So much yes! I was pleasantly surprised by this sapphic fantasy novella. I knew nothing about Orpheus before starting this book, and after reading an Orpheus synopsis, I’d say that this is an extremely loose retelling and is very much its own thing.

I adored the pre-established partnership at the center of the story. Though Teagan and Cress are already wives at the start, we do get some flashbacks to the beginning of their relationship, which I thought were well done. I loved Teagan, her soft heart and her insecurities and her regrets and her formidable love for her wife. I loved Cress, her hard-headedness and thirst for knowledge and her determination to save her wife at whatever the cost. Though other reviewers have said that a longer book would have done more justice to the characters, what we did get worked perfectly for me. I can’t really explain it, but I felt the love between these two and ached for them to be together against the odds.

Aside from the main couple, I found this book engaging and well-written. The writing is readable and doesn’t use that stilted language that I vehemently dislike in fantasy books. And for such a short story, there’s also enough world building to make it easy for me to picture the world. This is one of the most vibrant, picturesque books I’ve read in a while, which I think speaks to the quality of the writing. The plot is also solid and it was hard to predict where the story was going — there was never a dull moment for me!

In short, I loved this novella and am looking forward to more from Holly J. Underhill!

content warnings: death of a parent (past), guilt, poisoning (from animal bite)

I received an ARC from Nyx Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gracias NetGalley por enviarme una copia de este libro a cambio de una reseña honesta.

LESBIANAS, VIVAN LAS LESBIANAS, voy a comenzar diciendo que al fin pude encontrar un libro donde no se replique la conducta hetero en una relación lesbica, que ambas sean brujas les da mil puntos más.

Me enamoré de la relación de Cress y Teagan, incluso me enamoré de Cress antes de conocerla. La historia es bella, las narraciones buenas, posiblemente uno de mis mejores descubrimientos del año, amo aquí <3

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley
Wow just wow. It had alot going on for such a short book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This wasn't what I was expecting for a sapphic Orpheus and Eurydice retelling, and that is definitely my fault and not the author's.

The second half of this book is heaps better than the first; the addition of characters Teagan actually gets to converse with helps the narrative, as opposed to her just ruminating on the same thoughts which got boring at times. I also liked the concept of the world: this hybrid of magical elements and technology, I just feel as though it was wasted on this story. The novella isn't long enough to expand the world the way I needed it to.

As for the characters, I didn't really get attached to either of them, nor was I really rooting for them. A lot of the time I found myself confused by their motivations, and that was, I think, the main issue I had with them. Also, the ending is underwhelming and frankly terrible.

I was very excited to read this book because the premise of it sounded amazing! I think the idea was really strong, it just could have had more to it. The book was very short, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing except that I feel that if it was longer, it could have been much better. I found that I didn’t get too attached to any of the characters because there wasn’t enough time to. It is very difficult to fit a whole plot, good world building and well developed characters into such a short book. I think there could have been more about the character’s relationship together, although we did get little snippets it wasn’t really enough to make me fall in love with them and root for them. I also feel that maybe the author could have added more world building, because although there was some it definitely didn’t give a clear picture of the setting. I did enjoy reading this book, it just feels a little underdeveloped.

Overall it was a pretty good book, though there are some problems with it for me, I would likely recommend it to others but I'd be selective of whom I'd recommend it to.

The Bone Way is an excellent Orpheus and Eurydice LGBTQ retelling! I love everything about this book and I fully intend to buy it in the future. It's written in a really great direct way with enough world building to keep you interested. The Bone Way is amazing!

<i>Thank you to Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for the eARC. </i>

Sapphic witches going to the ends of the earth to save and protect each other from near-certain death? count me IN.

I enjoyed this overall. Teagan was a very strong voice of a character and I was rooting for her the entire time to find her love and happiness. But I think the story was predictable in its ending and I had hoped for a bit of a bigger showdown. I also wish this had been a bit longer to explore more the backstory of the antagonist, the world-building, lore behind all of it as well as the romance. Yes, there were flashbacks to show us a bit of how Teagan and Cress fell in love, but not enough to truly make my heart beat fast and root for them, to make me feel like they truly were this epic love story that can outlast death itself. In the end, I was left with a lot of question marks especially about the Princess and her motivations. It's a good, quick read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something like that but the epic myth retelling I was expecting sadly fell a bit short.

I’m sorry – a sapphic retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice? Do you mean… everything I’ve ever dreamed of?

The Bone Way is an absolutely gorgeous little book (and I mean little – it’s a novella which clocks in at about an hour of reading time). It’s written so dreamily and whimsically that I really felt like I was being told a myth or folk tale which had been around since time immemorial, which is such a glorious stylistic choice for this story.

The Bone Way tells the story of Teagan and Cressidae, who are married (every time I read the words “her wife” a little part of my heart glowed, I swear). Cressidae has gone into the Shadow Realm to make a deal with the Shadow Princess, to save Teagan’s life. Teagan follows her on her dangerous journey.

I loved reading this book, I really did. It was sweet and dangerous and exciting and enchanting. My only gripe is that I genuinely think the story would have benefitted from being a full-size novel. I know novellas are their own thing, I do, but when telling a fantasy story as rich as this, having the breathing room to do extended world-building and character development can do wonders to fully immerse the reader.

Don’t get me wrong – I was immersed! I couldn’t put it down. But I think some of the concepts and plotlines Holly Underhill introduced could have really shone were they given the time and space. I loved the way she fleshed out the characters in flashbacks – about 95% of the story is spent in the Shadow Realm, so there’s really no other way to understand Teagan and Cressidae’s relationship, or the Shadow Princess’ whole deal, other than through flashback chapters and tale-telling. I enjoyed these sections a lot and thought they added much to the story without detracting from the main storyline in any way. But, truly, the Shadow Princess’ story alone could be a whole book (maybe a prequel?). Teagan and Cressidae’s relationship could have benefitted from more attention (apart from the flashbacks, they’re angry at each other for most of the book). Maybe I’m just being greedy, but I just wanted more. More world-building, more character development, more romance, more danger.

Despite that, though, I loved this book. It's quick and delightful and I was rooting for Teagan and Cressidae the entire time, and was sad for them, and anxious for them, and happy for them, and just generally too emotionally invested, which to me is always a good sign. I love Teagan and Cressidae’s devotion to one another, even to their own detriment. I love Underhill’s fresh take on this classic myth. And, of course, I love that it’s a sapphic retelling. Holly J. Underhill, if you’re reading this: please write sapphic retellings of all the myths. I would give my soul to the Shadow Princess for them, for real.

Thank you to Nyx Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

When starting this I didn't realize how short it would be. I feel like this book could have really benefited from being longer. Because of the length, what was supposed to take days in the story felt like each part resolved too quickly and easily. Also, while flashbacks are not my favorite, I didn't hate the way the story alternated between Teagan and Cress's life and the Shadow Princess, while progressing the story in parts each time. I felt like, despite their arguments, Teagan and Cress really loved each other, even though I would have liked to have spent more time with them actually together in the present time working out their issues.
There were many parts about this story I liked. I liked the idea, and the way things were described was beautiful, but if the book would have been longer I think we could have explored it all a lot more.

I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in a quick fantasy read. I would happily read more by this author and in this world.

This is a Eurydice and Orpheus retelling, but with a sapphic twist, and the idea of this novella was extremely appealing to me. It was short, quick, and promised magic, shadow realms, and monsters. But, I just didn't feel anything for these characters. Maybe it was the short length or the fact that they were separated through most of it, but I just didn't hurt for them. I simply feel like there wasn't enough room to develop characters, story, and attachment in 100 pages.

What really ruined the story for me was the Shadow Princess. She was made out to be this huge thing, and then they simply asked her what they wanted and she shrugged her shoulders and said "sure". There was all this buildup for nothing.

I enjoyed the first half of this novella way more than the second half. Perhaps fantasy novellas just aren't for me. Overall, this was just okay.

“The world had let her history become legend and tall tales and superstitions. If no one believed her to be real, they would not attempt to follow in her footsteps.”

The Bone way is a sapphic retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, where Teagan gets bitten by a creature from the Shadow Realm and Cress decide to visit the Princess of Shadow to ask to save the life of her wife.
The story deals with the present of Teagan, struggling to surviving the Shadow Realm path to reach the Princess, and the past of the two young lovers, their first meeting and their love.

The book is short and catching, but there are some parts that I fear were not fully developed, as for example the relationship between the two main characters. Reading this I felt like the author tried to tell me about their love and relationship more than showing me why the loved each other. I really liked the story behind the Princess and to be honest I was surprised from her story and her Realm.

Generally, this is a book I would recommend, but it’s not my all-time favorite: I see a great potential of the author but I will read more from her.
If you want a short book dealing with a LBTQ+ retelling, this book can be ideal for you.
Thank you Netgalley for providing a free copy of the book in exchange of an honest review!

Following Teagan and Cress in this wonderful novella inspired by the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, Underhill most definitely captures the attention through the trials that Teagan has to go through in order to find her wife Cress. This was a wonderful novella, very reminiscent of the Ancient Greek myth of Orpheus except for the slight lack of worldbuilding. Underhill intrigues the reader with the spells and the magic system but there isn't much to go off of to hold that attention even longer. The Trip to said Shadow Princess that Teagan takes is the most interesting part and the sapphic romance element between Teagan and Cress is there but it isn't passionate enough to convince the reader that the women would go to certain death for each other. Overall a solid novella, would have liked for it to be a bit longer to have the magic and romance explored a bit more.
**Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this novella. All opinions are my own**

I really enjoyed this novella and it was a great sapphic retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. I do feel that the story fell a little victim to the novella format itself - namely, so much was crammed into such a short time, whilst reading I was simultaneously impressed at how much the author was cramming into so few pages, but also feeling that there was too much to take in during such a short-form story. I do feel that this would be even better if it were a novel or even longer novella - there is so much world-building potential and delving even deeper into the characters.

The writing style is really good and clear, although the flashbacks were a bit tricky to keep track of until all the story threads came together in the final third of the book and it all makes sense. I feel this novella would be even better with multiple rereads - this first read I was trying to keep track of characters and places!

Thank you to Nyx Publishing for sending me an ARC via NetGalley!

This was a nice fast read. I love retellings, although I am not so familiar with Eurydice and Orpheus’ tale, maybe I have to learn more about them to understand better this book.
I noticed that Im drifting away from YA nowadays, and I need more/something else to grab my attention. I like that this was a bit different from these days Young Adult books, not as long and heavy, not the same cliché as always, and that it was a f/f relationship. It had a different vibe that I liked. The cover is also beautiful, well done!

I was expecting this book to be a full-length novel, not a novella, and that one is on me. I should have looked more into the details of the book before requesting an ARC. I am not usually a fan of too short fantasy stories because the world-building, character development, and even the plot suffer from the fact that everything is fitted into 100 pages. Sadly, the fact that the story is only 100 pages does affect my appreciation of it and my rating since I find it quite underwhelming.

I know that I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it had been longer. The premise is very interesting, the ideas are there, the characters are not bad, but there is no world-building or real character development, and the romance and the plot are not the best execution-wise. It is a very loose retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Because this is a novella, we don’t really get a chance to know and get attached to the characters at all, so I didn’t really care what happened to Teagan and Cress. All we know is that they are married, that Teagan’s mother died a few years ago, and that Teagan studied to become a healer, that is actually how she met Cress. Now, Cress left without Teagan on a mission into the Shadow Realm that is very dangerous, and Teagan is racing to find her wife before it’s too late. Other pieces of information about them are given as the story progresses, but in the end, we still don’t know much about them.

Another problem that I had is the number of flashbacks in a story that is so short. I am not a fan of flashbacks in stories, to begin with, and considering the length of the novella, I just didn’t enjoy the result. Half of the story is in the past, thanks to the flashbacks, and we discover how Teagan and Cress met, and what pushed them to enter the Shadow Realm. The other half is in the present, as Teagan is racing on The Bone Way to try to find Cress before she gets killed. I just feel that not enough time was spent on either storyline, and there is no real world-building here. Again, this issue would have been solved with more pages to develop the whole story.

The romance between Cress and Teagan is shown mostly through the flashbacks: how they met and what their life together looked like. I was expecting an epic love story, but instead, I read a lot about them arguing, and how Teagan was rushing to save Cress, but I didn’t feel their intense feelings. Their “great” love story was told to us, but not shown, and not developed enough for me to feel anything about it.

Overall, this is an okay/good novella, but do keep in mind before you start reading it that it is a novella and not a full-length novel. I can’t really say that I recommend this story because it was overall underwhelming, and the ending didn’t really satisfy me, but if you really enjoy sapphic retellings and/or are a big fan of mythology, then you might actually enjoy it more than I did.

Firstly, I have to say that the story is a lot of fun: I really enjoyed the modern twist on an old Greek myth, and I am always here for messy sapphics who are quite literally willing to die for each other. I also really liked that this book was happy just to retell this story as a queer one - Teagan and Cressidae are treated like any other couple, and there are plenty of small nods towards other queer identities in the world they inhabit. I had though this might be a more explicitly subversive retelling that tackled some of the various assumptions about gender and sexuality in the original myths, but getting to enjoy a plain, queer reimagining with no homophobia felt somewhat subversive in its own right. I also really liked the relationship dynamics at play, and how neither Teagan or Cressidae are at fault for the breakdown of their relationship (not a spoiler, it takes place before the first chapter), but are both required to confront how they communicate what they need from each other.

Having said all that, this was not a memorable story for me, because it tried to do too much in too few pages, and felt stretched paper-thin as a result. The world-building is flimsy; almost non-existent aside from some basic descriptions of the locations they visit. Obstacles were overcome in mere moments in order to get through the entireity of the plot, and there simply wasn't enough suspense or sense of genuine challenges for the characters. And while I really liked the relationship dynamic, the flashback scenes felt very insta-lovely as we sped through their early time together, while the resolution of their relationship woes felt rushed.

I'd definitely check out more from Underhill, and hope they expand to a longer format, because all the ideas were there, they just lacked the space to give the characters breathing room and do the story justice.

Thank you to Nyx Publishing for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review!

3.5/5

First of all, this cover made me pregnant... it's just *chefs kiss*

I loved Teagan and Cress with all my heart, their stubborn love for each other and the flashbacks of their memories together were so sweet. I loved their willingness to do whatever it took to save the other and the conflict that arose from their mutual devotion. Their relationship felt really authentic and the growth they both experienced together through the book felt natural. I also loved their whimsical and witchy life together, with their cats, cottage, and magical spells and potions. I would have loved to read more background about their relationship. Honestly, they're the type of characters I would happily read "slice of life" books about with zero plot! I wish we'd gotten more of their everyday life, as I couldn't get enough of them together!

That being said, this book was a really quick read. It's a novella, so it went by fast, but the plot was also generally fast paced and felt pretty evenly split along their journey. My main reasons for rating this a 3.5 is that while reading it, I just wanted it to be so much longer. Fantasy is a rough genre to fit into a novella, but the plot to this book felt like it needed more depth and world-building. The concept for this book was so interesting that it could have easily been a full length novel and I would have eaten it up. I was dying for more context into the Shadow Princess, and I wished we would have had more time at her palace or learned more about her. I also fell in love with the world, but felt like it lacked depth. At times the plot felt too easy, and the conflict a bit lacking. I wanted a more explosive finale, and a more satisfying conclusion, but I found it fell short.

If this book served as a prequel perhaps, I would absolutely read a follow up book with these characters. It felt like an in-between book in a series, though I would gladly read a whole series about them from this author. The world was so interesting, and the author's writing was so lush and beautiful that I would love to read something in addition to this. I am definitely looking forward to what this author does next, as I see so much potential in this short novella, and I hope we see more of Teagan and Cress in the future.

The strongest thing I can say about this book is that it was okay. The idea was good, execution mildly disappointing. It was definitely creative, but the writing style bored me to tears at some points. It felt underdeveloped and dragged out at the same time. The development of the story was interesting, but the development of the characters felt too on the nose.

3.5 stars. 5 stars for that cover though.

Another novella with that problem of - I wanted/needed more. It's difficult to throw flashbacks into a novella because the story itself then is inevitably not meaty enough, because there's simply not time for it. This led to the problem of too much telling instead of showing. If this Sapphic Orpheus/Eurydice retelling had been fully fleshed out into a novel, I could see this being a potential five stars.

The relationship was sweet but difficult to buy into their passion for each other and why they would risk their lives for each other when we weren't given enough time to really be ingratiated. The journey into the underworld was interesting and creepy but not dark enough with a lack of attention to detail, and what detail was given left me wanting for more (I want to learn more about the monsters!). The princess was intriguing but again, I was left wanting to know more about her and how/why she got to wear she was.

Still - I read this one in one sitting and enjoyed what I got. Recommended to anyone with a penchant for mythological retellings.

Thank you Nyx Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC!