The Bone Houses – Emily Lloyd-Jones

Look at this amazing cover! I love how the picture turned out and fits the dark mood of the book. Sadly, it is the best part about it, I really couldn’t get into the story, and ended up disappointed. I had high hopes as I had really enjoyed Emily Lloyd-Jones’ first book, The Hearts We Sold. So without further ado, here’s my review.

PUBLICATION DATE: 24/09/2019

STAR RATING: 3/5 ✶

SUMMARY: Ryn is a grave digger. In her village, that comes with additional responsibilities: The so-called bone houses (aka zombies) rise in the nearby forest and need to be taken apart and burned. But they have begun coming out from between the trees and attacking the village. When Ellis, a mapmaker, arrives, they set out together to try and solve the mystery behind the bone houses.

OPINIONS: I started writing this review ages ago, and I keep pushing it out further and further, and I think it’s because the more I think about this book, the more annoyed I get. I really wanted to love it, as it sounds dark and morbid, and the cover makes it look like it’s right up my alley, but then, the execution is just …your standard YA fairy tale, and nothing about it was surprising. And now it’s the featured book for September in my favourite book crate (where it’s part of an AMAZING theme and what sounds like a great box) and I have to skip it because of this silly book, which doesn’t help my opinion of it any.

I’m not saying it’s bad. Not at all. I’m saying it’s not for me. If you’re me approximately 5 years ago (so, about 1000 fantasy books ago), you’d probably like it. A lot. All the elements for a good read are present, and there’s even comic relief in form of an undead goat. Even present-me loved the undead goat. The undead goat is great. For me, it just ended up being one of those books I had seemingly read a hundred times before. Maybe I was more critical because I read it in the wake of some of the best books I read this year, such as Gideon the Ninth, Magic for Liars or Serpent and Dove, all of whom are proudly unique.

Anyway, lots of others seem to really love it, so go and make up your own mind – here’s the link to Goodreads and BookDepository as usual!