B0GMTG3ZDK
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone Book
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 3/5 stars

“Eleventh century Kangzhu. In a small village, far from the political conflicts of the royal dynasty, a too-young Yu’er is sold off to be married at the word of a jing, a shapeshifting-demon who prophesizes that her parents will thus gain wealth beyond their imagination. Her new husband Xiaozhu is, like her, barely more than a child himself—but he’s kind, and, over the years, Yu’er heals as they build a home together. They become allies, then friends, then lovers.

Until misfortune befalls them, once again at the hands of a demon. They’re left destitute and estranged. Reeling from loss, and determined to never leave her fate in another’s hands, Yu’er decides to strike her own bargain with a jing: she will have all the agency and riches she desires. She just has to leave Xiaozhu and their home together, forever—a price that will cost her more than she then understands.

Yu’er’s choice sets off a saga that will lead her to the heart of the royal court, and bring her more power than she ever dreamed of, but may kill her humanity along the way, in this sweeping tale of love, revenge, and redemption.”

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got an eGalley of this from NetGalley for Review

Thoughts: This was an odd story. I really enjoyed the first part of it, but then things get pretty confusing half-way through. I didn’t really enjoy the progression of the story after that and found the way the story ended to be depressing.

Yu’er and her sister are married off because a jing prophesied that once both of their daughters were married her parents would gain wealth beyond imagination. Yu’er finds herself dropped off in a destitute hovel with a husband who won’t touch her, an abusive drunk of a father-in-law, and a spiteful grandmother-in-law. Eventually Yu’er and her husband, Xiaozhu, start to build a life together. Then disaster strikes at the hands of another jing and Yu’er decides to strike her own bargain with a different jing, a bargain that will give her all the riches she desires.

This was told in an odd format. The first third or so of the book is told from Yu’er’s perspective. This part I enjoyed. We get a look at Yu’er’s day to day life and get to watch as she starts to make the best out of a very tough situation. Then, the second part of the book is told from her husband, Xiaozhu’s perspective. This part was confusing. It is set 6 years after the first part of the book and is mainly about him eking out a living and suffering after Yu’er leaves. We don’t know what happened to Yu’er.

Then Yu’er appears again and we still don’t know what happened to her during those seven years. Eventually, you figure out that the stories between chapters help to tell the tale of the time she went missing. It is a kind of clever way to tell the story but also very confusing to the reader.

In the end, this is a story of revenge and honestly a bit of a train wreck. Yu’er keeps making selfish decisions in an effort to get her revenge, but she never stops to realize how wonderful her life could be if she could just let that revenge and anger go and moved forward. The whole thing made me sad and depressed.

The side characters were underdeveloped throughout the story. Even though we read from Xiaozhu’s perspective, he seems like a very shallow and uninspiring character. All of the side characters were very one-dimensional. The world-building was also very thin here. We know that jing (shapeshifters/demons) exist but we don’t really get any background on how they are woven into the world. We know there is conflict between regions, but that is glossed over as well.

I read this fairly quickly, mostly because I was confused and trying to figure out what happened to Yu’er during the six years she was missing. However, I found the way this ended to be even more depressing and a bit abrupt. Everything about this book just felt a bit underdeveloped and off to me.

My Summary (3/5): Overall there are some interesting ideas here but the format at this book was confusing and hard to follow. Although Yu’er is an intriguing character, all of the side characters felt underdeveloped. The world-building also felt thin and underdeveloped. This is a depressing and bleak story that wasn’t really my cup of tea. I don’t plan to read future books by Marsden and wouldn’t really recommend this one. I finished it, but I didn’t really enjoy the process of reading it, this is a book I would have been fine skipping.