What happened in Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh - Recaptains

The basics

Title: Ivory and Bone

Author: Julie Eshbaugh

Series: Ivory and Bone #1

- Ivory and Bone (2016)
- Obsidian and Stars (2017)
- Untitled (2018)

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

Hunting, gathering, and keeping his family safe—that’s the life seventeen-year-old Kol knows. Then bold, enigmatic Mya arrives from the south with her family, and Kol is captivated. He wants her to like and trust him, but any hopes of impressing her are ruined when he makes a careless—and nearly grave—mistake. However, there’s something more to Mya’s cool disdain…a history wrought with loss that comes to light when another clan arrives. With them is Lo, an enemy from Mya’s past who Mya swears has ulterior motives.

As Kol gets to know Lo, tensions between Mya and Lo escalate until violence erupts. Faced with shattering losses, Kol is forced to question every person he’s trusted. One thing is for sure: this was a war that Mya or Lo—Kol doesn’t know which—had been planning all along.

Here is a spoiler summary of what happened in Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh to help refresh your memory before you read the sequel.

in short

Mya is dying and Kol is telling her the story of how they met. Mya’s clan came to Kol’s clan to try to find a mate (I hate that word) for Mya. Things don’t go so well. A third clan arrives which includes Lo, a woman who has taken over as leader after her father’s death. Turns out that Lo’s and Mya’s clans used to be one big clan but they split up after some disagreements. There’s fighting. Mya gets injured and Kol tries to save her. Lo dies.

what happened in Ivory and Bone?

• The book opens with an injured Mya. Kol starts to tell her a story to keep her awake.
• Kol goes hunting with his brother, father, Chev of the Olen clan and his two sisters, Mya and Seeri.
• Kol gets chased by a sabre toothed cat because he is hopeless. Mya saves him.
• Kol’s clan and Mya’s clan haven’t been happy with each other for five years. Kol doesn’t know why.
• Kol’s mother tells him to speak to Mya because she thinks they’re a good match.
• Kol asks his mother what happened between the two clans. Apparently someone from Kol’s clan accidentally killed someone from Mya’s clan while on a hunt. Someone from Mya’s clan killed the original accidental killer in retaliation.
• Kol goes to see Mya and tries to give her some honey (not a euphemism) but she won’t take it.
• Mya, Seeri, and Chev are leaving.
• Pek and Seeri like each other but Seeri is promised to someone else. The trip kind of went tits up because it was to find someone for Mya, not Seeri.
• Roon returns to the village and says he spotted another clan joining them. This clan also has girls which means marriage could be on the cards.
• Pek and Kol go hunting and they talk about Seeri.
• Pek goes to visit the Olen clan on his own.
• Roon wants to visit this new clan but Kol’s father refuses.
• Kol goes after Pek because he’s not back yet. He is injured on the trip but he reaches the Olen village. The chief, Chev, thanks Kol for killing the cat that was killing his people.
• Pek hasn’t been able to convince Chev about him and Seeri yet.
• Kol’s family arrives. They discover that Seeri is already betrothed and they’re not happy.
• Roon goes off with Mya’s other sister, Lees. Lees nearly drowns but Roon saves her and Kol helps them back to shore.
• Kol and his family return home in canoes. Kol spots boats on the horizon but he doesn’t know who they are.
• They get home and there are strangers in the village. They’re from the Bosha clan, which includes Pek’s ex-flame. The High Elder’s daughter, Lo, is among them.
• Kol’s mother tries to set Kol up with Lo, and Pek up with Shava. Pek doesn’t want to go for it because he loves Seeri. Pek rejects Shava again, and she develops a crush on Kol.
• Mya and Seeri show up and are rude to Lo.
• Turns out that the Bosha and Olen clans were joined but they split up five years ago. Just before everything went down, Mya’s father started to change how the clan worked. He preferred fishing and gathering to hunting animals. Lo got lost one evening and Mya’s family blamed Lo for it. The clan split when both Lo’s father and Chev wanted to lead the clan.
• Shava follows Kol around like a lost puppy.
• Kol comes across Mya and they share some honey. Mya says she was betrothed to someone who died. Her family came to Kol’s clan to find someone new for her.
• Mya tells Kol that her clan came across his five years ago when they were travelling south. They all went on a hunt, a guy from Kol’s clan killed Mya’s mother by accident, and Chev killed the guy in retaliation. The guy’s wife threw a spear at the kayaks and killed Mya’s lover.
• Kol tells Mya what he learnt about the split from Lo. Mya says it’s not true but she won’t tell him the rest of the story.
• Chev announces that Seeri’s current betrothal is ending. Pek tells Kol that he isn’t allowed to marry Seeri until Kol finds someone to marry too.
• Shava’s mother wants Shava to get with Kol. Kol says he’s not interested. Kesh proposes to Shava and she accepts.
• Shava tells Chev that Lo is plotting to kill him as she is the High Elder of their clan now. Apparently Lo has been turning people in her clan against Chev. She sent a bunch of people out on a scouting trip to keep them out of the way while she plotted against Chev.
• Shava and her mother tell the others how Lo’s father died. Lo tried swimming towards a mammoth to kill as everyone was starving. She nearly died, Lo’s father rescued her and died himself. Lo found a dead mammoth for the clan to eat.
• Lo is jealous of how well Chev’s clan has done since they went south.
• Kol goes to find Lo. Lo says she believes that her father was the rightful clan leader. She wants the other half of her clan back.
• Lo’s people go to battle with Chev’s clan.
• Kol runs home. His village is on fire. The clan puts the flames out.
• Kol goes to warn Chev’s clan. He tries to beat the storm. He eventually reaches Mya. He’s not in a good way. Mya gets him to a cave and warms him up.
• The two of them go to warn Chev about Lo. Lo’s clan arrives and Chev gets hit by a spear. Chev doesn’t want to fight back because there’s innocent people there.
• Kol fights with Orn. Orn falls off a cliff.
• Kol finds Mya’s necklace on the ground and goes looking for her. It turns out that Lo found her and they fought. Mya ran to the canyon. Mya doesn’t know where Lo went. Kol takes Mya to the cave. This is the point where the book starts.
• They kiss.

how did it end?

Lo dies from falling into a ravine. Kol and Mya return to the clans. Mya starts acting weird around Kol. Lo and Orn’s bodies get delivered to their clan. Orn’s mother gives Chev a peace offering and apologises for Lo and Orn’s treachery. Everyone goes to Lo’s and Orn’s funeral. Kol and Mya make up.

That’s what happened in Ivory and Bone! Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!