This was such a cute quick fast heartwarming read. It’s a sapphic fantasy with the premise of having to race against time in order to save one another and live one the lives they always wanted. I loved the adventure that took place and enjoyed the small flashbacks. Definitely recommend.

It was a passable read. I was really anticipating reading this book. I enjoy both fantasy and retellings.

This was only okay; I had hoped for a bit more. For such a small book, it took me a long time to read it, because I wasn´t drawn to picking it back up. Beautiful cover though.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

4/10

Ohh I read this a long long time ago and just now realized it was an ARC and I was supossed to write a review about it.

Welp.

Here we go (with what I can remember).

It felt weak.

From the beginning everything was unconvincing. The way each person acted, the way they conversed... I can't really explain it but the only thing this book had going on for it is the wlw part? But even that was.. lukewarm?

Okay, it really wasn't that bad, most things aren't - I just get frustrated and disappointed which leads to me being unable to control those feelings while I write reviews. After I finish the book, especially every day romance type of thing, something that's not that new or interesting (like here), I'll mostly forget what's going on but I'll always remember how it made me feel.

And this book made me feel sceptical of most things in the story. By the time I was done with half I'd just wanted to finish it already.

I think that the problem with that was mostly the length of the book. It's a novella and it definitely my fault I didn't see that before reading it. Would I read it still? If I knew? No.

Can something really be said about a different world than ours in 160 pages? A world that would need way more details to be convincing.

Yes, their love was a cute part, sure (didn't really care for it to be honest which is rare thing with me), but the best thing about this book was, by far, the cover. The power of it's graphic promised such an adventurous tale that I feel a bit tricked as well.

I was sold as soon as I read based on Orpheus and Eurydice. Transplanted to fantasy world of magic and innovation, Cressida has disappeared into the Shadow Realms to deal with the Princess of that realm for a cure for the poison killing her wife Teagan. Teagan refuses to let her wife go alone and follows to rescue her. It’s a romantic and sapphic retelling of a well known Greek myth.

The characters were engaging and interesting, although we almost exclusively have Trang for the first part of the book. The inclusion of flashbacks helped build the relationship between Teagan and Cress enough that I was more invested by the time they’re reunited. But I would have liked more time with them building up to their reunion. We just get a few key moments of their relationship.

There is some interesting discussions of grief and healing, but very shallowly. We're told about Teagan's grief about her mother, told how Teagan feels, but we don’t see it. We don’t see how the grief affects her or how she healed, beyond falling in love with Cress. I wanted to see more of this as well.

The ultimate problem is that I feel this suffers from being a novella. We get a lot of info dumping in the first couple chapters to world build, and we’re told all is this info, instead of being shown the world and what it means to the characters. Each interesting bit of world lore is mentioned and then breezed past as the plot quickly moves on. I think this story would have been better if it was long enough for us to have time to actually sink into the Teagan’s trials. Everything felt rushed.

SPOILERS There is no “bury your gays” here. ❤️

I got to 30% and I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't feel empathy for any of the characters, for what was happening to them, their memories, the romance felt rushed, no chemistry, and although the world looked intriguing, the style didn't work for me.

Novellas are hit or miss for me. I liked the premise of this one and the characters and the writing was beautiful. I actually felt the flashbacks were executed really well, despite what other reviewers have said. And the world building was actually not bad for such a short book in a fantasy world.

What it lacked was the emotional connection, and I honestly think there just wasn’t enough time to tell the story and fully develop the characters and their relationships. The journey into The Bone Way would have been so much more climatic, the stakes so much higher, if we were already invested in their love story. I also think there is so much more to be told about the princess - her story could be so much more intricate, her choices more ethically ambiguous than they appear on the surface. I think there’s enough story here for a full book so I don’t know why the author went the novella route. I enjoyed it but would have enjoyed it more if I could’ve connected with the characters prior to their journey.

“The Bone Way” by Holly J. Underhill is enlivened by the fantasy of Orpheus and Eurydice, however sapphic and witches. The story begins with Teagan’s better half Cressidae disappearing. She passed on Taegan to head out to the Shadow Realm where she is looking for a remedy for a toxic substance that has gradually been killing Taegan. Cressidae desires to discover the Shadow Princess who is supposed to assist the people who with overseeing tracking down her in the wake of going through the hazardous domain. Taegan realizes how hazardous this is, so she leaves without a moment’s delay to discover and help her significant other. Being in the Shadow Realm powers Taegan to stand up to the risk she is in just as in her past.

I was hoping to like this much more than I wound up doing. A few things turned out badly for me, yet the most important is the length, or rather the wasteful utilization of the length of the book. This book is truly short, it’s more of a prequel instead of a novella-length book. I felt like we were simply tossed into the story with no notice, or possibly it seemed like it. I would have enjoyed the plot more if we were not tossed into the superfast plot.

I feel like the author can now go and compose a decent series in the world, as this book only had the introduction of several characters, which I feel, can be important if the series continues. However, in this book, the characters were not developed, I never truly got them. The worst character was the Shadow Princess, I felt that this character had so much potential to improve but unfortunately, it didn’t happen. More understanding of why she turned into how she did was needed. I additionally had a couple of issues with the composition of the sentiment, it felt extremely juvenile to me. In general, while it was a charming read, I didn’t adore this and felt like its maximum capacity wasn’t reached. I would recommend it to anybody searching for a short getaway into a delightful world, with a setup sentiment, and bossy leads.

The bones were there for this to be a fantastic book. The conceit of a sapphic retelling of Orpheus and Euripides is very compelling, and I liked the characters generally, but it didn't feel like there was enough there to fully round out the story and not make it feel rushed or incomplete. It would have been great as a full length novel.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Bone Way was a good book. It was just a very short book. One that I wished was a lot longer than what I got. Mostly because I wanted more from the characters and the overall story. Which, again, don't get me wrong - I liked them. Probably more than liked. I just think things moved a bit quicker than they would have if the book was longer. It could just be me thinking this though.

In this, you will meet Cress and Teagan. We don't really know much about them in the beginning other than being married. When one goes missing, the other packs their belongings to go find them. Then there's talk about the Shadow Princess along the way. Other than that, we do get some drama and adventure with an interesting ending.

The reason why I wanted this book to be longer is because we really don't get to see what Cress and Teagan are like. I get that they love one another and would go through anyone and anything to get to the other. I just wanted to know more about them so that I could get fully invested in their love story. Besides that, we could also get more information or story for the Shadow Princess.

In the end, it was a good book and had potential to be something more (in my eyes). It was an interesting story with a romance that one could only hope to have one day. I'm very happy that I got the chance to dive into this book and I'll definitely be on the lookout for Holly's next book.

Amazing short f/f story omg, it NEEDS to become a movie or expanded into a Netflix show please!! I loved the relationship so much and how the author made me care about a separated couple takes amazing skills.

The Bone Way is a short LGBT+ retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. This component of the book is what initially drew me in, but unfortunately the book felt a little flat for me. The book wasn't bad, it was just...okay.

I think the reason behind this is because I didn't find that I was swept up in the romance and the passion between the two characters, and I believe that's because the book is so short.

The writing style was great, but the book just didn't gel with me,

"The Bone Way" is a fun quick sapphic read. If you're in a reading slump and looking for a fast-paced adventure to pull you out, then this is something I would recommend. The characters are strong-willed and their love for each other is very apparent through the entire novel. If you don't like lesbian stereotypes then you might not find this book as enjoyable, however I couldn't help but giggle at the lesbians with cats getting married after a year of dating. The author provides enough detail for the ever-changing scenery to still be pictured, while ensuring the book still reads easily, and allows for the readers own interpretation. My only issue with the book was the ending being too simple. I wanted more drama for what happened, but I guess you just can't have it all. Trigger warnings for death of a family member, skeletons, creepy creatures, and decaying bodies.

I am disappointed with this book. I was expecting one thing and received another. It had potential but it was not well written.

The Bone Way is a short sapphic Orpheus and Eurydice retelling following Teagan as she is on her way to save her wife Cressidae from the Shadow Realm. I love the story of Orpheus and Eurydice so I had high hopes, but unfortunately it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. It wasn't bad, it was just okay.

The main reason for my disappointment was the romance. I just didn't feel it. The history of the two main characters was told in flashbacks. Usually I love flashbacks, but in this case it was too much in too little pages.

The present day story was fine! It had a quick, comfortable pacing and the writing style was easy to follow. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author!

This isn't more of an Orpheus & Eurydice retelling than any other katabasis story from around the world. In fact, the only reason I am categorizing The Bone Way specifically as a mythology retelling is that the tragic couple from ancient myth are directly alluded to in the text. In this, and every other way, the novella was painfully average, I'm afraid. And for a story this short to take me over a month to get through? Not a good sign. But there is something about the plot, about the worldbuilding even, that comes close to a middle grade reading level when it's clearly advertised as an adult (love) story - the main antagonist is simply titled "Shadow Princess", for god's sake. A little more creativity?

Leaves you craving for more, so much more. It was adorable, the romance, you can take away this much from me. I loved how the flashbacks were balanced in the story, most of the time I do not appreciate the flashbacks since the way they're written breaks the flow for me. But yes, I loved it in this one. I would have really really appreciated more pages and story, to be honest. But the short length did not change the fact that I loved it.

The Bone Way by Holly J. Underhill [Nyx Publishing, 2021]

I've been interested in The Bone Way since the pitch of "sapphic Orpheus and Eurydice retelling" reached me, and Holly J. Underhill's version puts two intriguing characters into a secondary world katabasis (side note: did you know "descent into the underworld" has a special word?) scenario. So we follow Teagan, a young woman dying from a slow, fatal poisoning, and her wife Cressidae, who insists on trying every avenue to save her. At the outset of the story, it's Cress who is trapped in the underworld, having left without Teagan to see if she can bargain for her wife's life from the Queen down there. Teagan wasn't willing to descend to save herself, but when it's Cress' life on the line, she's got more than enough courage to make the journey, and to try and negotiate the return - with a trick involved, of course.

There's lots of intriguing elements to The Bone Way: its quest, while quite episodic, is a lot of fun to watch, and the concept of this world's underworld being the result of a terrestrial ruler's decision has a lot of interesting implications. The main story is interspersed with flashbacks from earlier in Teagan and Cress' relationship, showing how they meet and grow close as well as the impact of Teagan's illness. The pair are, perhaps, a bit similar in personality, but it's satisfying to read two women who are both willing to be strong for each other, and the section after Teagan arrives in the underworld, when they're both frustrated and trying to communicate their pain to the other over their respective decisions, makes for a particularly interesting dynamic.

Where The Bone Way struggles is in turning the weight of the source myth into a story with equally weighty implications. It shouldn't be a spoiler to say that The Bone Way isn't a tragedy, and while it makes the journey from the underworld tense (I won't spoil how that's done), by midway through there are enough clues in the tone for a reader to know this isn't going to end with the kind of mistake poor Orphy made. With that cat out of the bag, The Bone Way's route to being a satisfying story is to wrap up its relationship story in a strong way, and it does - but Orpheus and Eurydice is such a powerful and heartbreaking tale, and especially if one has both Hadestown and the side story of Supergiant Games' Hades in one's recent cultural consciousness (as I do), the relatively easy emotional ride of The Bone Way suffers from the comparison. That's a shame, because this is a sweet novella that should be able to stand on its own charms - but its own premise makes that more difficult than it should be.

Rating: 6/10

I unfortunately decided to DNF this novella.

I was intrigued by the concept (especially the Orpheus and Eurydice aspect), but couldn't really get into it. The writing very much felt like it was telling and not showing, so I found it hard to connect to the story and the characters. There’s a possibility I could’ve enjoyed the latter part of the book more, but it was so difficult to get into that I’m not sure how the latter part compared to the early part of the book.