I gave this a three out of five stars, it was okay. I think my niece would enjoy this. I think others will enjoy this.

An intriguing, spooky, thrilling debut from this author. Author shows great imagination and I look forward to reading more from her.

So really if The Bone Garden were a stop motion movie like Coraline, I would probably be raving about it: I can picture the whole thing in my head. Lonely Irréelle, made by the creepy, cruel Miss Vesper out of bones, dust, and imagination, haunts the passages beneath the graveyard, collecting bone dust for her creator and dreaming of what it would be like to be a real girl. Irréelle will do anything to win Miss Vesper’s affection, but Miss Vesper is never happy with her, constantly threatening to imagine Irréelle right out of existence. One night, Irréelle does something she’s never done before: She defies Miss Vesper and runs away deep into the tunnels. There, she’ll find her first friends and the secret Miss Vesper has been guarding for so long.

Can’t you see it? All those spooky underground tunnels? The tree roots twisted around old coffins? All the mysterious shadows? And the bone-thin figure of Irréelle creeping through? That Gothic atmosphere is absolutely the best part of this middle grades novel; the story itself feels a little thin. Irréelle is well-realized, but the other characters don’t feel as believable, and the resolution is choppy and unsatisfying. I’d totally watch a movie version, though.

We all have bones inside of our bodies, right? Of course! But what if you were made from bone dust? Irréelle lives with her cruel creator, Miss Vesper. Irréelle lives a simple life - she lives to serve Miss Vesper. Everyday Irréelle has to go to the basement to collect the bone dust for Miss Vesper's experiments. But lately Irréelle seems to be making mistakes and an irritated Miss Vesper threatens to turn her back to dust and create a new creature. When Irréelle seems to make the ultimate mistake, she destroyed one of Miss Vesper's creations, she runs away to the bone garden, the area beneath the cemetery. This is where she meets Guy, a former servant to Miss Vesper who went missing months ago. Together, Irréelle and Guy go on a mission in the graveyard to find what Miss Vesper is always searching for. When they stumble upon Lass, Miss Vesper's newest creation, they all have to try to uncover the mystery that Miss Vesper is hiding before she turns them all to dust.

This is such a sweet story of friendship, standing up for one another, and standing up for yourself. The story does have a creepy undertone but not a super scary book. Irréelle will capture your heart and before the book is over you will want to wrap your arms around her! I loved this book!

While slow at times, I truly enjoyed this gothic middle grade story of a girl who wants nothing more than to be real.

Equal parts chilling and fun, The Bone Garden is a great read for middle grade readers! Even though the book is not meant for my age, I still found myself enjoying this creepy read, something my younger self would have either loved or been terrified of.

Irréelle is made of bone dust and Miss Vesper's imagination--and Miss Vesper never lets her forget it. With an appearance Miss Vesper finds distasteful, the young girl only finds friends amongst the departed within the Bone Garden. But, after an incident where Miss Vesper feels Irréelle has made one too many mistakes, she threatens Irréelle with something the young girl never thought possible--to imagine her out of existence. Fleeing the only home she's ever known, Irréelle descends into the Bone Garden and begins the biggest adventure of her life, unraveling the mystery surrounding Miss Vesper and her own existence.

But, it's more than just it's chilling premise--inside, readers find friendship that can overcome any obstacle, the fears we all . have of being good enough or accepted, and sticking up for yourself (and your friends) when it's not easy. Laced with important messages, The Bone Garden has much to offer the reader.

A haunting debut told in the tradition of Neil Gaiman and Roald Dahl. Irreelle collects bone dust and other ingredients for her benefactor, the cold and distant Miss Vesper. She is constantly berated by Miss Vesper and appears clumsy due to her legs not matching up and her wandering mind. All this does is irritate Miss Vesper until one day when Irreelle is told from the dust she came and to the dust, she can return to anytime Miss Vesper pleases as those other helpers have gone before her. This causes Irreelle to flee to the underside of the graveyard where she meets a most unusual boy and the two begin an adventure few would ever dream of above. The setting is eerie, the writing is magical and the characters are enchanting (or enchanted) - middle schoolers will snatch this up for some late-night reading. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

The middle-grade reading spree continues with The Bone Garden. I got a free ARC of this creepy but cute little book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I didn’t think necromancy could be the cute, but alas, it was. In spite of its cuteness, I wasn’t as engaged with The Bone Garden as I hoped to be, but I still enjoyed it.

The main character, Irréelle, was adorable even though she was essentially made of dead people’s bones. For a creature most would label as a “monster” she was kind and often put others before herself. Early in the book, I got very annoyed at how she loved her creator even though the woman was cruel and abusive, but towards the end, I was very happy when Irréelle learned to stand up for herself.

However, the side characters were flat and didn’t have much of an arc. They were good friends for Irréelle, but they didn’t change or grow like she did. Even though I loved seeing Irréelle’s friendship with them bloom, I got a little bored watching them stay the same while she developed.

The antagonist, Miss Vesper, was too cliche for me.

The story and plot were a little more complex than I expected, and there were a couple times where I was actually surprised. There were some scary moments, but for the most part, the book was just morbid in a cute way. There was necromancy and bones were the morbid part, but the character and her friendships were the cute.

The prose were accessible but not bland.

This would be a great story for a kid who likes things like bones, worms, and dirt, but doesn’t want to be too scared by what he/she/they are reading.

I love this book so much! I'm a student of depth psychology, and this story speaks to me about the shadow self. I love that it's am eerie look at who we believe we are based on our experiences and reflections in how others perceive us. I would recommend this to people of any age, not just middle grade.

I adored this story. Suffused with an eerie Victorian Gothic feel, THE BONE GARDEN follows Irreelle, a girl created by the cold Miss Vesper. Irreelle is told that she is not truly real, that she could be magicked away with just a thought from Miss Vesper. In spite of this, Irreelle is deeply loyal to her creator and longs to be loved and accepted. This, she knows, would *make* her real.

She is tasked with collecting bone dust from the catacombs beneath the house. This bone dust can be used to restore youth and animate what is not alive. Irreelle does this faithfully...until she is no longer useful to Miss Vesper.

This story features beautiful prose, dark humor, and delightfully macabre adventures for Irreelle and her friends Guy and Lass. It is a story about belonging and love and life and death that will stay with you and that young readers will absolutely eat up! Highly recommend!

This story of a young girl or maybe creature who desires to please her master and be loved. Irreelle must navigate the creepy underground passageways to collect bone dust that will keep Miss. Vesper forever young. Collecting bone dust is not the only thing Irrelle must do. She must find the location of the unmarked grave or face destruction like those who went before her. This story will definitely cause a chill down your spine.

Usually I don’t go for a middle grade title but this one intrigued me enough to pick it up, I enjoyed it a lot, I would say it is great for the young reader who likes creepies (goosebumps, etc.).

The Bone Garden was delightfully creepy Tim Burton-esque fairy-tale for middle-grade readers. The setting and language of the become characters unto themselves. The perspective of a creepy bone and black magic creation as an innocent is an interesting take on fairy-tale culture. As a fan of dark fairy tales and classic tales of hope and love, this book hit all the right places for me. The pacing was perfect and the descriptions were rich enough to call words to life, just like in the story.

This novel started out kind of slow but picked up steam as I read more. Miss Vesper has created a ghostly girl for reasons only she know. The girl, Irrelle, finds two other beings, Lass and Guy and they go on a quest to find something Miss Vesper desperately wants. Will they find it before Miss Vesper gets rid of them? Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my honest review.

Right off the bat, I was hooked into this book. That opening scene, I just couldn’t contain my excitement. Honestly, this was a book with a dark atmosphere that blended so well with a magical feel that I kept devouring the pages in front of me. I needed to know more about Irréelle and her life.

I really enjoyed the writing style in this book. I feel into the story so easily, that one, I didn’t realize just how quickly I was flying through the book, and two I didn’t realize at all what was happening around me. That was how invested I was in this story and it’s characters. I think one of the biggest things I enjoyed the most as well was the way the magic was in this world. I mean, bone dust and cinnamon? It couldn’t have been more perfect.

That artwork in this book was also really nicely done. Is it odd to say it was almost cute? It shouldn't be because some were literally coffins and living hands, but I loved the whole vibe about it. Over all, this was just a great book.

Perfect for fans of The Night Gardener and Small Spaces, The Bone Garden is a perfect addition to the growing creepy MG genre. Lyrical writing creates an immersive environment that propels a quiet yet still engaging story. Readers who love subtle stories will definitely enjoy this book.

A wonderful and heartfelt book for kids with the feel of Disney's The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is scary, but a fun kind of scary for young children.

Reading THE BONE GARDEN is much like reading a Grimm fairy tale, the language is lush and the setting is as beautiful as it is daringly dark. I ached with Irréelle’s yearning to gain the love of her creator Miss Vesper. Her willingness to do anything to please so that Miss Vesper won’t “imagine her away” is heartbreaking. Irréelle journeys to the underside of the graveyard to garner the favor of her creator by retrieving magical bone dust. It is through these errands and her desire to please Miss Vesper, that she hopes to fulfill her ultimate wish to be made a “real girl.” But when those hopes are dashed, she finds an alliance with Guy, a kindred spirit who has also experienced Miss Vesper’s wrath. With this friendship, Irréelle learns that she can be brave and find true acceptance. This novel is full of gothic atmosphere and mystery. Highly recommended.

This book was wonderful. A Sally from the "Nightmare Before Christmas" for middle graders. Poignant and full of heart (and bone dust.)

I received a digital ARC of this book from Netgalley. This is a wonderfully creepy, Tim-Burton-esque book. (There were elements of The Corpse Bride in it that I loved.) Not too scary for middle grade readers. I loved Irréelle's development over the course of the book, and the novel's overall message about the power of friendship. I have some issues with how this book portrayed abuse; Miss Vesper is a very Mother Gothel type character and the story is told through Irréelle's perspective so at the very beginning we see her (misplaced) devotion to Miss Vesper. I won't address that more due to spoilers, but I'm interested to see if I was the only one who wan't 100% happy with how that plot point was carried out. The illustrations are wonderful and creepy and really work to support the overall feel of the book.

Perfect for budding horror fans who aren't quite ready to jump to darker works. (OR for kids who want to be creeped out but not scared.)