The Season of Stick and Bone by A.L. Davidson was interesting but weirdly paced and I wasn't really feeling the romance but overall I enjoyed it.

Thanks to NetGalley and BDA Publishing for the ARC.

DNF @5%.

i will just leave it at the fact that this is very overwritten and like another reviewer said, this makes the writing stilted, confusing and completely takes you out of the story.

i’m sad because what bda has had idea wise recently has been very exciting and while the premise for this was also exciting, it ultimately flopped very hard.

i really don’t have many suggestions other than to cut down on the words. a.l. davidson, please know that your story idea is great and has great potential, but that you need some stable and plain writing first and foremost.

1/5 because of the DNF :(

This was definitely the worst book I've read from NetGalley. I'm actually aghast. There's telling not showing and then there's whatever this is. No person speaks like this to any other person, and every gesture or thought is not just described but beaten to death with explanatory text. Places "reek of ecological violence and capitalism." People say "my legacy doesn't lie in a building" to each other, verbally. Someone "assures, as they extend their hand," but in case you didn't know what the verb assures implies the narrator clarifies, "The mannerism they had picked up during their short time together radiated a soft comfort. Safety. Connection. They knew that an outstretched hand meant an offering of protection. That, in his moment of fear, they could reassure him. Though their ability to converse was limited, they could tell Erik was uneasy, and they ached because of it." Thank god we beat that horse dead for a full paragraph, I never would have been able to interpret the mystifying and bizarre act of touching a crying person otherwise. There's no arc for any of the characters, no build up to anything, no stakes. Random reveals that should be earth-shattering have no lead-up and no fall out. Not a single person reacts normally to a single thing. Wild experience. Also his dad being Hozier made me actually, audibly snort.

This had that ecohorror element perfectly and enjoyed the concept going on in this world. The characters felt like they belonged in this world and story. A.L. Davidson has a great writing style and enjoyed how everything continued how good everything was. It had that romance element that I wanted and was glad I read this.

I have complicated feelings about this book, and I truly believe that's the best way to summarize it. I don't hate this book, but I found it difficult to find things I liked about it. I did enjoy the overall writing style. While heavy on prose, The Season of Stick and Bone is evidently inspired by the rustic mythology of lyricists such as Hozier, Noah Kahan and The Oh Hellos. Davidson does an excellent job emulating this feeling throughout the text and I did enjoy the rolling descriptions and ornate style.

That being said, parts of the writing style undermined the reading experience. Dialogue and character descriptions fell short - one line that stuck with me was "It's the mills and the canneries and the capitalism," which felt like a bit of a heavy-handed explanation of an ecohorror piece. Moreover, I despised how Roman and Erik were written, especially Roman's childlike-despite-being-an-ancient-being and Erik's weird macho. I grew exhausted by the constant reminders of how small and lithe and fragile and weak and naive Roman was in comparison to stoic and protective Erik. It was just kind of annoying to read about when I'm supposed to be rooting for the romance between them. I think it was exacerbated by the lack of a distinct characterization of Erik, I struggled to resonate with him in the slightest. However, some characters, such as Aunt Grace were much better defined and a better representation of Davidson's skills as a writer.

Overall this book is good for a quick read and for fans of Hozier/Noah Kahan/swamp or bog deity vibes. However, I personally couldn't get some of the hurdles in the overall narrative. It's a 2.5/5 stars from me.

This book. Oh My Goodness - this fucking book!!

The writing style and the setting truly had me completely engulfed in this story from start to finish. I could smell the eucalyptus scent and scent of the forest and the mill. I could feel the wind in my hair and upon my skin, I could taste the whisky and pomegranates on my tongue. I could hear the buzz of the saws from the sawmill and feel the coziness of Erik's home as if it were the blanket wrapping me up while I read each page. Each and every word so eloquently written to create an atmosphere you can truly get lost in.

This book, despite not being my normal genre of read, gave me so much and more than I ever expected. The characters felt fleshed out and lively, I felt like Erik was someone I could have gone to school with in my lifetime. I loved learning about Roman, experiencing the child-like wonder at the world around them, and watching as their relationship with Erik grew. I can't even put into words the gut punch the ending was to me, and I can't wait to see where Davidson takes this in book two.

All in all, I would definitely recommend to friends looking for a something with eloquent language and beautiful prose featuring elements of romance, fantasy, and eco-horror elements, with a storyline that keeps you engaged from start to finish.

This novella has so many great concepts, themes and subject matters, however, personally the execution of these ideas is underwhelming and not fully fleshed-out. The horror element was lacking and the romance didn't feel authentic. The dryad Roman is a classic Born Sexy Yesterday and Erik is very one note. The uncle was the only character that I found interesting simply beacuse he is touted as an antagonist. I enjoyed the prose and language that was used, I just wish that it was more consistent. Ultimately the length is working against this particular story. With so many elements contesting each other and the story it's trying to tell its hard to enjoys as a horror or a romance. This book has potential to be extraordinary if it is given more time to expand on the setting, charcters personalities, and their motivations.

The Season of Stick and Bone was my first Ecohorror novella, and I really liked it! I loved the lead character, Erik, and the unconventional love story between him and a Dryad, Roman. This is my first book I’ve read that involved forest based folklore, and I thought it was very unique. However, I wish it were about 50 pages longer. I wanted more gore and horror, as well as more time allotted for the ending.

SPOILERS BELOW:






- Something about the Dryad felt very child-like. Which was a little uncomfortable for me. Erik does mention Roman's rings and how they're probably 30+ years old, but it still felt like they were "young" in nature
- The ending was all over the place. I liked the idea of the mill being burned to the ground, but it seemed a little rushed.
- The story of the aunt being in love with Erik's Mom, was kind of random, but I get why they included it into the story.
- I wish there was more gore & horror overall, I liked the first scene of the man being strung up in the Mill's loft by the vines and roots, but it was very similar to the second scene of how the Uncle died.

Thank you to BDA Publishing and NetGalley for this e-ARC for review. I’m quite excited to read it and will provide a review promptly.

I think that this book kept on stepping back from being actually genuinely impactful way too often for it to make either a good horror or a good romance, and also there was a potential for an absolutely perfect ending that would make it both more horror and more romance and then it just didn't happen. what i thought was subtext was just wishful thinking in the end

This book is so beautiful. The author painted such vivid pictures with their words - I felt like I was right there with Erik, experiencing his surroundings along with him. His journey to finding and accepting himself was gorgeous and felt like someone giving in to who they really are. Like…there was no world where he resisted because he somehow knew it was meant to be. Also, the ecohorror aspect was really cool. The fact that nature was constantly taking over/winding itself around/sticking to things from the very first page and the author used similar language for non-plant things was genius. I worded that weird but I promise it’ll make sense. The body horror/instances of Mother Nature just playing with its food (the sawyers) made me gag a lil. And the tree spirits - both terrifying and ethereal. When they all stood outside the window….watching….😩 lastly, the ending was a super non traditional end to a romance story, open to interpretation- but since it’s an eventual HEA i interpreted it as a really beautiful “end” to the first book. I’m excited for the next.

I'm not sure what is wrong with this book, but it seems like someone used a thesaurus for every sentence or ran it through chatgpt..

The flow and way things were worded were mechanical and felt like someone that knew the words nkt not actually what they meant..

I rarely rate anything below 2 stars but honestly this was broken, not cohesive and made the whole reason experience awful.

If this was written by a real person please toss the thesaurus and use your own words, your idea is good but the execution

I don't like to give negative reviews, because I tend to believe what doesn't work for me could work for somebody else. But in this case I honestly can't say it's good. The concept is interesting, don't get me wrong, it could have been a nice story, leaning on the horror and disturbing side. But the execution has too many issues, from the prose, to the pacing and the management of POVs. I didn't get along with the characters, not because they aren't fundamentaly interesting, but because I couldn't a good sense of them. It means that the romance isn't convincing either (I also struggle a bit with the dryad's behavior, too childlike in many aspects for me to be comfortable with the adult romance, but that might be a "me" thing).

To cut it short, I feel like this story has potential, the ideas are great, but handle to precariously for a good and enjoyable story to emerge. I am sorry to say something that harsh.

everything is just so off about this book. the prose is way over-the-top flowery and hard to trudge through. it seriously took so long to get through this little novella. there's something really amateur and heavyhanded about it. there is very little showing and a whooole lot of telling happening in the text. it feels like everything insignificant got overexplained and anything that could've/should've been compelling was sidestepped entirely.

there is no sense of personality from the main character, erik, at all in the actual internal narrative. it left me feeling really detached from him and unconvinced by his feelings. so many scenes between the two main characters that could've been intimate instead felt glossed over, with stilted and mechanical description. there are also several instances of switching internal narration perspectives to different characters mid-chapter, sometimes even mid-paragraph. made for a really jarring and frustrating reading experience.

the pacing is another issue that contributes to the weird detachment from the characters. i am a frequent novella reader so i understand that the pacing of a short book is different from that of a full novel, but this was just poorly excecuted. the romance developed in a weirdly fast and choppy way that just felt confusing.

speaking of the romance, i was really not convinced by these two. they had no chemistry. it felt like i was reading about a grown man dating a toddler. the whole "they act like a little kid but they're actually an ancient being" trope is a hard enough sell in a well-written book, so... yeah.

overall, this book's greatest sin is that it was dull. i was just bored for a lot of it, which is so disappointing because i love the concept and the cover art. this book had all the components that could've made for a really compelling and atmospheric read, but it fell flat. i'm a huge lover of romance novellas, and the paranormal flavor is a favorite of mine, so i really thought this was going to be a home run for me.

I'm so excited for this book to run in print!!! the writing style is so gorgeous, the pacing is great, and i love the premise. beautiful all around <3

Someone take this author’s thesaurus away from them, please, this is just embarrassing.

>Satisfied that his body was freed of the nature that consumed him during his work hours,<

What would you think that sentence means, if you came across it in a book? Because what is meant is that he’s washed off the leaves and dust from the day’s work, which…that’s just not how you say that. It doesn’t work on multiple levels.

>The cabin was cool; he’d need to rectify it with a fire and a quilt. The thought of such simplistic comforts left him happy,<

‘rectify it’? RECTIFY? And you mean simple comforts, not simplistic comforts, ffs.

>He racked his brain for a brief moment and tried to recount his day.<

Now, this would be completely fine, except that what is meant here is that the character is trying to remember what happened that day. Which is not what this sentence means. ‘Recount’ specifically means to tell someone about something; it does not mean ‘remember’.

>It had been on a whim, a decision made in panic.<

You’re talking about an impulse, not a whim, methinks. ‘Whim’ and ‘panic’ don’t really go together, even though technically it’s probably fine?

>But it was quite, cozy, and familial.<

This line is about a town. A town is familial??? Even if it contains members of your family, I don’t think that means you can describe a town as familial.

>He couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to his missing co-workers and the oddity of the situation.<

‘oddity of the situation’?

This novella is so overwritten as to be painful, a very clear case of someone who needs to let go of the thesaurus and back away slowly. The result is prose that manages to be both pretentious and jarringly weird, with plenty of sentences that just don’t mean what the author thinks they mean. I would be so embarrassed to submit this to a literary agent or publisher, and I have no idea why it’s being published in this form.

(Yes, I know this is an arc, but books aren’t generally completely rewritten between arc and final copy, so I’m going to presume most of this isn’t going to be edited out.)

Hey BDA Publishing, if you decide you need a new editor, I’m currently available. I also freelance as a copywriter, so hit me up if you want someone to wrangle this into submission, jfc.