I was excited to read this after having loved the author's previous book. I loved the narration of the audiobook as well as the iron and water magic each character possessed. The characters seemed older than young adult characters which I very much appreciated. I enjoyed the animal companion as well. I didn't connect with the characters though. I didn't sense any chemistry between any of them even as friends so their relationship progressions just didn't seem real for me. I'm not a real big fan of heist plots either so at times I was just thinking, "okay let's move this along". A good story overall though and I love that the author continues to write such unique stories.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I have enjoyed Emily Lloyd-Jones other novels and looked forwarded to reading this on, "The Drowned Woods". I think if we could give half start ratings I would give this one a 3.5. It was slightly better than the average YA fantasy one might pick up. This is because I found the story pretty slow to start with. Mer is a water diviner and was used by the prince to locate and poison the wells of his enemies. She gets away and hides out as a bar maid. One day her old mentor finds her in the tavern and asks her to accompany him on a mission to find a magic well and get revenge upon the prince. The readers are then introduced to a variety of other characters who join up into the this mission/heist of sorts. Notably there is Fane who has a task that ties him to the Otherfolk and his little maybe a bit 'other' corgi who is a joy to read about. It was hard to care about the heist or the characters the first half of the novel because the book (although beautifully written) fails to draw depth to her characters. The book reads like an old fairy tale in that the myths and plots points are established but you don't really know why the characters act as they do. The conclusion of the book, the climax and the follow up were wonderful though and that brought my rating up a bit. I really enjoyed the climax and thought it was quite different than anything I had read before in how the story resolves. I liked the epilogue quite a bit as well and thought there was a cute nod to the author's previous work The Bone Houses. I will say Bone Houses was probably the stronger of these two books. Still we can't discount the author's creative plots and lyrical writing. I just think she needs to flesh out her characters more fully to engage her readers.

3.5 stars
The Drowned Woods is about our main character Mer who is the last water diviner. Mer is in the service of the prince who tricked her into finding his enemy's wells so he could poison them, killing hundreds of innocent people. At the beginning of the book Mer is on the run from him but gets discovered by her old handler and gets her to bring down the prince.
Unfortunately there was nothing I absolutely loved about this book, nothing really jumped out at me as being fantastic. I liked the characters although none stood out (I mean there is a corgi who stole my heart though). I think my favorite character was Fain (not sure about spelling as I listened to the audiobook). He had been cursed by the other people to enact his own revenge. He just seemed to have the most oomph.
The pacing and plot felt a little lacking. I liked the beginning, the middle felt very slow and not super interesting and then I really enjoyed the ending. The plot twist near the end really grabbed and kept my attention until the end of the book which didn't happen in the middle.
I read that the narrator of the audiobook was Moira Quirk which rung a slight bell in my nostalgic brain and remembered that she had hosted GUTS on Nickelodeon which was a fun little tidbit of information. I think she did a great job narrating. Sometimes narrators with accents make it hard to tune into the story, but she didn't.
This is a standalone, but set in the same world as The Bone Houses which I haven't read. While reading a few reviews, I see that the epilogue of this one tied it in with The Bone Houses in a really cool way, which I obviously didn't understand. It made me wish I had read The Bone Houses first, but now I really want to read it to see how the stories are connected!

I wanted to love this one. In fact, I expected to love it like I loved the Bone Houses. But I just.... didn't.

It *should* be everything I like. Set in the same world as Bone Houses, a heist with magic, characters with mysterious pasts... But it just felt flat.

I tried reading the book and listening to the audiobook and neither one could keep my interest. In fact, it sent me into a bit of a slump where I just couldn't bring myself to pick up any book because I dreaded returning to this one. It just felt like a slog?

I'm finally calling it and DNFing at 60% of the way through. I mean, if you're 60% into a standalone heist novel and you're still slooooowly introducing characters / gathering the crew and none of them have been fleshed out enough to have personalities (and you can barely remember their names and certainly not what they look like) and you have almost no idea about the bigger picture or more than the sketchiest details about the characters' pasts or the heist itself ...then that’s a problem.

The one thing I did like was the relationship between Mer and her former mentor. There is obviously fondness there on both sides, mixed with quite a bit of mistrust on Mer's and a tendency for her mentor to go into teacher mode and/or fail to disclose critical pieces of his plot so that Mer has to follow him with a dose of blind faith.

In the end, too much is kept a mystery both from the characters themselves and from the reader. Mysterious pasts and gifts and magic and plans can intrigue the reader. But if so much is kept in the dark that all you can do is stumble around hoping to figure out what the heck is going on, it does not make for a pleasant reading experience.

The audiobook narrator, Moira Quirk, is one of my favorites. She has a great range of character voices and a good grasp of the pronounciation of the various Welsh names. However, even her excellent narration can't make up for the foggy vagueness that encompasses this novel.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and Hachette Audio for providing an e-arc and audio arc for review.

I went into this book thinking I was going to love it, and I was not wrong. First, Emily Lloyd-Jones is able to imbue her world with magic and whimsy through beautiful and lyrical prose and lush descriptions. At the same time, her prose is far from purple. It is both down-to-earth and comforting, and also able to instill a sense of wonder in the reader. I enjoyed the Welsh-influences on the tale, probably all the more because of the audiobook. This is definitely a story where I would recommend looking to the audiobook for pronunciation. I think that the musical lilt of the Welsh accent also just adds a whole new layer to the story.

The fantasy genre needs more sedate quest fantasies, and if you were a fan of T. Kingfisher's Nettle and Bone, you will like this book. It has the sense of adventure that you get with questing, a ragtag group of travelers, and all the conflict and bantering, and betrayals that go along with that. Reading this book was a true delight.

This is the first welsh mythology book I've read. It was a quick read and not to complicated to understand. Plus it had a adorable corgi in it. Definitely loved the fairytale story telling vibes it was giving out.

This was such a great medium-paced audiobook.  I haven't read The Bone Houses or anything from this author. But now I will make it a point that I do read more of her work. Mer is a girl who was born to control water. After a terrible mistake that ends up killing hundreds of people, she joins a group to stop the prince from over controlling the lands. I didn't particularly love the characters but I did enjoy them and their struggles that they try to over overcome. The character that I did enjoy the most was the corgi Trevor. The narrator (Moria Quirk) made this book better with the accents, chuckling, laughs etc. This is an audiobook that I would recommend and I am excited to see other books that she narrates.



Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this audiobook.

I love a good heist story, and this is definitely a solid magical heist. The first third is all about getting the gang together. Everyone is fascinating. A great mix of people who are down for a very risky project to overthrow the king. This isn't quite edge of your seat, hard to breath heist; it's a slow, tense burn instead. Well grounded in the characters good set of twists and turns, all around enjoyable.

Firstly, as someone whose dad is Welsh and who spent part of her summers on Anglesey, I adore that The Drowned Woods includes welsh mythology - although I do feel a little sorry for the non-Welsh speakers attempting to decipher some of the names, Welsh is not a language that works with Germanic rules, sorry folks! But I have good news for you, the audiobook solves that problem - read for you by a voice actor I was surprised to learn is not welsh, but who has clearly done her homework, and will guide you easily through the Welsh pronunciations.

The story got off to slow start, but I adored the unravelling tale of a young girl and her strange hidden magic. Mer is our main character - a water diviner given up to the charge of the King’s spy master, and raised to be a weapon who won’t ask too many questions. Clearly, that upbringing didn’t take too well, or we wouldn’t have much of a story!

The characters are fully fledged, complex, and imperfect - except Trefor, the corgi, who is wonderful in every way. The story was intriguing and had some delightful twists and turns. The ending was everything I could have hoped for.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Drowned Woods and am very pleased to have a special edition winging its way to me. If you like Welsh inspired fantasy with morally grey characters, this one’s for you!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. This was a fast-paced YA fantasy with compelling characters and an adorable corgi! I loved the character interactions and how the story unfolded, revealing hidden secrets and betrayals. There is also light romance sprinkled throughout and overall made for a good read.

The narration was fabulous! I love this author. I will read anything written by them. I was not disappointed at all in this book. I love dark fairytales and this one was awesome. Mer is such a kick butt heroine. You are rooting for her from the very beginning. The story pulled me in and I didn't want to put it down. I cannot wait to read more by this author. Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown Books for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I love a good heist, but this is more than a heist. Characters are very important in this book. Since I was listening, the jumps to exposition about them occasionally felt abrupt. The story would be moving and then you would get a section about Fane or Mer's history. I loved the way magic and the fair folk worked in this. I knew while listening that it had to be based in stuff from the British Isles but to find that it is a specific Welsh legend is even better.
Romance was very chaste. Things were alluded to be never spelled out in the interactions between Mer and her former girlfriend (whose name I don't know how to spell since I listed to the book). There are also no real romantic interactions between this thief princess's (married?) mothers. I only remember one actual kiss in the whole book though and it was toward the end.
As for violence, for a kingdom at war, there wasn't as much nor was it as detailed as I expected. The most detail, in general, came when Fane was fighting and he only got so many of those.
The audio was a big benefit for all of the Welsh names that would have scrambled my brain trying to pronounce them. I love the lore, but had I been reading a print copy I would have been trying to get Google translate to say them for me. The narrator had distinct voices for each character.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Little, Brown Young Readers in exchange for an honest review.

So I LOVED Lloyd-Jones' novel, THE BONE HOUSES so I was very excited to see we were getting another Welsh mythology novel within the same world. I'd never heard of Cantre'r Gwaelod (basically Wales' version of Atlantis) before and now I need to go read more Welsh mythology to find out more!

THE DROWNED WOODS is a book about magic and the fae. It's also about loyalty and sacrifice (both personally and for the greater good). There is betrayal and double crossings... which should be part of any good heist anyway. And how could I not love a novel with a character of a corgi that may or may not be a spy for the fae. Overall I was swept up in the plot, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, and while the ending is somewhat convenient, I'm not mad about it.

I love that in both this and THE BONE HOUSES, there is affection between characters, and there ends up being a romance... but this isn't the main part of the plot. Too many YA fantasy novels are romance heavy, so it's a nice change. There is talk of a past romance between Mer and a woman, and there is literally ONE kiss between two characters on the page. That's it, the focus is on the story and the people, not on having a romance between characters and in some way, that makes the romance that does happen even more believable and realistic.

I hope that Lloyd-Jones has plans to give readers more books within this world. I'm curious about the ending though as there's a tie to THE BONE HOUSES there and now I have more questions I need answered.

Moira Quirk puts in an excellent performance narrating the audiobook and I appreciated being able to listen to this to get the correct pronunciation of Welsh names and places rather than me attempting to read them on my own.

Mer is a very powerful water diviner and in hiding after escaping capture by the Prince who has used her powers for his own gain. She teams up with the Prince's spy master and they plan a heist so dangerous and tricky its almost brilliant.

I really like the idea behind this book. The plot was unique as a heist book is hard to pull off, especially if you add magic to the mix. I felt that the pace was too slow. So much time spent on assembling the perfect team and then the last bit just speeds by.

We get to know Mer's character very deeply, but nothing really sticks in my mind regarding the rest of the team except the loveable pup.

The overall plot played out well and the ending had a good close off.

Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Audio for this ARC.

Ahhh, I'm in love with this book!

Heists!
I know for an absolute fact that I'm not the only person who falls hard for a narrative involving a disparate, ragtag group of eccentric characters who must come together to achieve a certain goal. It's a peak fantasy trope. In a way I'm tempted to compare The Drowned Woods to the Six of Crows duology, but that would be doing it a disservice.

Amazing characters!
The most notable for me being:
Mer- the untrusting, traumatized bean with a soft heart and a terrifying power. I adored her personality and commitment to making up for the atrocities she was forced to commit while in captivity.
Fane - The most cinnamon roll of a man. Poor guy can't risk having any physical contact without risking his fae curse rearing its ugly head. Seeing him open up to Mer was so rewarding.
Ifanna - The baddest of bad bitches. She's got a history with Mer that's so fun to unravel
Trefor - The most adorable corgi. Obviously the best character. I don't think it's a spoiler to say he's fine, nothing bad happens to him.

Romance!
Suuuppppper slow burn, almost non existent but powerful. It feels far more realistic than the usual trajectory of YA fantasy romance. Very satisfying and meaningful.

Twists!
So many if these characters have secrets, man. I guess that happens when you collect a bunch of criminals and outcasts with their own personalities and motivations. While a couple of the little twists and turns were quite surprising there was one major plot twist that was far most obvious. It's fair to say, however, that guessing did not hinder my enjoyment one iota.

Moira freaking Quirk!
My favourite audiobook narrator hands down! All hail Moira Quirk. Loved her interpretation of the characters in Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, obsessed with her work on Gideon the Ninth, worship her character work here. She's just so talented.

Thank you Hachette Audio and Netgalley for the audiobook ARC.

Audio ARC provided by NetGalley



Audio review: Great narrator - always nice to have the Welsh names and words pronounced correctly! But also brought nuance to the characters.



Main review: Really enjoyed this retelling of the fragmentary tales of 'Welsh Atlantis'. (Celtic mythology is rife with sunken lands btw - there's one off the coast of Ireland, Lyoness off the coast of Cornwall and various other mysterious lost lands in both Arthurian and Celtic myth.) The main thrust of this story is about acceptance and belonging - both finding a place where you fit in and learning not to run away from everything for fear of losing it. The main character, Mhair is a water diviner with power over water. Diviners are sought after and owned by the corrupt king, and just to muddy the waters further (haha) the king's spy master is a thoroughly morally grey father figure to Mhair, who is somewhat lost in her own life and never stays in one place for long. Added to the crew is Thane, a man with a fair folk gift on him. Anyone who knows anything about the Tyllwyth Teg will know how that's going for him. This is a quit fantasy story in many ways but I appreciated its examination of friendship and personal responsibility, and I loved the setting and the Welsh mythology.

How much of my enjoyment of this book is solely based on how much I love Moira Quirk as a narrator? This is impossible to say.

But because I listened to the audiobook, I can’t spell anyone’s names so we’ll make due with their titles. The diviner’s magic was fascinating, and I got Graceling vibes from how she uses it and is used in turn by those with power over her.

The fetch was a perfect cautionary tale against making deals with the fair folk, and it was great to see how much the forced isolation and care with which he had to live his life affected him and how he viewed other people.

I think the thief could have been my favorite if she had been a little bit more present. Everyone loves a living embodiment of “be gay, do crimes” - especially when there’s heart driving it.

The other three members of our heist crew were less interesting. But that also serves the plot in its own way as things go unexpectedly awry.

The ending felt both like a cop out and also inevitable. It wouldn’t have been how I ended it, but it was also cathartic. Mostly.