The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (ARC Review)

Title: The Bone Houses
Author: Emily Lloyd-Jones
Type: Fiction
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Horror
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
(Hachette Book Group)
Date published: September 24, 2019

A physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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 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.

⤖ My Review ⬻

Before I dive into the story and anything else to do with the interior of the book, I just want to point out how absolutely beautiful the cover of The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones is! I love how nicely the skull stands out on the minimalist black background, and the detailing on the skull is just incredible. Gah. Okay, now that I got that out of the way (and that I spent five minutes just staring at this beautiful cover), I’m ready to dive into the plot and characters and stuff. I really wanted to read The Bone Houses on or around Halloween but fell behind on my reading so didn’t get around to reading this book until midway through November.

That being said, I found that the setting and atmosphere made this a horror book that doesn’t necessarily have to be read around Halloween at all! I was very intrigued by the main cast of characters, as well as the setting. I’ve read a number of books about, or featuring, fae folk but have never come across a book that represented them and their magic quite the way that The Bone Houses did. I like how the characters were represented in this book and I also liked how the story itself was told. Plot-wise, I found that I predicted something long before it happened, but that there were also a lot of other occurrences that took me completely by surprise. So, all in all, I definitely enjoyed reading The Bone Houses and wouldn’t mind being transported to this world again.

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Emily Lloyd-Jones grew up on a vineyard in rural Oregon, where she played in evergreen forests and learned to fear sheep. After graduating from Western Oregon University with an English degree, she enrolled in the publishing program at Rosemont College just outside of Philadelphia. She currently resides in Northern California, working in a bookstore by day and writing by night.