The Road of Bones by Demi Winters is the first book in the Ashen series, a Viking romantasy.
Silla Nordvig is on the run for her life after her father is killed when the queen of Íseldur sends her warriors after her. Desperate to survive the brutal Road of Bones, where warbands run amok, Silla hides in the supply wagon of a crew of Viking mercenaries, the notorious Blood Axe crew.
All Silla wants is to make it to Kopa, where a shield-house awaits her. However, she must win over Axe Eyes Rey, the brooding leader of the crew, while trying not to fall in love with his right-hand man, the Wolf, Jonas Svik.
All the while, Silla hides a much bigger secret she must keep under wraps on the thousand-mile stretch of the road, where creatures of darkness and a mysterious murderer hunt them down.
It’s hard to believe The Road of Bones was one of the very first reviews we published on our site over a year ago.
With Dawn of the North releasing shortly, on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, we thought we’d cover the book in detail so you can catch up as needed. This post does not contain a review.
However, The Road of Bones is a romantic fantasy that blends magic and real life challenges like mental health problems and emotional abuse, while telling Silla’s story with rich world building and amazing plot.
This post contains spoilers.
Tropes
- Grumpy x Sunshine
- Vikings
- Enemies to lovers
- Slow burn
- Found family
- One horse
Please check trigger warnings before reading The Road of Bones!
Review
Overall, I enjoyed The Road of Bones, and even though it dragged at times, I’m so glad I stuck around for the ending.
Silla started off as a pretty standard fantasy FMC for me, with her dowdy dresses, affinity for baking, and damsel-in-distress tendencies. But what I didn’t expect was for her to actually grow from her experiences on the road and turn into a hero I genuinely rooted for.
I liked the MMC (not naming names for spoiler reasons) and I liked his progression of the story.
The real hero of the book, though, is the well-done found-family trope. In so many books, the main character’s only exposure to side characters is through the MMC, but Silla actually spends alone time with almost all the crew members, giving the reader a chance to see her relationships with each of them grow.
The side characters are well-developed, and the cast is refreshingly diverse, representing disabilities and other trauma, which gives them real depth.
The book itself is told from multiple POVs, including the villains which I appreciated, although Silla’s perspective dominates.
What made it a challenging read at times was the author’s writing style. Her sentences are very brisk, action-oriented, and often share the same pacing. There are multiple paragraphs with a “He did this. She did that. She touched the stove. Then turned it on” structure—short, play-by-play sentences. I imagine her style will refine with time. But I should note that while the sentences can be a bit monotonous, the dialogue isn’t—the banter is witty, and there are some genuinely funny moments between the characters.
The steam is decent—not too graphic, but with enough detail to bring in a bit of spice. However, I would have preferred the angst and tension between the characters to be drawn out longer; it felt like the buildup was a bit too abrupt.
The writing style was more noticeable early on, especially because there’s a long stretch where the plot feels bogged down with mundane road activities. I get that it’s a questing book, but if I had to read about Silla making porridge one more time, I was ready to DNF.
But I’m so glad I didn’t DNF, because around the eighty percent mark, the plot absolutely takes off, becoming the fast-paced romantasy it was meant to be.
The first few twists were somewhat predictable if you’re familiar with the genre. But the final twist was so well-executed and unexpected that I actually squealed when I read it and it made all the slow parts worth it.
This is a solid debut from Demi Winters, and I’ll definitely be picking up the next book as soon as it’s available from my library.
Silla initially struck me as a classic damsel-in-distress, with dowdy dresses and a lack of skills with a dagger. There’s so much more to her, as she’s haunted by the ghost of a particular blonde girl right from the start.
The lore is intriguing, with Viking-style world-building and Galdur, a basic elemental magic system. The royal family suppresses magic, locking up the Galdra (witches) as “dangerous.” While the main villain, Skaeda, has unique abilities, the magic system didn’t feel particularly original if you’ve read Cosmere.
Silla’s relationship with her father is adorable and, predictably, short-lived, as the rule goes, we can’t have good fantasy dads. The action kicks in quickly when Silla and her father are attacked. Mattias dies, leaving her with a few revelations about her identity and instructions to get to Kopa, where she’ll be safe.
From here, Silla heads down the Road of Bones, and the book starts to drag. Despite her near-death experiences during her first few nights alone, I found this stretch dreadfully boring. Luckily, the dull solo nights give way to a new kind of monotony, as Silla overhears some warriors with plans to travel near Kopa and decides, “Hey, I know another Viking warband just tried to assault and kill me, so I should totally stow away with this even more dangerous one,” which is…a choice. But what’s a woman to do in a man’s world?
Naturally, she’s discovered almost immediately by Jonas, aka the Wolf, a brooding, Viking warrior with defining traits of misogyny, grumpiness, and, yes, being blonde.
One thing you can trust Silla to do throughout the book is lie to her benefit while continually putting her foot in her mouth. Ironically, Axe Eyes (or Rey) only agrees to let her stay so she can convince the crew’s creepy former leader to give them a book they need.
Jonas, meanwhile, doesn’t trust Silla but also won’t let her get hurt, which creates some tension. I should’ve seen the “first book MMC” plot device coming a mile away. His blondness should’ve been my first clue, but hey, he gave Silla a nickname, and I got distracted.
My main issue with Jonas, though, is how obsessed he is with Silla’s “purity”. I understand he’s meant to be juxtaposed from Rey to show while one smothers when the other lets her blossom, but it was creepy and borderline inappropriate for me. Normally I’m a sucker for the MMC POV, but hearing how much it turned Jonas on that she was a virgin, and only his came across as misogynistic which then later on cemented when he had the internal dialogue with “She doesn’t understand what’s best for her, you need to explain it to her.” No, thank you.
Which brings me to Rey. Rey confused me throughout the book. His attraction to Silla is obvious, and unlike Jonas, he’s the good kind of grumpy. He actually communicates, and his sassy zingers are far better than Jonas’s grunts. I initially thought Rey was the misdirection, but when he nicknamed her, I should’ve seen him as the real MMC. I loved the progression of his relationship with Silla, with him going from distant to constantly thinking of her. The angsty pining, the “one horse” trope, and his protective nature made for great reading. He’s my favorite type of MMC: grumpy exterior, golden-retriever energy for the FMC.
Not to mention Rey is a show his dedication with actions kind of guy, like when he supports Silla through withdrawals of quitting the leaves her father made her take which we later find out it suppresses her magic. It would’ve been so much easier if Tomas just told Silla who she is and why she has to live in such secrecy considering their very close relationship, but I guess we then wouldn’t have the plot. Either way Rey, after cautioning Silla about the leaves multiple times, takes the vial from her with no questions asked when she offers, then he takes care of her through withdrawals while not saying anything to the crew.
Also a quick shout out to the author for covering some hard to talk about topics in fantasy settings like reclaiming the trauma of domestic violence or the FMC struggling with addiction. It’s refreshing to see these issues tackled as foundational growth opportunities for the characters rather than just baseline trauma-core.
The “crew vibe” is like a Viking motorcycle gang, like in a high-schoolers-stuck-in-hot-Vikings’ body kind of way with nicknames and camaraderie that is cringe but endearing. I’m a sucker for the found-family trope, so I loved these moments, especially since each character shines on their own.
After the aforementioned misogynistic monologue, Jonas completes his arc as the first book MMC when he interprets Silla taking off the talisman as a result of him rough handling her as a disrespectful act that requires rectification. But retaliating for Silla dumping him by turning her in? That was an unexpected twist, and I love that Demi Winters went this far with Jonas. Normally authors leave a door open for redemption of the first MMC, but all there is left for Jonas to do here is Rey to kill him when he finds him again.
As far as the main plot wrapping up, Silla being a secret heir is pretty discernible based on how the plot unfolds, as it usually does with lost princess arcs. The Queen using Galdra for nefarious purposes under the pretense for the good of the society is also another theme that hits relatively too close to the real world events. However the plot wrapped up intriguingly enough that I’m excited to see how Silla and her sister’s resolution will unfold in the second book, and how Rey will weave into this plot as he is primed to step up as the MMC Silla deserves in the second book and his big secret is revealed.
Which brings me to… drumroll please…
REY IS THE MURDERER?! HE IS GALDRA?! HE IS KIND OF A SHADOW DADDY??? HIS TATTOOS STORE THE GALDUR?? HELLO??? I mean, his power is more burning from within, at least within the scope of this book, but it’s dark and there was smoke, so he’s at least an honorary shadow daddy. Either way, that was a spectacular reveal, and it’s kind of hard to surprise me in books (barring my blind spot for the first book MMC apparently) but I SQUEALED when that was revealed. I cannot wait for Silla and Rey to talk about their magic in the next book, and please tell me there will be some close quarter training scenes where he’ll show her how to use her powers. This is the equivalent of a contemporary novel trope of the man teaching the woman how to play pool, change my mind.
I loved that despite being a bit of a damsel in distress throughout the book, all the self defense training with Hekla finally pays off. Silla actually escapes both of her threats on her own without assistance from Rey, A+ effort for showing up though Rey, and she practically frees herself.
Synopsis
Silla Meets Blood Axe Crew
Silla Nordvig lives with her father, traveling frequently from place to place. Though their life is unsettled, Silla is full of joy, content caring for her father, cooking, and working wherever they land. Occasionally, under the King’s orders, they are forced to attend brutal executions of magic users known as the Galdra.
After one such execution, her father decides it is time for them to flee. The world is a hard place for those touched by magic, and staying any longer is no longer safe. On their way out, they are stopped by guards who tell them Silla is wanted by the Queen and that she will be taken to the capital, Sunnavík.
Her father fights the warriors, taking on multiple men at once and shocking Silla with his skill. He manages to kill them all, but suffers a mortal wound in the process. As he dies, he tells Silla that he is not her real father and that she must go to Kopa.
In the aftermath, Silla begins to have visions of a small blonde girl who speaks to her. Confused and grieving, she falls asleep by the side of the road and is later awakened by a warrior. Something protects her during the encounter, though Silla does not understand what or why.
Elsewhere, a female guard named Skraeda is tasked with finding a girl with brown curly hair and a scar by her eye and bringing her to the Queen. Skraeda once had a life she cherished, until Signe discovered her Galdra.
Silla’s luck runs out when she is captured by a warband, only to be rescued by a Grimwolf.
Eventually, she comes across a wagon at an inn and sneaks inside. The wagon belongs to the Blood Axe crew, a renowned group of mercenaries. Silla bargains for her life in exchange for cooking for the crew and agreeing to help them barter with their former leader, Kraki.
Rey Axe Eyes, the crew’s leader, does not trust her and can tell Silla is hiding something. She meets the rest of the crew, Jonas, Gunnar, Hekla, and Ilias. Soon after, the crew is offered a job that promises a significant payout.
Rey reluctantly allows Silla to travel with the Blood Axe crew along the Road of Bones.
Silla’s Time on the Road of Bones
Rey knows Silla is hiding something, his initial suspicions confirmed when Silla lies about her name. He notices that Silla takes a leaf every night, something her father gave her to help with her headaches. Rey is openly hostile toward the leaves, telling her they are a dangerous drug and that they will eventually kill her. When she tries to stop taking them, Silla suffers from painful withdrawal headaches, and Rey warns her to be careful.
Meanwhile, Skraeda continues hunting for Silla, searching towns and travelers for information. When her progress does not move as quickly as the Queen expects, Skraeda is threatened, reminding her of what will happen if she fails.
Silla works hard to ingratiate herself with the Blood Axe crew. Rey has only agreed to help her reach their next stop, but Silla hopes that if she proves herself useful, they will escort her all the way to Kopa.
She begins growing closer to Jonas, with the two of them bantering and flirting. Rey, meanwhile, repeatedly tries to intimidate Silla into leaving the crew. When Silla finally confronts him about his constant pushback, she makes it clear she will not be frightened away so easily.
Jonas and Silla continue to grow closer, eventually sharing their first kiss.
During a drinking game with Rey and the rest of the Blood Axe crew, Silla lies again, which Rey immediately catches. He tells her he will not take her to Kopa because she is still keeping secrets.
Despite this, Jonas and Silla sleep together, keeping their relationship hidden from the rest of the crew. Around the same time, Silla begins learning self defense from the Blood Axe members.
Skraeda eventually discovers that Silla is traveling with the Blood Axe crew and learns their next destination.
Silla asks Rey to help her stop taking the leaves. As she goes through withdrawal, she begins speaking again with the mysterious girl from her visions, who tells Silla she needs to find her little sister.
While Silla recovers, she and Jonas begin sharing a bed and opening up about their pasts. Silla reveals that her mother was put to the pillar after taking responsibility for something Silla did. Silla explains that she has ash magic, which causes her body to glow when she channels it, and that witches in this kingdom are executed for their Galdra.
Jonas confesses that he killed his own father to protect his mother from abuse.
As they are confiding in each other, the crew is attacked. When Silla becomes afraid, she is primed, and her arms begin glowing with ash magic. She realizes that the leaves were suppressing her Galdra all along.
Silla does not tell anyone about her Galdra, though Rey clearly notices. He also questions why Jonas and Silla are sleeping in the same tent. When Rey discovers that Jonas has been with Silla against his direct orders, the two men come to blows.
The Road of Bones Ending Explained
The next day, they arrive in the city, and Jonas takes Silla to the city center. While there, Silla spots Skraeda in town and is immediately spooked, but she does not tell Jonas. Instead, she separates from him, telling him she will catch up with him later.
Skraeda confronts Silla and tells her she plans to take her to the Queen, along with her sister, the little girl Silla has been seeing in her hallucinations. Silla learns that she is not truly Silla, but Eisa Volsik, the lost heir to the throne.
Jonas realizes Silla is still keeping secrets from him and deduces that she must be important. He demands answers, and Silla tells him the truth, except for revealing her true identity. Wanting to stop deceiving the people who helped her, she decides to tell Rey as well. The Blood Axe crew chooses to stand by her.
That night, they are ambushed at their campsite. Silla is instructed to hide in the forest, but Ilias Svik, Jonas’s brother, is killed while trying to protect her.
The crew is devastated. Jonas turns on Silla in his grief, while Rey tells her that bringing her into the crew was his greatest regret.
Overcome by loss, Jonas doses Silla with the leaves, intending to turn her in for the reward. His plan is to buy back his family’s farm and restore honor to his family.
Silla passes out, and while unconscious, she hallucinates her sister once again. When she wakes, she finds herself locked in a cell. Rey eventually learns what Jonas has done and, despite calling Silla annoying and troublesome, realizes he cares for her. He decides to go after her.
The commander summons Silla and brings her to dinner. There, he undresses her and announces his intent to experiment on her. Silla fights back and kills the commander, then escapes by jumping out a window, only to run straight into Rey.
Rey apologizes to Silla for leaving her behind and asks to stay with her.
In the epilogue, Saga, Silla’s older sister, is summoned by the Queen. Saga is encouraged to spend more time in court, as she is engaged to the crown prince, Bjorn.
After she is dismissed, Saga overhears guards talking. She learns that her sister Eisa is alive and has escaped both the prison and the commander. Believing her sister dead all this time, Saga is filled with hope by the news.
Spicy Chapters
How spicy is The Road of Bones? 🌶️🌶️🌶️
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 48
That wraps up The Road of Bones. What do you think of the Ashen series so far, and which book is your favorite? I personally can’t wait to read Dawn of the North, and I’m very ready to be emotionally ruined again.
Sign up for our newsletter if you want to be notified when new posts go live, including our upcoming coverage.
Until next time 🪓⚔️
Leave a Comment