I really enjoyed Wake the Bones! I was sucked into this story immediately, and loved all the characters. I’ll even admit to being thoroughly creeped out while reading late at night. I had to put it away because I started listening to every little noise in the house after a particularly creepy scene.

Wake the Bones is very character-driven as our main characters investigate strange occurrences that begin happening on Laurel’s family farm. It’s dark and gritty with lots of death and decay. I really enjoyed Laurel’s character - it’s not every day you read about a character who has a side gig of taxidermy and making jewelry out of bones. I really loved her ability to see an animal’s death by touching their bones. And I loved the way Laurel and her friends’ relationships changed and grew.

I wish the whole magic system had been fleshed out a little bit more. I sometimes felt a little lost, especially in the last few chapters. There were also some plot points that I felt didn’t really come together as well they could have.

That being said, I was completely engrossed throughout the entire story, and the last few chapters definitely kept me on my toes. I very much enjoyed this one, and can’t wait to see more from this author!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this ebook!

4.5

I thought this was a pretty solid and intriguing debut novel! Part Gothic, part horror, it's delightfully creepy and mysterious until the very end. Kilcoyne has a uniquely dark voice that is going to carry her well in future novels. I also thought the atmosphere, setting, just the whole "small town" vibe was done very well. I also loved the magic system, how it was tied so deeply to the earth and the roots of the town and the families. I do wish it had been explored a little more, but I liked the whole concept of it.

I think my biggest problem - and it's not a huge problem, but something I'd want to see improved on in future novels - was that the end and the big confrontation, the climax, happened much too quickly. There was a lot of really slow build up and tension building, this massive, hugely frightening threat, and then it's over. I don't know, it just happened a bit too quickly and cleanly for my liking - though there IS a juicy bit towards the end that was left a mystery.

Overall, a solid first novel, and I'll be watching for this author in the future! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this ebook. The following is my honest review.

I was expecting whimsical horror from this book and instead I got a whole lot of nothing. This is like a slow romance for people really really into both body horror and plant magic. It's disorienting, but not in a horror-story way. More like when you accidentally overhear two people talking who have a completely different communication style from your own and also you're missing some crucial context. I understand the words but the conversation makes no sense.

For starters, none of the characters had any personality at all. They were just there. None of them reacted or responded in a way any real human would. Half of every chapter was spent on one character describing what another character looked like currently. People's relationship dynamics changed on a whim. The main character came across as a normal human surprised by magic, then suddenly halfway through she'd always known she was a witch, then 9/10ths of the way through she could summon fire? Why??

This isn't even touching on the horror. Or should I say, lack thereof? I can't stress enough how boring this book was. It was like the author went out of their way to make the horror scenes as unstartling as they possibly could. Most of the time I didn't realize anything scary was even supposed to be happening until halfway through the scene. The way this was written it was very hard to know what was going on at any given point.

I've been excited to read this one for months and what a disappointment. Perhaps it would be good for someone who likes very very slow, meandering romance with the occasional gross-out magical scene but that someone is definitely not me.

I received a digital ARC of 'Wake the Bones' by Elizabeth Kilcoyne from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

I had a few students ask me about this book in the months leading up to school ending, and I promised them I'd find a way to read the book and let them know what I thought.

The premise of this book sounded interesting: the devil has returned, bones are walking on their own, and it's up to Laurel to discover her magic, and save everyone she loves.

It took me a really long time to read through this book, and typically I can finish a book in an hour or two without a problem. My personal opinion with this - I had trouble connecting with the book. After the first quarter of the book I wasn't sure what genre the book was trying to be. The events of the story were sometimes disjointed, and hard to follow at times, and I had trouble connecting with the characters - they didn't feel genuine or relatable. There were parts that I actually did find interesting, but then it would switch to a different perspective, and I'd lose interest again.

Overall I would give this a 3/5 for originality, but it's unfortunately not something I can see myself adding to my classroom library in the Fall.

Lovely prose that really captured my attention, and a small cast in a hauntingly atmospheric setting, but unfortunatley the plot meandered too much for my liking and i had little motivation to pick up this book every time i set it down. the horror elements didn't help - horror very often just isn't my thing, and i'm sure someone who likes it more would enjoy this more then me. still, i did enjoy it in the end, and would recomend it to fans of gothic reads.

Wake the Bones was a miss for me, but it had great imagery. You can really feel the rural setting, the heat, and the dust. That was the best part of the novel. When the book started, it really seemed promising. I wanted to figure see what was going, but the pace of the book was so slow. It didn’t really keep my interest. The characters kept having the same conversations with no resolve. I quickly lost interest.

That was so weird, but good weird? So good, so weird, so creepy.

A few days out from finishing this book, I realize I don't quite know how to review it. So, in other words, apologies if this is a useless review. Just know that I really liked it and I have no clue how to explain how or why. I'm just vibing with it at this point.

This is a YA southern gothic horror that is incredibly chilling in its examination of heavy themes like grief and death. There is a lot going on and yet it's kept within a very confined setting and a small group of characters. Almost everything happens on Laurel's farm, with five core characters and a few minor side characters. However, Kilcoyne paints a very atmospheric world within that small space. Her writing is stunning and effortlessly carries much of the horror and creepiness with the best descriptions and word choices.

Laurel is an interesting character, constantly elbows deep in bones and dead animals. She's a college dropout who makes extra money on her uncle's tobacco farm via taxidermy. As far as main characters go, that's an odd combination, but it works incredibly well for this story. She's stuck in the past with her mother's death, but wanting to grow up and look to the future with life in the small-town south. She wants Ricky, but he's not mature like she wants him to be, and that frustrates her. I have to admit that I really liked the dynamic between the two of them, and was so satisfied with the ending. Laurel is also someone who loves fiercely and will protect everyone however she can.

I really liked the monster though. Clacking together of bones found across the farm, incapable of dying by normal means, and begging to have the main character's bones? Supremely my type of devil.

Given how much death is in this overall, it can get a little heavy and sad at times. Laurel's mother died in a terrible way, leaving Laurel to grow up with her uncle and her mother's reputation as the devil's daughter. That death/suicide has stuck with Laurel her entire life, despite being only a baby when it happened, and it guides the rest of the story with the same devil that tormented her mother coming back for her bones. There are other heavier topics tackled under the story like abusive parents, queer identities and where to belong safely in the deep south.

I think what kept me from giving this five stars is that it felt like there were a few things missing. Plot points that didn't spin out right or conclusions reached that had me racing to catch up.

I read this book in one sitting and will be singing its praises every chance I get.

This book has some of my favorite elements– platonic relationships that are central to the plot, visceral language, a character-driven plot, all tied into a Southern gothic/horror setting. I loved all four of the main characters and how their relationships developed, and they all felt real to me. There were so many beautiful quotes that I had to pause to think about how beautiful they were.

I do wish the magic system had been slightly more developed and that the main character had struggled with it more.

I recommend this book for fans of Beautiful Creatures, The Raven Cycle, The Bone Houses, and the Haunting of Bly Manor.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this eARC!

Gorgeously descriptive prose provides an atmospheric backdrop for this debut novel. Contrasting the writing style, themes deal with violence, physical abuse, mental abuse, and suicide. This is being classified as sci-fi and fantasy as well as YA. I think it fits for YA but should also be horror due to the creepiness and walking bones, and the "devil".

I enjoyed the book and liked the characters. The writing is delicious and tones down the horror. The paranormal aspects were well done with several characters having some magical ability. I enjoyed the intertwined relationship of the four friends who were trying to find their way.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on July 12, 2022.

I thought I would enjoy this novel based on the description. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The novel is a very slow read with very little excitement. It's not a page turner and in my opinion, very boring. At the 33% point, I gave up and started skimming the remaining chapters. Nothing grabbed me or stood out to get my attention.

The characters are not developed enough to add dimension to the story. All of them seemed so generic without any color to their personalities. They appeared "gray" in my mind's eye and nothing stood out to differentiate them.

The world building, however, is excellent. I enjoyed how the author carved out the details in the farm, environment, and forest. Too bad the story didn't quite make the cut. One, I didn't like it, star.

I received a digital ARC from St. Martin's Press throught NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

Laurel Early has returned back to the farm she was raised on in the hills and hollers of Kentucky Tobacco country.
She thought she'd escaped when she left for veterinary school, but after flunking out and dropping out, well...

She's fallen back into the rhythm's of the farm. Tending the tobacco crop with her high school friends and trying to stay on her Uncle Jay's good side. But while the summer is hot and sticky as syrup there's a darkness rising. And it's got it's sight's set on having Laurel Early... one way or another.

Wake the Bones is awash in small town prejudices. Small towns are notorious for being up in everyone's business and Laurel's business, well, in the town of Dry Gulches eyes, she's just bad cess. Her mother committed suicide when Laurel was just a baby. Leaving her to be raised by her Uncle Jay. According to the towns folks views. Her mother Anna was bad news also. Some say she was a witch even. Laurel's hobby of collecting bones, road kill and other dead things and cleaning the bones and using them in crafts for small cash doesn't do her any favors either. But, Laurel's got a gift of sorts, she can feel the last thing the animal felt as it died. The cow that choked on a hedge apple. The fox caught in a trap. Her mother Anna had a gift also, but her's was more useful. The soil told her things. What it needed to make the tobacco grow. What it knew thru it's network of roots. Small magics, until they suddenly become something much, much more...much much worse.

The story delves into the relations between the 4 childhood friends, their families and their feelings about Dry Gulch itself. It's a slow read, slow like the hot summer's of Kentucky, syrupy with sun and humidity. I enjoyed it, but it just didn't WOW me. It's a solid horror, but there were characters I'd have liked to have seen more of and the ending was... well, something...

I'd give it a 3.5 rating

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

An electrifying read that is both sharp and frenetic.

The sweet sticky world of growing tobacco in Kentucky comes to life in Elizabeth Kilcoyne's debut, a haunting story of a girl who is learning who she is, and what that means. From the grief that clouds Laurel's life at the hole her mother's death made in it to the boys who stand shoulder to shoulder, the story was complex, heart-rending, and above all alive.

Laurel Early dropped out of college and is trying her best to sink back into her life as a tobacco hand and taxidermist on the sleepy farm where she grew up, but something is brewing. A devil from her past has come calling, just like he did with her mother years before and her pile of bones has stood up and started stalking the woods. She’ll have to face her past and her mother’s to save everyone she loves.

This fast-paced, creepy, supernatural story is compelling with interesting characters. There are twists and turns as Laurel discovers her mother’s past and works to save her loved ones from the supernatural creature that’s determined to repeat history. It’s no necessarily one I’ll be thinking about for a long time, but it was a fun ride, and if you like creepy, including a monster made of bones, then this one’s up your alley.

It’s out in July, so keep an eye out wherever you get your books and or audiobooks.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

Author provided content warnings: Some of the thematic material involves mental and physical abuse, violence, and suicide. Additionally, the book includes dental trauma, guns, postpartum depression, drug usage, animal death, and blood. Specific content warning for abuse by an alcoholic parent.

This is a dark book - both in that is deals with the Devil and blood magic, but also in that it deals with parent death, generational trauma, poverty, and how rural Southern life isn't the most welcoming to people who are not straight. The novel centers around a group of friends who are past high school, but still trying to figure out what they want out of life - and reckoning with if they could be happy continuing a hard life of working the land in a small town. But for Laurel Early and her friends there is even more at stake as bones don't stay where they were buried and they realize that Laurel's mother is trying to tell them something from beyond the grave. Will they be able to figure out how to beat the Devil in time?

Not quite a horror novel, WAKE THE BONES is an unsettling slow burn. I found the magical elements to be good and the dynamic between Laurel and her friends was interesting, it captures that awkward dynamic of a group of teens that have grown up together trying to navigate how they fit in with each other as adults. It was a nice touch by Kilcoyne to have some chapters told by other characters so readers get more than just Laurel's point of view.

Wake the Bones is a dark, witchy modern day tale about bones, and it's an interesting premise that unfortunately falls a little flat in its ultimate execution. Aspiring vet and hobbyist taxidermist Laurel Early and her friends Isaac and brothers Ricky and Garrett live in the appropriately named Dry Valley, a small Appalachian town where people only seem to leave, and magic runs abounds in some of its strangest residents. It's beautifully written — especially the scenes dedicated to Laurel's connection to the earth, where she summons all sorts of wild and viciously wonderful plants, as well as the bones of all those buried within it. At the same time, the emotions that the characters feel visceral and raw, especially the sheer honesty they have when they bare it all to each other: the good, the bad, and the just plain ugly.

Laurel comes back to Dry Valley and her Uncle Jay's farm after dropping out of college/vet school. This is officially when her life begins to crumble to pieces: her best friend Isaac is leaving for the city and slipping away from her, a malevolent force steals her bones and attempts to attack her with them, and a devil wants to suck the marrow out of her bones. Isaac, too, confronts lesser demons: an abusive father and a tumultuous struggle with his sexuality and relationship with Garrett, who he is unsure truly returns his feelings. Also in the picture is Christine, a local witch the brothers eye with distrust because of her permanent status as "outsider", and the ghost of Laurel's mother Anna, who haunts her in dreams and in occasion as a pretty creepy corpse.

I felt that while the story was well-written, the implementation was somewhat jumpy and made the plot flow strangely. For example, I felt that the plot with the devil was somewhat rushed; although his impending presence serves as a good horror device throughout the novel, the final confrontation with him felt anticlimatic and also somewhat out of left field. A lot of Laurel's powers appear to come out of nowhere, and I would have liked to see more explored with what she was capable of and how she learned to use these abilities, especially regarding Ricky and the ending. And while the author attempts to balance Ricky and Laurel's story, and parallels it with Garrett and Isaac's, with a little bit of Christine thrown in, much like too many chefs throwing in spices in a stew the overload of perspectives just distracts from the overall integrity of the story.

Furthermore, I took some issue with the characters. Laurel, in particular, seems vindictive, petty and somewhat selfish; she becomes angry at Isaac for attempting to do the very thing she did two years past and move out, as well as picks a fight with Isaac's abusive father, escalating the situation out of his control. The way that the boys — in particular Ricky — treat Christine despite Laurel having the same abilities is ludicrous, and though Laurel is referred to as misaligned by the townspeople there's not really any examples shown within the novel. You would think the weird "devil" girl who likes to taxidermy road kill would be given more berth in such a superstitious town, but apparently not. Finally, I didn't feel like I had the chance to connect with the characters. While I was able to learn about their relationships with each other, there were very little moments where I felt like I had gained a deeper understanding of Ricky's psyche beyond his affection for Laurel.

Ultimately, Wake the Bones is a stunning debut with prose that's so, so promising for a new author. I appreciated how the characters interacted with each other and the careful descriptions of the supernatural occurrences throughout the novel. At the same time, I felt the plot could have been tweaked to be more solidified and more effort be given to connect and sympathize more with the characters. When Ricky was injured at the ending, I felt that I didn't connect with him as a character, simply because I knew so little about him despite interacting with him so many times throughout the novel.

This novel was given as an ARC to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have mixed thoughts on Wake the Bones. It was interesting. Took me a bit to get into, but once I did I was hooked. I loved the ending and liked the characters. Still, I wanted just a bit more from it. Particularly I would have liked the lore and magic to be explored in greater detail.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC!

CW for alcoholism/addiction, abuse, animal death, and dental horror (?) (things involving teeth)

So I did read the author's list of content warnings and thought I'd have no issue going into this, but I found parts of it a little too real for my liking and they caught me off guard in a bad way. This is why I wanted to make a particular note specifying that there's some incredibly well written scenes involving abuse from an alcoholic parent (at the risk of getting a little too close to spoilers) that had an impact on me and I suspect would also have an impact on readers who have suffered a similar kind of abuse.

I started this and initially worried that I would struggle with it, because the pacing is a little slow at the beginning. Once I got into it I read it pretty quickly, and while I think I can confidently say it was a good book, I'm not convinced that I LIKED it, if that makes sense. I requested this ARC expecting a creepy story, maybe a haunting or something similar, and I did get a creepy story, but it wasn't the kind I anticipated. On top of the eeriness and overall rancid vibes of the setting that the author wrote, it was just ... so sad.

The story and the characters felt so melancholy and stuck and it weighed on me a lot as I read, which I definitely wasn't prepared for. I saw myself in Isaac and his relationship (or lack thereof) with his father in a bad way. His small story arc struck chords in me that I usually try to ignore. Laurel's reckoning with her grief, her lack of direction, and the resounding loss of her mother created such a bittersweet story for me and it was hard to take in sometimes. I found myself without much of an opinion on Ricky, but I thought Garrett was lovely. I also wish we had seen just a little more of Christine in the story!

I did love the kind of description the author used, particularly in the monsters. The depictions of rot and rebirth were so vivid in my head and I would LOVE to see them conceptualized. I also really loved the subtle message towards the end that the woods and life will always come back stronger, despite what is developed over them. It leaves off on a hopeful note that I think brightened the whole experience.

One thing, however, is that I see this classified as a YA book but it distinctly didn't feel like it fits into that category. That's not so much a complaint as it is just an observation. I just didn't get that vibe from it. New adult might be more fitting, but I know that's a newer genre.

Overall, I think a 4.25/5, so I'll round it out to a 4.

It's not often you'll find a book that is both beautifully written and yet creepy to the core. But that is what this author delivered in her debut novel.

After bailing on the college experience, Laurel Early returns to her family farm, where something evil has taken over. The title refers not only to Laurel's hobby of collecting animal bones, but how those bones come to haunt the land, at the hands of the Devil.

This story has some disturbing scenes as Laurel tries to control/survive the darkness that begins to take over. The author did a good job with these scenes, describing them in such detail, it was easy to visualize. In addition, I loved how Laurel, and a local woman, Christine (who most considered to be a witch) use magic to fight off the evil and protect the men in Laurel's life. Girl power!

Overall, the storyline was a fresh twist on the Devil's theme commonly found in the horror genre, and the direction of the story was unpredictable, especially Ricky's fate.

I'll definitely keep my eyes peeled for more from this author.

A bit of a slow burn with a new premise for the YA world… I read a lot of YA as I work with teens and pre-teens. I love helping them pick new books to help them fall in love with reading. I do think there’s a target audience for this and that youth will enjoy this book. There is almost genre jumping (some romance with some creepy factors mixed in) which I think will appeal to both boys and girls. The story had magic but also made me feel uneasy at times because it was really well written! I really enjoyed the fantasy world that Kilcoyne built and I can’t wait to help some teens fall in love with this story!

An atmospheric, haunting summer novel. I lapped up the beautiful prose in this book, almost smelling the midsummer wildflowers and sun-baked earth. Kilcoyne was able to bring the landscape to life (literally and metaphorically) within the novel. I love spooky summer settings and this one delivered.

While the characters were interesting, their motivations were a bit simplistic. I would have liked for more complexity with them, as I found it difficult at times to be moved emotionally by them.