The Bone Houses

THE BONE HOUSES, is the first book I’ve read by Emily Lloyd-Jones. I found this to be an original and fast paced novel, one that kept my interest until the very end.

Aderyn is a gravedigger, the eldest of three, taking care of her family since the death of her parents, and disappearance of her Uncle. Living on the edge of the forest, she is also aware of the Bone Houses–the dead that have been reanimated due to an ancient curse. While her father lived, she learned not to fear them, as they kept to the forest and only appeared after evening.

“Death is not to be feared . . . nor can it be forsaken . . . ”

She was also taught how to dispose of any that she came across.

“Usually if something crawls out of a grave, I take an axe to it . . . ”

When an apprentice mapmaker, Ellis, comes to her town, everything really takes off.

There was a complete cast of characters here; both those I liked, and those I despised. The Bone Houses remained largely a mystery, told only in stories of folklore and curses, and scoffed at by most of the younger townspeople.

Until they began venturing beyond the forest.

“The risen dead do seem to have an ill effect on commerce . . . ”

The quest the two older teens embark on is full of action, death, blood, mystery, and secrets. I particularly loved the banter and light sarcasm that progressed between them. Each felt like a real “person” to me, with enough details to make me feel as if they could walk off the page and into reality.

“‘I grew up thinking monsters could be slain.'”
“. . . ‘And I grew up thinking people were the monsters.'”

Overall, a fascinating story that overlapped into folklore, horror, mystery, and fantasy genres. The characters felt “solid” enough, and the novel managed to keep me turning pages without pausing to “guess” at the outcome.

“. . . my sister loves me, but then again she loves a dead goat, so her standards are a bit off . . . ”

This is an author I’m looking forward to reading more from in the future.

Recommended.

I absolutely adored this! It was gripping and intriguing and atmospheric and perfectly creepy. There was so much more going on in this book than what’s in the blurb and the plot threads weaved seamlessly together and kept me guessing until the very end. I adored both Ryn and Ellis and devoured this in two sittings. Absolutely recommend.

Emily Lloyd-Jones tells her YA fantasy “The Bone Houses” with some gorgeous prose and a healthy respect for the Welsh legends from which she borrows. A bone house is an animated dead person (Except for the undead goat, who was absolutely charming and a hero in its own right) Ryn shoulders the responsibilities of keeping her brother and sister safe, fed, and sheltered after their father disappeared and their mother died. She’s taken over the family business – grave digging. However, the town’s fallen on tough times. Many people move from their little village, but something’s moving in. Something unwelcome. Bone Houses.

As Ryn’s family faces eviction, a wealthy, young mapmaker hires her to guide him through the Bone House-infested woods. Together, they seek the source of the Bone Houses’ unnatural existence – and their own personal histories as well!

I read this with the kids, and they agreed with me. Goat was a great character in a story with solid characterizations, and the story compelled. I enjoyed the way Emily Lloyd-Jones wrapped the legends and myths of old into this new story, and I look forward to reading other works by the author.

First off, I will start by saying I am glad I read this tale. My friend Michelle, an avid reader, recommended it knowing what she does about my own novel, Of Ash & Shadow, and it’s background in Celtic mythology. Whereas I delve heavily into the Irish lore, Ms. Lloyd-Jones uses Welsh mythology for the cultural background of her story.

Aderyn, Ryn for short, is a fun heroine to follow. She is everything a proper lady isn’t and for that, she is quite endearing. She’s not the best in social situations and yet I know I’d want her as a friend. Ellis is her exact opposite, better trained for high society, and entirely out of place within the small town of Colbren. Due to an old injury, Ellis is less suited to fighting, though he holds his own when he must, it makes their teaming up a fun flip on old tropes.

While both protagonists are easy to like for their flaws and their strengths, the secondary characters too are filled with life – even the Bone Houses, the risen dead. I think, funnily enough, my favorite secondary character would have to be the family goat. She is thoroughly amusing throughout and I honestly looked forward to her every appearance.

The Bone Houses does read like a classic fairytale, though I don’t really count it as horror. Though I enjoyed the tale, it did not make my heart clench or my pulse race in the manner I would expect from a horror novel. Of course, that could just be me, and just because I don’t believe it isn’t horror doesn’t mean it isn’t still a great story.

Unlike some other YA where the story moves you speedily along, racing for the end, The Bone Houses read more like a leisurely stroll. I found myself wanting to read slower, not because the story was boring or the writing hard to understand, but because the natural pace is like Ryn and Ellis’s journey – winding and carefully measured. The read felt much like how Ellis makes his maps, it takes a little longer, but in the end, it’s worth the extra time.

Ultimately, I’d recommend The Bone Houses to anyone who just wants a fun read.

Okay, there’s a zombie goat… so, enough said.

Actually this was a really cute standalone YA fantasy that was perfectly appropriate to read during Halloween season. There were a couple things that from a story structure standpoint could have been done better and the plot did get predictable at the end. Overall, I enjoyed it. The Welsh-inspired world building was great though I wish the author had leaned into it more. I loved that the MC was just a normal girl but at times the author tends to beat you over the head with the fact that SHE IS NORMAL, DANGIT. Which got repetitive and I tend to get annoyed when authors condescend to the audience. Also, trying SO HARD to say something over and over and over again tends to invalidate whatever you’re trying to get across. The pacing was good and did I mention there was a zombie goat? Because the goat was the GOAT of this whole book, LOL! I never thought i’d get emotionally attached to an undead farm animal so kudos to the author for that.

The romantic subplot fell flat but the characters were fully developed and since it’s a SUB-plot and was really not a focus point of the story it didn’t bother me that the characters lacked any real chemistry. One thing I really didn’t like was the way the author structured the book. There was a TON of backstory but a lot of it was stuff that seemed really important and all of it happened off stage. Also, it wasn’t woven into the story well. It was choppy and the structure of that was really ineffectual and only served to take me out of the story on more than one occasion. Also, i think it was this odd structure of backstory mini-info dumps that made the plot so predictable so early. I think that definitely could have been done better.

All in all, I did enjoy it, although it was no literary masterpiece it was a fun zombie filled book during Halloween and especially cheezy at times. But hey, I like that kind of stuff around the holidays. 🙂

I thought this was an easy read with good character and world building. It switched so gracefully between the living and the dead, having them co exist so naturally. The book moves at a pretty even pace with a nice twist at the end. Overall a great read!