one of my favourite books of all time. the characters were lovable, the plot interesting, and the writing gorgeous. it’s perfect for those who enjoyed the raven cycle.

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.

Wake the Bones is hauntingly descriptive and remarkably creative. This YA horror/thriller will make you believe in ghosts and never question whether magic is real. Favorite quote: “It takes death to kill the devil”

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, Macmillan Audio, and Macmillan Young Listeners 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.

Bailey Carr does a great job with the audiobook narration.

I could not stop listening to this story! I love Southern Gothic tales in general and this one was a real treat. Not only was the setting well described in the book, but the narrator was also able to add so much to it through the accents she used.

I loved the horror element with the bones, animal body parts, and animated monster. I also thought it was a good inter-personal story about friends growing up and not necessary growing apart, but realizing that they need different things to thrive and that in order to support one another going forward their relationships will have to change.

I don't want to give away any of the story, but I will say that there were a lot of twists in this novel that I didn't see coming.

I highly recommend it for YA horror fans.

I do not like southern based stories, I have a really hard time with them no matter the genre this was not my thing despite me really really trying to enjoy this

When Laurel Early quits college and goes back to the farm where she lives with her uncle she is resigned to making her macabre jewelry hanging out with her friends and just continuing to do what she has always done. Unfortunately the land and the ghost of her mother has other plans. With her best friends late night trips to an alternative bar and a local cashier at the gas station/fast food place Christine giving her cryptic messages she has a lot on her plate and figuring out how to Curtale the curse the god her mother should be on the top of that list. Fortunately for Laurel she will recognize this just in time but will it be soon enough that her and her friends can get out unscathed? I listen to the audiobook and first of all I must say the narrator was perfect for this book and did a wonderful job I loved her. Secondly I want to say I didn’t like the fact that they made fun of Christine and called her a witch and yet the brother in the best friend they were A-OK with I didn’t get that at all but I digress because this was a really good book even though this is for young adults I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved Laurel and her friends thought the curse and the mystery were so good. It’s just like a poem and long verse beautiful and intriguing. Please forgive any errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own. I want to think NETGALLY and Elizabeth Kilcoyne for the free arc audiobook I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Audiobook Review - I loved the narrator, she was the perfect fit for conveying the creepy moments of this book. That being said there were certainly details that seemed to be missing or pieces that didn't quite fit together with the plot. We seemed to be lacking further background about the characters and how their lives are the way they are. While some details were provided it seemed like we needed more. I found the story enjoyable and there were certainly lots of creepy parts. I am not sure this will find a wide audience with teen readers.

Bored. DNF at 25%.
The "horror" element is the gratuitous description of dead animals: eviscerated, desiccated, hemorrhaging...
Laurel likes dead animals so much that she dropped out of veterinary school in favour of... collecting animals bones? I vaguely remember it being mentioned that she does taxidermy but it's not very clear if that's her job or it's just her "quirky" hobby. She doesn't have any girlfriends so you know she's not like other girls 😏
I may have gone into this with a slight bias as it's set in a small town in the southern US and I automatically associate that region with bible-thumping, women hating, gunslinging, intolerant dipshits. I.e. I don't exactly have a positive view of of those kinds of people. Plus knowing there's a horror element that's supposedly to come into play? All I can see the male characters as is a bunch of Leatherfaces ugha ugha-ing at the manic pixie dream girl lead.
Anyway, not my thing. It may be yours though... enjoy if it is 🤷🏻‍♀️

This was certainly..... something? I have not read a book on a topic quite like this. I wouldn't really say it is a horror book, I was never really scared, or a thriller, I was never really on the edge of my seat waiting to find out more. Possibly more of a paranormal activity kind of genre. This book is also marketed as YA. As I read, I defintely found this to be more of a 18+. The main characters are verging on 21, dropping out of college, trying to figure out thier goals and navigations in life.

The writing was ok. I found it hard to track at times. The characters showed great development throughout the story and growth by the end. I feel like there could have been more of a focus on the paranormal part- just all the sudden there are bones hunting her? and then there is all of a sudden Christine? I just felt it was lacking a lot in the storyline, it could have been a lot more action/thrill/horror/paranormal packed.

On the narrator of the audiobook- She almost ruins the tone of the book. Laurel is supposed to be a hardworking, farm raised, eclectic girl- but the voice they give her sounds more like a southern belle. Also, the country accents for the boys are HORRID. It sounds so forced.

Wake the Bones is what I would call a creepy, horror YA fantasy. Laurel, who has returned home to Kentucky from an unsuccessful attempt at college, now finds herself the target of a malevolent magical evil. She must navigate how to combat this evil, while also maintaining her appearance of sanity within her small town community.

There is an ensemble of friends made of two brothers and a boy she's adopted as her own brother who stick with Laurel to help her contain the evil. This evil is the same that led to death of her mother, leaving her to be raised by her uncle from infancy. The stain of her mother's suspicious demise has always lingered, making Laurel hesitant to acknowledge or share her own magic. I found the characters to be well-developed, although they all seemed to have an air of melancholy and hopelessness, which was appropriate for the story but not my personal preference. The story is pretty gruesome, so wouldn't be great for someone with a weak stomach, but the world building was strong and there is a dark atmosphere to the book.

I enjoyed the audio narration, especially the soft and vulnerable characterization of Laurel since usually the main protagonist gets the most aggressive narration. Nicely done!

The writing style is the strong point of this book, perfectly evoking dirty, hard-working farm life. It frequently dives into the macabre, with grotesque visceral descriptions. The descriptive language caters to a fanciful imagination, but hinders story. Understanding in any detail what occurs in the few scenes where significant action happens is nearly impossible.

Magic, despite being integral to the story, is poorly explained. Its limitations and possibilities are ignored in the vague explanation of "will" that grants near immediate mastery of its power. The cast of characters doesn't receive much deep attention either - Isaac is the only one who feels like a real person. Laurel is naive, selfish, and convinced of her own superior capability, making her a difficult character to appreciate as the main narrator. While romance is also part of this story, it is not very believable and could easily be omitted entirely with little difference.

The strength of Wake the Bones is in its carefully crafted words. As imaginative prose is popular with many YA readers, this book is likely to do well! It just isn't the right book for me.

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was very intrigued at the beginning. It starts off relatively slow, but you know that something is coming. It has an eerie atmosphere throughout the beginning of the book that makes you wonder what's coming.

I will say, while I love slower, more atmospheric horror, the pace was a bit too slow for me at times. I didn't find all the characters as fascinating as I would have wanted (especially Laurel, which is unfortunate since she's the MC).

I also really thought Laurel and Christine were going to have a thing, but then...they didn't? It felt like a bit of queerbait. Like, there was SOMETHING, and then she just...went with Garret, who was incredibly blah.

I dunno, there were definitely things I enjoyed, and things I didn't. It also felt like it ended and the story was going to be wrapped up, and then, surprise! Ther's more.

It was good, but not amazing.

Laurel comes home from college after dropping out and something is there waiting for her. Her mother awakened something in their small farming town, and now it's up to Laurel and her childhood friends to send it back where it came from. What follows is an Appalachian magic,
There's appropriate trigger warnings that I was very grateful for, and the realism of the characters. They are so multi-faceted. I really hated Laurel, she was selfish and childish. But she was so real and visceral. It wasn't a matter of me not liking a female character who is battling depression. It's more that I didn't understand where her severe childishness came from. She gets put on academic suspension, and as a result just drops out of school. She doesn't want to be some small down girl who lives and dies in the same house so she won't give in to her feelings for Ricky. But as soon as he says he doesn't want that life either, she wants him. She came home because she "Couldn't make it out" Her (gay) best friend Isaac had plans to join her at college- a place where he can be free and himself and out from under his heavily abusive father- and when he admits his plans haven't changed even though she's not going back to college, she argues and fights and insults him and doesn't understand how he could want to leave. Because, well, she's back now, so why would he want to leave? She just acts like these boys should only ever live for her, and the idea that they would want things outside of what she wants is something she really can't comprehend.
Every action she makes is so fully focused on herself and her wants and based on her own understanding of the world, and never any consideration of others. Then she acts shocked when they're angry that she did something selfish. She acts like the world is this innocent place. "He hit you, so I made sure we got out of there before you could gather your things and we could leave safely"Just such a simple view of the world and its horrors.
That's not even touching on the issues of world building. There's magic, and while I love the idea of the Appalachian Magic being represented, its FUNCTIONS were so confusing. Certain VERY IMPORTANT events happened in such a way that it was confusing until a while later that anything had even happened. THere's also the way the boys love Laurel, who has magic, but condemn Christine who also has magic. And the only excuse is a throw away comment that Christine was grown in different soil. So they... insult her extensively.
Overall the only saving grace of this book was the characters, who were so well done and believable.

Laurel Early's farm just woke up. Her bone pile (don't ask) had gotten up and walked away. The woods are shifting, and the soil is dead.

The devil that courted her mother has come for her. She and her friends are now in danger and Laurel must rely on her own inner magic to help protect herself and those she loves.

This is a highly imaginative and original book. I had the privilege of having both the book and audiobook. The farm/land is very much a character in this book as well. It sets a very stark and hopeless stage.

This is a book that is best to go in blind. It won’t be for everyone. This book contains themes of abuse, sexuality, finding your inner power, dropping out of school, and friendship. There are dark elements at play here.

This book is a mash up of fantasy, horror, and romance.

This was an interesting book experience. The entire time I read and listened, I wasn't sure I liked it, but I also could not put it down. I'm still not entirely sure where I stand, but I must give it props for originality and creativity.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This was a creepy yet interesting read! Very imaginative and vivid, and the narrator was perfect. If you're looking for a book that gives you the creepy crawlies, check this one out for sure.

After Laurel dropped out of college, all she wants is for life to go back to normal, or as normal as it can be in Dry Valley.
But something sinister is lurking on her family's tobacco farm. Something that want's Laurel for itself.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to review Elizabeth Kilcoyne's, YA horror debut, Wake the Bones. Elizabeth's writing paired with Bailey Carr's voice, created the ideal listening experience one could hope for with an audiobook.

Elizabeth Kilcoyne starts the story off with an unsettling passage and carries that theme throughout the book, centering a portion of the story about Laurel's hobby of taxidermy. That added a shocking level of creepy when I originally heard it. Add in the Devil, seeing her mother's ghost, and having the ability to feel death in bones, Wake the Bones will give you goose pimples and check for faces in the trees.

Bailey Carr's voice added so much to the macabre atmosphere of the book, she was without a doubt, the perfect choice to narrate this story. Her voice fit wonderfully for Laurel's, and it was easy to discern when she voiced the other characters. Bailey's reading style and pacing was well suited to the story, and helped bring Elizabeth's ominous words to life, proving horror stories need to be read out loud.

If you are not a fan of gore, I would maybe shy away from this book. However, if you don't mind a little blood and feeling unsettled, this one is for you.

Wake the Bones is a southern tale of ghosts and demons, both physical and manifested. Laurel, still dealing with the death of the mother she never got to know, is courted by a devil. One who threatens to tear everything she loves away in order to possess her. Issac can't wait to be fully out of their run down no where town, unwilling to be stuck in the rut that his ancestors dug, but when the ghosts of the past come to haunt him will he give in to their sweet embrace?

This story had a lot to unpack for the reader. I was expecting more horror than a psychological thinker, but I guess when it comes down to it what's the real difference? While the characters in the story were fun to follow and unravel, I was disappointed with their ability to juke any kinds of repercussions from being stalked by these entities.

3 stars for this title as I didn't love or hate it, but still feel a bit disappointed. I feel like this will be the perfect read for those still trying to find themselves and wade through the devils lurking inside.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Laurel is a college dropout returning to her small hometown. She would be perfectly content if she could just go back to her taxidermy work, but the bones of the animals that used to be so familiar to her are... different now. Now, the demon who had come for her mother, ultimately killing her, is back to terrorize Laurel and her friends.

The devil character was intriguing and quite frankly terrifying. I loved the ensemble cast and the way that even throughout all of the horror of this novel, we get so many moments of conflicted but gentle love. Though each of these characters have their own flaws and motivations, we still see complex and real friendships and relationships. Horror, especially with YA/younger adult fiction, really needs these interpersonal relationships to defeat the evil thing or even just so the characters have some support and aren't going through this story of demons by themselves. I also thought the weaving in of Laurel's mother's story was clever and well done.

Now my reason for 3 stars: I just didn't connect with this book the way I wanted to. It took until about halfway through before I was fully invested in the characters. Wake the Bones is a good book with an interesting magic system and a beautifully lyrical writing style, I just don't think it was for me.