the bone way was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021, so it’s safe to say that i was disappointed. maybe my expectations are to blame: i went in expecting a sapphic retelling of orpheus and eurydice and instead i got a very, very loose reimagining with a witchy cottagecore aesthetic. i love the premise, but the story itself left a lot to be desired.

teagan is already dying when she follows her wife, cressidae, into the shadow realm, where cress has gone to make a deal with the shadow princess for teagan’s life. teagan’s journey should have been the focus of the book—especially considering how short this one is—but it’s constantly interrupted by oddly-placed flashbacks and asides, almost none of which were necessary. nothing is exactly as it seems in the shadow princess’s realm, and i wish underhill had spent more time exploring teagan and cress’s relationship in that context. instead it all felt very low-stakes.

i really struggled to finish this one despite its brevity. i didn’t connect with the characters or their romance, the writing (particularly the dialogue) felt stilted, and the conclusion was… unsatisfying, to say the least. how are you going to call your story an orpheus and eurydice retelling without music or a tragic ending?

*Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own*

This book is about a quest for love, that's the best description I can give.
I love it, this is more than a love story, it has adventure, a fairy tale vibe, and a very nice fantasy world.
It really surprised me how the author manages to spend and create such a wonderful world in a few pages.
Here we have to story, a story about a couple that loves each other so much that they do anything to save each other and be together and I loved them!
I never feel so connected to a couple before and the way they express their love to each other.
The second story is about a princess and how she becomes who she is, her story brings the fairy tale vibe to the book.
These two stories connect to tell us a tale about love and adventure.
I recommend it so much, please read and give a chance for this amazing book and romance!

What a ride. I fell in love with these characters and this world and the LGBT rep is some of the best I've seen in a book for quite some time, really. If you're looking for a dark and queer fantasy, pick this up!

The Bone Way is a very ambitious effort to re-create the Orpheus and Eurydice story while giving it a sapphic twist. As a big mythology lover I couldn't pass this book up and even though I was a little bit disappointed I am also glad to have read this one.
It's actually prett well written en the Shadow world that's used as a setting is interesting, as are the tasks Teagan and Cress must endure to reach the Shadow Princess. I think because of the fact that it was a novella the writer should have condensed her story a bit more. It would have probably worked better for me when all we got was the trip to the Shadow Land. Instead there were flashbacks inserted which showed the love story between the two leading ladies, but now neither the love story nor the adventure got enough time to shine. And the choice of the flashbacks even made me wonder where the love was...I am told their love is so great, but mostly interactions between them were cold, angry or hurt,
All in all, great idea, good writing and definitely enjoyable but too big of a story as it is now for a novella-length book. Yet for anyone who likes mythology and enjoys a sapphic romance this is still a nice interlude.

*** An ARC was provided Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. ***

It was a perfect Sapphic romance! The chemistry, the people, everything was amazing!
I will recommend it to everyone.

When I heard there was going to be a sapphic retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, I immediately wanted to read that book. The Bone Way by Holly J. Underhill is a novella about Teagan trying to find her missing wife Cressidae, who has left for the Shadow Realm. Cress wants to find a cure for Teagan who is slowly dying of a toxic bite.

I wanted to love this book so much, but unfortunately it was a slight let down. I’m not the biggest reader of high fantasy as is, but I was hoping the mythology retelling would balance the high fantasy elements.

For a novella, it had both too much and too little going on. It would have been enough for the Shadow Realm to be developed as the setting, which is actually the part that I liked, but the book also tried to develop a fantasy world where Teagan and Cress lived in. If this were a full-length novel, it could have worked, but it just felt unnecessary for the story.

While I liked Teagan as a main character, I felt that the relationship between Teagan and Cress was lacking. We were told constantly that the two had a happy marriage and were in love, but the scenes between the two characters seemed to only be of them fighting one another.

What I liked about the story were the more mythological elements and the stories of the Shadow Princess. Those parts were very enjoyable to read and I wanted even more of those elements.

This is a light retelling of Eurydice and Orpheus and I say light as this is the feel-good version. This novella has all the elements I like, a fantasy world with magic and dark realms and two women on a quest, conquering dangers on the way, all in the name of love, and look at that cover! I had fun with this debut novella, but there were also a couple of bumps on the road (pun intended).

The worldbuilding was well done considering that this is a novella. You immediately fall into the story told from the POV of Teagan (the entire book is 3rd person 1 POV). Her wife Cressidae (Cress) has left her in search of the dark princess that rules the shadow realm. Teagan follows Cress into the dark realm and has to survive all kinds of dangers on the road to the dark princess. I always enjoy a book that immediately starts with some action and especially for novella’s this works very well.

The thing that I found difficult though were the many flashbacks. There are flashbacks of the love story of Teagan and Cress and of the backstory of the dark Princess. While the love story was particularly sweet, the chaos of all the flashbacks made it almost impossible for me to get into the story. Also, the characters and the story feel a bit simplistic at points, especially the ending was a bit too easy.

In summary, this was a fun novella and an interesting debut. I didn’t click with it completely, but I will keep an eye on this author for future work.

This book had a very interesting premise, but a very underwhelming execution.

The author seemed to almost skip the worldbuilding entirely, making this book feel like the second book in a series. This story was very complex, but the author attempted to fit it into a very short book.

The short aspect of this book made the relationship much less compelling. And the relationship being already established made this much less interesting. This book had a lot of potential, but simply missed the mark in my opinion. Definitely still a good book, and a very quick read to anyone interested.

This was such a sweet sapphic reimagining of the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice and now I‘m soft.

"The Bone Way" centers on Teagan, who is slowly dying from a lethal poison, and ends up having to follow her missing wife Cressidae, who is desperate to safe Teagan‘s life, into the Shadow Realm - a kingdom of the dead filled with untold nightmares and other horrors.

Being a novella with only a little over a hundred pages, "The Bone Way" is a quick and easy read, perfect for when you‘re in need of a whimsical and heartwarming binge-read.

The world building in this adult retelling immediately sucked me into its story - it was absolutely stunning.
I was really fascinated by the contrast between Wystira, the magical and delightful homeland of our characters, and the Shadow Realm full of frightening creatures (which were definitely among my favorite parts of this novella!) and gruesome atmosphere of hopelessness!

The plot itself is rather simplistic and linear, and the obstacles our characters have to face are overcome quite fast and easily, but then again, there‘s only so much plot you can build up in a hundred pages, and I really enjoyed what I got out of it!
I found the trials our characters had to face on their way through the Shadow Realm intriguing and fascinating, and I could have easily read another three hundred pages of them.
The added flashbacks definitely gave the story a nice extra layer as well!

I didn’t end up getting overly attached to the main characters, but I did really enjoy the relationship between them - it was so wholesome and Teagan and Cressidae were both such stubborn idiots! It was palpable how much they cared for each other and their interactions made me smile quite a bit.
I would have liked to see a bit more of their individual character arcs, especially of Cressidae‘s, but in the end, I enjoyed what we did get to see.

If you are in need of a quick and wholesome sapphic fantasy read, look no further!


*I kindly received an arc of this (many thanks to Nyx Publishing and NetGalley). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Holly J. Underhill had a massive undertaking when she decided to write The Bone Way. The Orpheus and Eurydice tale has been told six different ways to Sunday and finding a new take on the classic love tragedy is not easy. However, Underhill took that challenge and ran with it.

When Teagan wakes up to her wife and her dagger missing, she knows exactly where Cressidae (Cress) has gone, The Shadow Realm. Cress is on a mission to bargain with the Shadow Princess, the ruler of the Realm, for Teagan's life, to save Teagan from the poison that is slowly killing her. Teagan follows Cress to make sure that they both can return to the mortal realm.

A few reasons that I loved this book;
The overall aesthetic: The book has an overall vibe that reminds me of the game Virtual Cottage but with more adventure.
The fact that it's an O&E retelling, but with witches: This adds an extra level of intrigue to the fairly well-known story.
(Obviously) The witchcraft: The two main characters are practicing witches and it is really lovely to watch how they use their craft to survive.
Teagan and Cress's relationship: It is clear that the two would do anything for each other, and their journey through the Shadow Realm proves it.
The fact that Teagan and Cress have cats: No explanation. This is just so cute and wholesome. As I mentioned earlier, lots of elements of this book have the same feeling as Virtual Cottage.
The Shadow Princess: This character is just so incredible. I would love to see another story with an in-depth background for her.

I definitely think that this is worth a read. Despite its length, it is full of magic, adventure, and love.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 (rounded up to 4)

The Bone Way will be available for purchase starting June 26th. Be sure to add it to your Goodreads shelf and see where it's available for purchase. Also, be sure to check out Holly J. Underhill's website!

I was lucky enough to be able to read this Advanced Reader's Copy through my partnership with NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Bone Way tells the story of Teagan who ventures to The Shadow Realm to retrieve her wife, Cressidae. First of all, this cover is gorgeous. It's what drew me to the book in the first place. I also appreciate a story with good solid love and no messy triangles or complications. However, I quickly lost interest in this book. The characters were very flat and it was hard for me to connect with them at all. I feel like there were several parts of the story that could have been fleshed out or developed more but mostly I think the characters need a lot of work. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

While I'm 100% here for a central, pre-established sapphic relationship built on communication, understanding, and equality... The writing itself was very spare. There was little to no description of the settings (of which there are several) or the creatures (of which there are a few). Instead we get sentences of all approximately the same length/structure dealing either with movement or emotion. It felt more like an outline than a finished work in this way.

And I don't know if it's just because it's a novella, but every setback had an immediate and obvious resolution with seemingly no lasting consequences. "You can't do x or else!" Does X and freaks out about having done X but doesn't have any actual quantifiable consequences for having done X.

I will say I loved the focus on partnership and how to balance one's dreams with one's significant other's dreams.

Thanks to NetGalley and Nyx Publishing for this ARC!

The Bone Way is a fantasy novella that follows a witch, Teagan, on her journey through the dangerous and fantastical Shadow Realm in search of her wife, Cress, who has left her to make a bargain with the mysterious Shadow Princess.

I requested this book based solely on the gorgeous cover, so I went in without knowing anything about the plot or the fact that it is a retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, and I really enjoyed it! To be honest I didn't realize it was a novella either, so this was a short read, but a sweet one.

I enjoyed the journey through the Shadow Realm (the underworld of this story). The descriptions of this world are beautiful and immersive. Being a novella, there was limited time for character development and I found myself wishing for more! I did like the flashbacks, and felt they added a foundation to Teagan and Cress's story. I really loved the parts of the Shadow Princess's story, and the fairytale-esque style in which they were told. I wish we had had more time with the Shadow Princess herself, I feel like she was such an interesting character. I'd be down for a whole other book about her!

Overall, The Bone Way is an inventive and atmospheric novella that explores life and death and the things that keep us going even when we are trapped on a hopeless journey. A great quick read that fantasy lovers should enjoy!

Are you telling me that the myth of Orpheus and Erudice has an LGBT retelling?

I'll take it.

I want to thank Netgalley, the author and those behind this book for the ARC.

Well, here we go...

I loved this book completely, and it wasn't just because of the beautiful cover it has (and yes, it is beautiful) , I think it might be my favourite book for the rest of the year 2021, and it really is beautiful ♥️🥺, my heart beats for this story.

The fantasy described in every word was so dark and fantastic, the shadow realm felt so grim to me but well executed, it really sent chills.

I could imagine a Castlevania style movie with this book, and fingers crossed that it becomes a reality (Come on Netflix, give this book a look).

Cress and Teagan are so cute and I would love more about them, their story is so sweet and so full of adventure.

The antagonist character didn't end up winning me over, but hey, the story makes up for it.
Each trial got harder and I loved the way she overcame it.

I hope to continue reading books written by the author in the future.

Of course I jumped on a sapphic retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. I mean, have you seen that cover? And while this novella got some things right, unfortunately, there were several things that didn’t quite work for me.

When Tegan wakes up to an empty cottage, she knows the worst has happened. Her wife, Cress, has decided to brave the Shadow Princess’s realm by herself to bargain with her. All Tegan can do is follow and hope to catch up with her before the worst happens. But the journey also gives her time to reflect on their relationship and what got them to this point, and all she can do is hope that she, Cress and their relationship can survive the cruel and impetuous Shadow Princess.

“And then I met Cressidae. She was exciting and intense, a brave person with an artist’s heart. She made me realize that I shouldn’t be living for my mother. I should be living for me.”


After Tegan’s mother died, Tegan gave up her dreams of being an inventor and decided to follow her mother’s footsteps as a healer. She left her home village for the big city, met Cress, and quickly fell in love. Their life back in her home village was idyllic – until an attack in the forest threatened everything they hold dear. Cress believes their only hope is to bargain with the mythical Shadow Princess, but as the quest to find more knowledge consumes her, Tegan is left wondering how their relationship will survive this – if Tegan survives, that is. At heart, their problem is communication: Cress’s hesitance to share her own fears with Tegan while Tegan is already dealing with so much. Neither want to burden the other, but it takes the Shadow Princess’s challenge to finally make them realize that they’re stronger when they work together.

“They’d been partners for almost two years at this point, been married for half that. The silence didn’t feel right. They’d always been able to talk to one another. What had changed to make it so that now she couldn’t even read her wife’s emotions?”


My main problem with the book is that it’s very tell and not show. It reads almost like a screenplay. The descriptions of Tegan and Cress’s cottage, the village they live in, and the various parts of the Shadow Princess’s realm are descriptive and engaging, but Tegan, Cress and their relationship wasn’t as solid for me. It’s not helped by the fact that Tegan spends the first half of the novella catching up to Cress, so it takes a while before we finally see them interacting. There’s small flashbacks – to the day they first met, their wedding, a party the week before that showed the breakdown in their relationship – but it wasn’t quite enough to establish them for me. There’s bits that worked for me, like Cress’s insistence about Tegan pursuing her dreams, but it wasn’t quite enough. I honestly had more feelings about Tegan’s grief over her mother’s death than I did about her relationship with Cress. I was very intrigued by the history of the Shadow Princess and enjoyed the fairy tale-style stories that Cress told Tegan, but it didn’t quite stick the landing. I thought she was building up to be an interesting villain, but then the story fizzled out on her motivations, which didn’t make sense to me.

Overall, it’s an interesting premise and promising retelling, but the romance just didn’t work for me.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This is a sapphic retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice and it was beautiful. I am always here for queer retellings and this one did not disappoint.

The story follows Teagan, a witch whose wife has descended into the underworld on a desperate quest to save Teagan's life. Teagan determined that Cressidae should not remain trapped there- follows her. It is clearly a variation on the ancient myth but it takes place in an entirely different world with different mythos and different stakes. Whilst the Shadow Realm has clear echoes of Hades it also has unique challenges and creatures that Teagan must contend with. It is a straightforward 'quest' story that is fast-paced and enjoyable.

Teagan was an interesting main character, when she's introduced she's already well-established in her life and the event that led to her and Cressidae's quest has already happened so we are thrown right into the narrative. Grief plays a key role in Teagan's journey and it is done achingly well. We don't see a whole lot of Cress in the present time until about halfway through the novella but she too is a likable character and easy to root for. Because the relationship between the two women was already well established when the book begins we, unfortunately, don't get to see a lot of on-page chemistry and new romance (although we do see some of their romantic backstory through little interludes) and that is one of my complaints. The romance felt a little flat in places and at times there was too much telling and not enough showing.

I also felt the world-building could have been stronger and more expansive but I liked what I did see. The Shadow Princess could have been expanded more as well, we got plenty of her backstory and how she got where she did but not a lot of her present-day motivations and she rang a little hollow as a 'villain'. The writing style was captivating and it kept me hooked throughout.

Overall I really enjoyed this novella and wish it could have been a longer piece.

I am a fairly avid reader of fantasy books and so it was great to have a sapphic fantasy book to read. This book was super easy to get through. It was a fun and quick read. I really loved and I think it's especially great for a bit younger YA readers. The language isn't necessarily complicated and it's quickly paced.

The Bone Way is a short and sweet novella, a retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, but with a bit of a twist. It’s an easy read, one you can get through in a single sitting, but ultimately, it didn’t really stand out for me.

Let me start with the positives. The story that the novella sets out to tell is basically the perfect story in terms of length, pacing, and so on. It cuts between the present and the past, giving you background for the characters along the way, so you don’t feel like you’re being asked to care about them for no reason. It doesn’t try to tell too expansive a story, and leaves you satisfied with what it has told.

In general, when I’m reading, I find myself struggling when a relationship is already established, but here I didn’t have that. I think it’s because what the book does well is give you enough of their backstory for you to root for them. And it probably also helps that you’re introduced to them in a moment where things aren’t all that peachey in their relationship.

I think, then, what made me rate this book 3 stars and not higher was mainly that nothing about it really stood out to me. Yes, I enjoyed reading it, but I didn’t love it. I didn’t feel like I wanted more having finished it. So, for all that it was good, it was just missing a little something.

But, on the whole, I think it was a very solid novella, and definitely one I would still recommend.

A sapphic Orpheus and Eurydice retelling in a beautiful fantasy world, I AM IN!

The imagery and descriptions in this world are gorgeous. Even though this is a shorter story, I didn't feel like anything was rushed; the pacing was just balanced as we switched between past and present that answered questions or gave us memories at the best time during this journey.
Also, this couple was so imperfectly perfect. We saw a real couple portrayed with doubts and their own stubbornness and how they both make mistakes and annoy each other but still love each other. It was so refreshing!

The only thing I could ask is for Cress's POV and to expand this world, PLEASE! I honestly want so much more from this world and story now! Please give me a Shadow Princess book because that character seems like they have a real struggle story, and I want it!

Content Warnings: grief, loss of a parent, terminal illness.

The Bone Way aspires to a mythic/fairy tale feel as it weaves together main character Teagan's grief, fears, relationship with her wife, and struggles to find herself; Teagan and Cressidae's Orpheus and Eurydice-inspired journey through the underworld; and the origin myth of the dark Shadow Princess who rules the underworld.

The atmospheric un-spooling of the various fragments from Teagan's life functions to develop the world naturally, circling what she cannot bring herself to say and fading in and out like her own anxieties and grief. The world itself is simple but effective, creating a lively, witchy cottagecore vibe that contrasts the horrors of the underworld. Despite the short length, readers are left with the impression of a richer world with mythology and culture all its own. I particular enjoy the community of healing witches found in Teagan, her mother, and local apothecary owner and friend Maradin.

Where The Bone Way falls short is awkwardly modern dialogue and a somewhat perfunctory pace through obstacles and arguments. Teagan and Cressidae, whose inner worlds and lives are so rich, lack a unique voice—their relationship could be anyone. Though this in no way spoils the story, it erodes an already tenuous connection to the Orpheus myth as their love does not quite feel appropriately mythic.

I would recommend to: Folks looking for soft, sapphic cottagecore witches and happy endings.

Thank you to NetGalley and NyxPublishing for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review will be cross-posted to Amazon upon publication.