Wake the Bones is a YA horror/thriller that definitely had lots of great creepy moments. The story is about a demon who is stalking a girl and there are moments where the writing is so intense that it almost feels like someone is stalking you in real life.

Overall, the story was a little too disjointed for me to love it, but I did enjoy it while I was reading it. I'd be interested in reading more by this author in the future.

2.5*

Plot:
It was hard to tell where the story was going sometimes. I think that the story was definitely more character-driven rather than plot driven.

Characters:
Laurel was interesting as a character. She had quite a bit of depth. Even at the beginning of the book I was truly able to feel the sense of loss and grief that she had for her mother. The relationships between the characters were fleshed out well, but with that came some confusion as to whether some relationships were platonic or romantic.

Writing:
I am not into gore so I was not into that aspect of it. I will say that the descriptions were well written, even though it is not my thing. There were a few lulls in the story that I felt were unnecessary. The characters were well written and developed. There was such a great focus on them and I really enjoyed that because I do tend to lean towards more character-driven books.

This book gave me the same feeling I had watching Nightmares on Elm Street as a kid. Which means this book scared me. lol The whole time I was reading the story, I was like this is supposed to be YA, so it shouldn't be that bad. Which if you were looking for thrasher horror, okay this isn't that bad at all, but the whole atmosphere was so grim and eerie, and it felt like Freddy Krueger was going to jump out at any moment. lol I even read the ending, to lessen my anxiety and it didn't help, Elizabeth Kilcoyne does an amazing job at making the atmosphere have a very creepy feeling. Even during the romantic scenes, it was still a maybe ya'll shouldn't be doing this right now, while the boogeyman is trying to get you. lol

Still, I enjoyed it for the most part, I enjoyed the ride. Some scenes, I was like "really?!", and I still don't actually know if it was a happy ending, but I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by the author, although I might just read them during the day.

I really enjoyed this book, despite how long it took to finish. The pacing of this book was slow. It was the characters that kept me invested rather than the plot. It may as well have been contemporary with how uninteresting and underdeveloped the horror/fantasy plot was. I felt that the character's magic could have been delved into further. Often, I felt something was lacking when the more fantastical/horror moments in the book came up. It feels too similar to the Raven Cycle, overall.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to read this early. Review has been posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Eerie and haunting YA horror!

Laurel, 19, lives and works on her family’s tobacco farm in midwestern America. Her friends, Ricky, Garrett and Isaac work alongside her. When they find a mutilated deer carcass in the woods and follow the bloody trail, an ominous feeling surrounds them. Laurel receives a warning from the local psychic that danger is imminent and Laurel understands because she has been having vivid dreams too. When a supernatural creature appears in front of their car, Laurel and Isaac see the danger face-to-face and know they’re in deep trouble.

Likes/dislikes: I appreciate the content warning at the beginning of the book. I like the close friendship between the four main characters. Christine intrigues me and there’s a whole story behind her background that begs to be told.
Language: R for 57 swears and 120 f-bombs.
Mature Content: PG-13 for mention of smoking pot, underage drinking, brief kiss, implied petting.
Violence: PG-13 for mutilated and bloody deer carcass found in the woods. Undescribed child abuse. Monster harming a person, dead rabbit. Dead body.
Ethnicity: Laurel and her friends are White.

Setting: Kentucky
Rep: at least one queer POV character

I have made it through 50% of this book and it has now been weeks since I touched it; it's time to admit that I'm not vibing with it and it's time to give up. I am not intrigued by the story and it's just giving me nothing that I want, but I do think it's more of a me problem as the writing does seem imaginative.

It took some time to get into the rhythm of this one, but overall, it was an intriguing read. I was excited to read about my home state of Kentucky, but the content surrounding mental illness was difficult to consume.

The writing style was decent and I found this book to be an okay read overall. The main character is a bit weird but it fits with the context of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was definitely intrigued by the premise of this book. I really enjoy stories that combine nature and magic, and I was pulled in by the main character's skill with taxidermy. I did enjoy some of the author's writing, and thought she had some good descriptions of the setting and I felt like I really understood the small town they lived in. I could feel the atmosphere that the author was describing.

However, I was never really pulled into the story. I thought the plot was kind of slow, and some of the plot points I felt were a bit confusing or not completely explained. I also never felt a connection to any of the characters. It always felt like there was distance between me and the characters, and I never quite cared about any of them.

Those interested in stories about atmospheric horror, small towns, or close-knit friend groups may want to give this a try.

Not a stand out horror novel for me, but I did enjoy this book. If you like Erica Waters or Courtney Gould you’ll enjoy this. The set up of the story (young main character stuck in a small town with found family) is one of my favorites.

Overall, I would give this a 3.5. I also had the audiobook, and I enjoyed the narration.

An absolute must read! This book kept me guessing what would happen next and unable to put the book down till I had consumed it in one sitting! The setting and the characters feed into one another to ratchet up the simmering tensions of brittle lies, thwarted goals, conflicting attractions. The characters are interesting and likeable in a sometimes complicated way, mirrored to one another. 5/5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, it kept me interested the whole time. I would think about it after I put it down. I couldn’t wait to pick it back up. I want to get this physically book.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was fun. The atmosphere was really good though it did make me feel sweaty lol.

What a fantastic horror story. A quiet, sleepy town that has been awakened. What happens when a pile of bones just picks up and walks away? This book takes the darkest resources of your mind and questions absolutely everything. Laurel just wants some normalcy but there is a darkness coming for her just like it came for her mother earlier. This was a wild ride and I loved it.

Thank you #wednesdaybooks and #Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an eARC via NatGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I saw Wake the Bones circulating on Twitter on different horror lists and threads. It was pitched as a southern Gothic novel about a sleepy farm that awakens, where something rots and something rises.

Laurel Early grew up on this farm, but things quickly change when she returns from college. The woods shift, the soil dies, and bones seemingly take on a mind of their own. Laurel wants nothing more than to focus on her future: tobacco farming and taxidermy. A boy she can’t help but love and a devil from her past may stand in her way. Laurel is then forced to unravel her mother’s mysterious legacy and discover her own magic to deal with this haunting devil.

Elizabeth Kilcoyne beautifully crafts her story. I think she definitely has a talent with words. Once the story starts, her words are incredibly captivating. It was easy to read so much of this story in one go. The descriptiveness throughout adds depth and creates an atmospheric tale. However, a few things were not clear right away. At times, a couple events were not as fleshed out compared to the rest of the book. It was not necessarily confusing, but it did warrant a reread in certain areas when it did not explain or jumped around.

The author creates a wide variety of characters that drive this story. Most of them are well developed with their own personalities, motivations, goals, and struggles. I did enjoy most of this story as I read, but at certain points I just did not particularly care about the characters. It might have been beneficial to expand on some of the side or supporting characters for this reason. It could have added more dimension to the story and make readers more invested in their fates.

I wish the ending of this story was cleaned up a little more too. The pacing did not seem to match the rest of the story. Everything played out so quickly, but not everything was clear or explained. It circled back around in the end but still did not offer up more answers or show the full picture.

Elizabeth Kilcoyne’s Wake the Bones was a fairly engaging and interesting read. The author has a skill I can see developing even more in her next books. I think she does an amazing job tackling the variety of themes she includes in the story. This book had a lot of potential, and overall I think it would still appeal to a variety of readers despite some minor critiques I had of it.

*Content warnings: mental and physical abuse, violence, suicide, dental trauma, guns, postpartum depression, drug/alcohol usage, animal death, blood*

Thank you to publisher, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this novel.

Wake the Bones is the story of Laurel Early and her friends in Dry Valley. A demon has awoken in Dry Valley, one who has a connection to Laurel's past and only she can stop it.

I give this 3 stars. Although the premise is good, the execution was lackluster. I did not connect with any of the characters. They did not seem to have personalities beyond their basic function. I did not know what any of them wanted/needed/desired to make them interesting and how the events of the book will effect them. I also felt like the book would have been stronger if it was told from just Laurel's POV and did not have multiple POVs, it felt distracting from the story.

The technical writing itself was actually pretty good. Kilcoyne used strong imagery throughout the book to give it that horror feeling to the book. It is what kept me engaged.

Older YA Southern Gothic/Magical Realism, character driven story. Excellent horror writing in the scenes that called for it. A bit slow and boring in other parts.

It doesn't fit neatly into any genre that it incorporates, and the multiple narrators was distracting at times. The main character, Laurel, I wanted to like. Wanted to...but wasn't particularly attached to her. Not a bad thing, just a personality conflict, really.

The world-building is so well done, I just wish the characters didn't feel sort of flat. Just not enough development.

A good book for an atmospheric read. I requested to read around Halloween and obviously I’m behind times.

I liked the plant magic aspect. I’m always a fan of magic.

Trigger warnings were a must for me. The abuse was something I could have done without.

If you like a good mix of fantasy, romance, magic, and horror….then this book is for you.

An eerie read that's perfect for some summer horror. I was unsettled and gripped by the setting, characters, and writing. Will definitely be checking out more by this author!