The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 24th, 2019
Rating: 5 Stars
Source: TheNovl
Format: Physical ARC
Pages: 352
Summary (from Goodreads):
Seventeen-year-old Aderyn ("Ryn") only cares about two things: her family, and her family's graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don't always stay dead.
The risen corpses are known as "bone houses," and legend says that they're the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it about Ellis that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?
Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.
**I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
The Bone Houses follows Ryn, a gravedigger from the small village of Colbren, through a forest in medieval Wales as she tries to end a curse that brings back the dead every night. Along with her new friend, Ellis, who is a mapmaker, and a dead goat, she makes her way to the abandoned fortress of the Otherking to find and destroy the cauldron of rebirth, which is supposed to give life.
So.. I loved this book. I don't know what it is with me and books about reanimated corpses, but I love them so much.
I loved our main character, Ryn. Since her father disappeared, she has taken over his position digging graves for the villagers to earn money for her family. In fact, she seems to be entirely motivated by her family in one way or another. She will do whatever she has to do for her brother and sister. Her main reasons for helping Ellis with creating his map of the mountains are to get coin for her family and to see if she can find her father.
She is also one of the only people who believes in the bone houses, who generally stay within the confines of the forest. Until something changes and they start to venture out further and even begin to attack her village. She has taken to spending nights outside of the village to keep an eye on the bone houses and taking care of any that get too adventurous with the axe that she carries around with her.
I really liked Ellis as well. He is so dedicated to his mapmaking. His motivation with his maps seems to be to make sure that people don't get lost in their travels and villages and their people don't get forgotten about because nobody can find them. He has chronic pain from an injury he received as a child. I can't speak to whether it's good rep for chronic pain or not, though. His history is super interesting.
I really enjoyed the romance in this book. It's super slow burn. Ryn and Ellis get along so well in this book, that was something that I really appreciated about them. And it never feels like either of them were really chasing the other. It just kind of felt like they accidentally fell for each other on their journey. So more of this book felt like it was about what the characters were trying to accomplish rather than building a romance.
This story seems to be based heavily on Welsh mythology which, I thought was really interesting. I liked the questions about whether or not death changes a person. Are the bone houses just mindless zombies? Or are they just themselves, but dead? I liked the descriptions in this book. I thought the writing was lovely without being overly flowery.
Overall, I really liked this book! I didn't want to put it down while I was reading and I already have a finished copy preordered! If you're into dark standalones, Welsh mythology, ReAnImAtEd CoRpSeS(!!!), and slow-burn romance, I would recommend this book. It would be a perfect, atmospheric read for the spooky season.
Have you read this book or are you looking forward to it?
The Bone Houses follows Ryn, a gravedigger from the small village of Colbren, through a forest in medieval Wales as she tries to end a curse that brings back the dead every night. Along with her new friend, Ellis, who is a mapmaker, and a dead goat, she makes her way to the abandoned fortress of the Otherking to find and destroy the cauldron of rebirth, which is supposed to give life.
So.. I loved this book. I don't know what it is with me and books about reanimated corpses, but I love them so much.
I loved our main character, Ryn. Since her father disappeared, she has taken over his position digging graves for the villagers to earn money for her family. In fact, she seems to be entirely motivated by her family in one way or another. She will do whatever she has to do for her brother and sister. Her main reasons for helping Ellis with creating his map of the mountains are to get coin for her family and to see if she can find her father.
She is also one of the only people who believes in the bone houses, who generally stay within the confines of the forest. Until something changes and they start to venture out further and even begin to attack her village. She has taken to spending nights outside of the village to keep an eye on the bone houses and taking care of any that get too adventurous with the axe that she carries around with her.
I really liked Ellis as well. He is so dedicated to his mapmaking. His motivation with his maps seems to be to make sure that people don't get lost in their travels and villages and their people don't get forgotten about because nobody can find them. He has chronic pain from an injury he received as a child. I can't speak to whether it's good rep for chronic pain or not, though. His history is super interesting.
I really enjoyed the romance in this book. It's super slow burn. Ryn and Ellis get along so well in this book, that was something that I really appreciated about them. And it never feels like either of them were really chasing the other. It just kind of felt like they accidentally fell for each other on their journey. So more of this book felt like it was about what the characters were trying to accomplish rather than building a romance.
This story seems to be based heavily on Welsh mythology which, I thought was really interesting. I liked the questions about whether or not death changes a person. Are the bone houses just mindless zombies? Or are they just themselves, but dead? I liked the descriptions in this book. I thought the writing was lovely without being overly flowery.
Overall, I really liked this book! I didn't want to put it down while I was reading and I already have a finished copy preordered! If you're into dark standalones, Welsh mythology, ReAnImAtEd CoRpSeS(!!!), and slow-burn romance, I would recommend this book. It would be a perfect, atmospheric read for the spooky season.
Have you read this book or are you looking forward to it?
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