This book was very clearly not for me. It was a bit disconnected. A scary house, family secrets and an immediate obsession with the groundskeeper.

This was just too predictable to me, sometimes for reasons I thought very goofy (like the family motto, in the most obvious Latin that could possibly exist, that somehow takes the main characters multiple chapters to figure out, and other similar "mysteries") and other times for reasons I found wildly dumb—<em>multiple</em> times the sisters <spoiler>wrote off the only possible character who could be the bad guy, as the bad guy, because they thought he just didn't have bad enough vibes</spoiler>. The romance wasn't stellar, but reasonably fine, and the horror and the spooks were quite good.

Practical Magic meets The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina. The Witches of Bone Hill is a magical novel about starting over, the strength of family and the ties that bind, and, of course, witches. The Bone sisters have returned to their ancestral home to claim their inheritance after the death of their estranged great aunt, but will they survive long enough to receive it?

This book gives off heavy Alice Hoffman vibes from the very beginning. There's witches and sisters and romance and a spooky house and a strong focus on the meaning of family. It's a slow burn right up until the very end, when everything seems to happen all at once, but it managed kept me engaged and reading through the wee hours of the night.

The things I loved about this book: The humor, the relationship between the two sisters, Eustace (she's really a fantastic character), the Nordic mythology, and the witchy ancestors who provide assistance from beyond the grave. It's atmospheric and creepy without actually venturing into (what I would consider to be) horror. The conclusion is satisfying and the story is wrapped up without any loose ends.

The things I didn't love quite as much: Animal cruelty (not by the main characters but definitely present) and the unnecessary romance (why does there always have to be a romance with a sexy “bad boy” in these type of books?!). There were also times when the story dragged a little and I felt like the sisters were just rehashing the same subjects over and over.

Overall, though, I found The Witches of Bone Hill to be an entertaining and enjoyable read. The subtle humor is what really made the book for me, and the scene with Cordelia and her ex-husband in the kitchen was really top-notch.

Final rating: 3.85 stars, rounded up. If you liked Practical Magic or novels of a similar vein, you'll probably really enjoy this one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review.

This was such a good read! So many twists and turns filled with betrayal, magic, secrets, and revenge. I loved the story of the Bone Witches and I recommend this book!

a perfect witchy read that is a perfect mixture of spooky and cozy. There was some mystery elements to the storyline that kept me engaged. I probably could've done without the horror part, but overall it was a decent read.

If you're looking for something to kick-off spooky season, this is a good pick! I mean who doesn't like to pick-up a book about witches discovering secrets.
It's lightly creepy (majorly for some, but I have a high threshold for creepy) and intriguing.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’m having a tricky time approaching this review—and not because I didn’t enjoy The Witches of Bone Hill, it just wasn’t at all what I expected. Cordelia Bone’s life is in shambles when her estranged aunt passes away and her and her sister Eustace are forced to return to their ancestral home where they’re have to face the secret their mother hid from them their whole lives. This book has a lot of horror elements and some gore moments. I think I pictured more a Charmed sister dynamic but we never truly get to know Eustace. The beginning of the book felt really slow with a lot of long descriptive paragraphs, but it picks up a lot as these women start to unravel more truths about the house and their family. Cordelia’s romance with the groundskeeper was a light touch too but I feel like his story felt unfinished. There’s a lot to unpack in this book and the story is very atmospheric and the mystery is engaging. The ending is action-packed and hard to put down and it’s a great creepy mystery for spooky season.

I believe I picked this up as a "Read Now" thinking that it would be a novel that I would enjoy. The description seemed to tout it as a terrifying read. It didn't even come close to being spooky.

The novel was pretty boring for me. I probably expected to be terrified enough to keep me up at night. But that didn't happen. And I didn't quite understand the Mafia angle of the story. Really? It just took away from the handful of paranormal discoveries.

I didn't care for any of the characters, except for maybe Gordon, the property caretaker. He was one of the few that had a "normal" name, unlike the main characters Cordelia and Eustace. Those names didn't bother me at first, but as the story progressed, I just started to get annoyed at them.

By 42%, I was just about over and done. So I skipped to the last few chapters to see if there were any redeeming qualities that could compel me to carry one. Sadly, those last few chapters are what sealed the novel's fate as I was dismayed at the outcome. An unfortunate one star DNF.

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

"Ava Morgyn's The Witches of Bone Hill is a spellbinding, romantic novel about family secrets and two young women who discover they're Nordic witches.

Cordelia Bone's meticulously crafted life and career in Dallas are crashing down around her thanks to a philandering husband with criminal debts. When her older, carefree sister, Eustace - a cannabis grower in Boulder - calls to inform her that the great aunt they never met has died and they must travel to a small town in Connecticut to deal with the estate, she sees an opportunity to unload the house and save herself.

But once there, the sisters learn they are getting much more than they bargained for. The Victorian mansion they stand to inherit is bound in a dynasty trust controlled by their late aunt's aging attorney, who insists they retain and inhabit the house but keeps them in the dark about the peculiar rituals of their ancestors. Not to mention a sexy, tattooed groundskeeper with a shrouded past who refuses to leave the carriage house and a crypt full of dead relatives looming at the property line.

As both women grapple with their current predicament, they come face to face with a haunting family secret, the truth of what happened to their mother, and the enemy that's been stalking them from the shadows for generations. In a twisting torrent of terror and blood, the sisters must uncover the power within them to heal their fractured relationship, reverse their mysteriously declining health, and claim the lineage they wanted to escape but now must embrace if they are to survive at Bone Hill."

I'd totally take a large Victorian mansion, cursed or not.

The Witches of Bone Hill was the perfect witchy book to get me thinking about my autumn reading list. When I think of autumn reading I think of books like this with a spooky, fog shrouded estate, ghosts, witches, magic, and a couple sisters who discover they're so much more than they ever knew.

This was a fantasy story that did a great job walking the line between cozy and dark. The mystery was engrossing enough to hold my attention and there's most definitely some grim elements to the story, but there was also such a warm, comforting vibe to the relationship between Cordelia and Eustace that I truly adored.

Overall, this book strikes a nice balance of fantasy, romance, and a touch of horror. I pulled out the pumpkin spice coffee and apple scented candles a little early for this read, and I have zero regrets. The Witches Of Bone Hill is a must read for those who love stories about magic, witches, and the bonds of sisterhood.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for providing a copy for me to read and review.

I am going to start my review with the caveat that this wasn't what I expected, and it wound up being a bit too spooky for me.

Cordelia Bone is having a rough time. The life she meticulously put together is falling apart. So, when her sister Eustace calls to inform her that their Great Aunt died and that they inherited the house, she sees an opportunity to make some money that will help put her life back together. But, when they get to the house, everything is not what it seems.

Like I mentioned, this wasn't really what I was expecting and wasn't exactly my cup of tea. The book was a little bit too spooky (so many creepy ghosts and scary things!) and I didn't necessarily enjoy the romance enough to make up for that fact. However, I will note that Ava Morgyn is a phenomenal writer, so if you don't mind borderline horror novels, then I would highly recommend picking up this book. However, if you are easily scared and avoid horror novels like the plague like me, then I wouldn't really suggest this book.

Great fall read! If you enjoy creepy witchy reads, then you don't want to miss out on this one! I enjoyed the storyline and the characters. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

In this variation on the "people inherit a spooky house, now spooky things happen" trope, there's just a little too much going on. Not the spooky stuff--it's fine if a little overbaked (White lady witches strike again) and reused from other books--but some of the rest has got to go. The divorce was bad enough, because there's a lot of what feels very forced writing on it, but to have a mafia subplot? Why? It's totally unnecessary and in fact takes the reader out of the spooky atmosphere Morgyn is trying to create all the rest of the time. It's just a mess. Someone go edit this before it gets out into the wild.

Cordelia and her sister Eustace find out that they have inherited the estate of their late Great aunt. They head to Connecticut to collect. They end up finding out more then they bargained for about the family legacy. Good book

What a fun and cozy witchy read! If you love easy to dive into books with fun juicy family drama, that will also make your heart melt…. This is it!

•The Witches of Bone Hill 🦴•

📚Genre: paranormal thriller (?)
🤔Rating: 🍺🍺(2/5)
#️⃣ of pages: 416
👯‍♀️ read if you like: witches, gothic tales, urban fantasy
⚠️TW: lots of gore, borderline horror
🗓️Publishing Date: September 26, 2023

👍🏼:
•a great jumpstart to spooky season
•picked up and had an action packed ending

👎🏼:
•had a hard time connecting with any of the characters
•lots of plot holes left open for me
•not at all what I expected

Overall…
This book was not what I expected in the slightest. What I thought would be a Hocus Pocus type mystery was really borderline horror with some dark humor and a touch of mystery? I will say, I think reading this around Halloween would be more appropriate & I definitely wasn’t in the spooky fall mood, currently living in 100 degree heat. There were some major unanswered things & some plot lines that just made me 🤨. I was really planning on 1 star until it really picked up the last 15% for an action packed ending

Thanks for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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The Witches of Bone Hill delivers creepy vibes with a touch of horror and a great, complicated dynamic between the estranged Bone sisters, Cordelia and Eustace. It definitely pulled me in right from the start and kept my interest with a steady rhythm of twists and revelations. Poignant and uplifting in turn; the story literally broke my heart and then mended it back. I loved the personalities behind each character and the way their individual traits
manifested their magic. It’s a great read that touches on nearly every emotion as the sisters navigate their lives from a place of messiness, illness, fear, and loss to one of power, health, hope, and love.

From the synopsis I thought I would enjoy this book, but I was so wrong. It seemed to be an entire book was just adjectives. I DNF'd at chapter 4. It may have gotten better, but I could not get through overly descriptive adjectives.

Two estranged sisters inherit a house. Cordelia is in the middle of a divorce and her sister Eustace is dealing with health problems. Neither of them know much about their family history which involve witches. They will soon find out. This is a really intriguing meld of genres. Horror, paranormal, romance.

When I first read the synopsis for this book, the first thing I thought I’d was the tv show Charmed, which I grew up watching (and loved!). Well I definitely wasn’t wrong in thinking it gave off those vibes, but it also delivered so, so much more.

Cordelia is a woman with a life that’s falling apart. Her husband cheated on her, stole her identity, and racked up bills/loans in her name, all while traveling cross country with his mistress. So, when she gets a call from her estranged sister Eustace who tells her that their Aunt has died and left an entire estate in their name, she up and goes to Connecticut to check it out and maybe make a quick buck selling the house. In the end though, Cordelia gets more than she bargained for, when mysterious and eerily haunted things begin happening.

This was such an intriguing book to read, and I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery/thrill that it offered!