The setting for this YA horror story is perfect. Multiple POV with no chapter headings so took a second to figure out who was talking at times. I always forget how Southern Kentucky labels itself. Also, reading in a hammock next to a corn field in July was the perfect ambiance needed. =)

This one was a bit of a slow burn because Laurel is a very hard character to figure out. It took me a while to decide if I even liked her as a character, but she definitely intrigued me from the very beginning. It helps that she's surrounded by infinitely more interesting characters that help fill in the gaps in Laurel's personality.
Everyone in this book has hidden depths to them with a big part of the story being that their dying small town makes them live full of secrets to protect themselves, but it makes figuring out motivation somewhat hard.
The plot has a slight horror tinge to it that adds spice to what it otherwise a pretty straightforward YA story. But be prepared for one depressing revelation after another and an overall bleak plot from beginning to end. Laurel is treated like an outsider in the small town where she was born and all she has is the uncle who raised her and the three friends she grew up with. Of course, Laurel is special and has magic that connects her to the land she lives in but it's that magic that has put everyone and everything in danger unless she can figure out how to wield it. The plot points are obvious if you've read a lot of YA, but I like how Kilcoyne writes the story around the obviousness of the story.
It's nothing that breaks the mold or I'll still be talking about for months to come, but it's unquestionably a well-written book.

Very happy thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this magically suspenseful read!

This book was so good and I really loved the characters and their relationships with one another! I wish the ending hadn't felt so abrupt, but I adored this story.

I wanted to like this one so much more than I did. The writing was pretty: lyrical and full of haunting and subtle little details that brought a lot of depth to scenes that were less dialogue heavy. Unfortunately, the characters grated on me. Not only did they get in their own way, but they got in their friends' ways too - to the point where I honestly wondered how any of them were even friends. I think we needed to understand a little bit more about how the characters were connected, even just in the form of little snippets from their pasts.

Also the horror elements were few and very far between. The characters seemed to very easily shrug off the spooky supernatural occurrences for long stretches of time with a sort of "guess that's just how it is" vibe. I found this both frustrating and hard to believe.

First off, I want to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and author for the advanced copy of this book.

Secondly, the review:
As I am writing this, I am still digesting my feelings surrounding this novel. At some points, it felt like we were trudging along, and then one scene would take us quickly to the next thing.
Elizabeth Kilcoyne did a fantastic job painting images with words: from the beautiful to the grotesque. The pains of growing up, maturing, and struggling are beautifully highlighted.

While this book was exactly up my alley, I know it won't be up everyone's alley. PLEASE make sure you check trigger warnings (published by the author) before starting on a reading adventure with this book.

Final rating: 4/5 stars
I would consider buying and rereading this book!

Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne is a terrifying contemporary gothic horror story. The rural setting is a wonderful backdrop for this type of tale which weaves in folktale horror and small town suspicion. Kilcoyne is a beautiful writer, her prose is poetic and her characters are wonderfully grey.

Sometimes I felt that the description of surrounding got in the way of what was happening in the story. It seemed that the author worked up the emotion of the moment and the next instant something important happened without the reader being told of it.

I am excited to read Kilcoyne’s future books, after reading this debut I see a lot of potential for her in the genre.

This book would be great for fans of Erin A. Craig or Catriona Ward.

I don’t know if it is because I read the ARC? But man it feels like there was some editing error here. The beginning of this is so nonsensical. It seems like this book was trying so hard to be creepy on a Kingfisher level that it forgot it actually had to explain magic and like the plot. Christina was basically fat shamed but she also saved the main characters over and over. The ending or maybe like last third of the book was solid. It felt like a great supernatural episode.

Wake the Bones is a debut YA southern gothic horror novel with fantasy elements by Elizabeth Kilcoyne. The ebook version is 320 pages. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at a little over nine hours and is narrated by Bailey Carr. We follow our main character with a third-person point-of-view.

Laurel Early just failed out of college and returned to the sleepy little tobacco farm on which she grew up. She figures she'll get back to working as a tobacco hand and taxidermist, all the wile trying to forget about the guy she shouldn't have fallen in love with. But now a devil from her past has returned to court her, just as he did her dead mother many years before. Will she be able to tap into her own innate magic while figuring out her mother's terrifying legacy before everyone she knows and loves is doomed?

I'm pleased to see more authors having a note at the beginning of a book noting content warnings, and then pointing you to their website for an even more detailed description.

I think this book leans on the New Adult side of YA. Overall I really enjoyed it! Kilcoyne does a great job with her ominous descriptions and lyrical prose. This is a very strong debut and I'll definitely be picking more up from the author in the future. There's some great representation regarding queer people living in a small town with a few of the side characters that I really was glad to see.

My only real critique is that I wish that this book was multi-POV a bit, if only to follow Ricky a bit more closely during the latter half of the book. I can understand why the author stuck with just Laurel's point-of-view but getting more in-depth knowledge on Ricky would have been really cool.

CW: mental and physical abuse, violence, suicide, dental trauma, guns, postpartum depression, drug use, animal death, blood, abuse by an alcoholic parent, homophobia

Special thanks to Macmillan Audio, Wednesday Books, Macmillan, and NetGalley for providing an audio galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Laurel wanted nothing more than to escape her past, but following her mother’s death, the sleepy little family farm that she grew up on has awakened. The woods are restless and bones are walking.

Now Laurel must try and unravel her mother’s secrets before they doom everyone she loves.

Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne is a sweltering southern gothic in the vein of Ghost Wood Song or Summer Sons, delving into themes of grief, family, and loss.

What I loved most was how vividly atmospheric the story was. You can practically feel the Kentucky heat, and the nightmare-inducing woods and undead deer almost reminded me of Hannibal.

I understand this is a debut novel, and I definitely think the story’s flow could have been improved. The story changes POVs sometimes mid-scene even though all the same characters were in the same room. This felt disorienting to me since it would take a page or two for me to finally figure out who’s head I was in. Honestly, I wish there had been a character's name under the chapter headers or the POVs had switched less often.

My biggest gripe though is not with the story itself but in how it was marketed. This book is published under a young adult imprint, but it feels much more like new adult or adult since Laura is a college dropout. The main friend group are all 18+ and are explicitly referred to as adults throughout the story. Honestly, I feel what issues they are dealing with would be more relatable to an audience in their 20s or 30s.

Technicalities aside, this book still delivered in the creepy department.

Demons and magic and dead things, oh my! I've been in such a mood for gore, horror and all things paranormal lately. I swear the publishing gods at Wednesday Books have heard my soul speak. Especially with releases like Wake the Bones that hit shelves yesterday.

Wake the Bones is a southern gothic young adult novel with a touch of Appalachian folklore. Laurel Early goes back home to the Early farm when college becomes a bit more than she can hack. Going home doesn't bode to be easier as her and her friends fight a sinister darkness hungry for their lives.

I did a mixture of reading and listening to this novel and found myself completely immersed in the narrative. This was also my first audio read by Bailey Carr and my experience was not disappointing. She captured emotion, tone and the persona I envisioned for Laurel.

This felt like a mostly character driven novel with a few adaptive plot points that pushed things forward. The characters, though not deeply, deeply fleshed out, were easy to follow and each held instances of their own POV. Laurel may be the MC but her role is highly supported by her friends Garrett, Isaac and Ricky. Christine is the town outcast that the locals claim is a witch. Little do they know how close that title lands. I liked the way the author mixed real life issues of the characters with the paranormal: abusive family members, lgbtq representation, small town prejudices, parent death and romance.

The way Kilcoyne crafts the demonic creature haunting (stalking) Laurel is one of my favorite parts. The descriptive writing was excellent. The creative touch of the witchlike abilities of Laurel and Christine tied in well with the backstory of Laurel's mother. I especially liked the twist it takes at the end. It wasn't expected and upped the overall enjoyment for me.

There are a few areas that were slower than I would've liked. I also had a few moments where I kept mixing up the three guys too. Personal issue on my own end but it caused a lot of rereading for me. When it came to the audio, I would've liked a little more distinction between the male characters in voice. Overall though, I slammed through this book in a weekend.

This was exactly the kind of debut I've been itching for. I look forward to reading more from the mind of Kilcoyne in the future! Thank you Wednesday Books for the gifted copies in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All thoughts are my own.

Wake the Bones is a haunting novel about the past and the present and how magic doesn't disappear; it just sleeps.

Laurel Early grew up in a Southern town cast upon a tobacco farm. After losing her mom and graduating high school, she leaves for college. But it isn't long before she is back home and to her hobby of taxidermy. Things are fine until her bone pile seems to have stood up and walked away. She and her three friends from the farm don't think much until someone has created a tableau made of animal bones. From there, things only become stranger as she realizes the truth about her mother's death, the legacy of magic, and the devil that leaves in the land around her.

The story comes with trigger warnings and, whew boy! does it need it? The creatures and themes in this book certainly confront those who have experienced family suicide, mental and physical abuse, animal death, and things done with their remains. I was only discomforted by the animal aspects but the story was so good that I just skimmed through creature designs.

Here is a different kind of view of magic. This is of the earth and demons but differently than most books/shows/movies, I know. This is not magic from a precious stone, from a magical portal, or even voodoo magic. Laurel battles the worst of earth magic as the devil himself formed by animal decay and bones. I enjoyed this kind of magic as it throws back to mythology and folktales from the oldest days of oral stories. I could not figure out how this would turn out because the Devil is so vicious, so ubiquitous. Elizabeth Kilcoyne delivers an enthralling story of magic.

The book also looks at the actual people of the town. How leaving such little towns is a betrayal to those living there. How queerdom is handled in the Bible Belt (not well). How old friends can be lovers. And how those we have put down before are our greatest help. Compared with the magic and the tale of Laurel vs the devil, I cared less about the characters. I usually quite enjoy the backgrounds and character-building of the characters and it usually adds to it. For me, the main plot itself was overwhelming.
3.5 stars for this debut novel. I can't wait to see Kilcoyne grow as an author and the worlds she creates.

Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne is an intriguing debut novel with lots of promise that almost follows through, but not quite as there were pacing issues and some minor plot development issues. It definitely has fantasy elements, some romance, along with a gothic/horror vibe.

Our main character is Laurel - she's a little different, enjoys taxidermy and her friend group consists of Isaac, Ricky and Garrett. There are several mysteries weaving throughout this novel, one involving Laurel's Mom and the circumstances of her death. The farm land itself seems to be its own character as well - it feels very much like a living, breathing entity. The plotting felt a little uneven to me where parts of the story had me completely captivated and then it would slog along in others parts.

As other reviews have indicated, the writing is very well done and what I would describe as atmospheric, however, I think a little better pacing would have helped this one a lot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Laurel Early left her family farm near a small town to go to college, but it wasn’t long before she dropped out and found herself back home again. Things went back to how they’d always been – working in tobacco fields with high school friends and practicing taxidermy during her free time. But one day, she runs across a warning left on her land, learning that her mother practiced magic and an evil being is after Laurel’s blood.
A little slow but intriguing read. Very beautiful and disgusting descriptions!

Happy Publication Day! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne is a Fantastical and scary AF story about a girl with magical power that returns home to work on the farm belonging to her family. It is not long before strange things start to happen, including bones knitting together to become a beast of sorts which is truly scary. Of course, Laurel, has her own magic working to fight the devil, who takes many shapes and forms and can command the world to shift on his whims. Did I like the story? I admire and appreciate the creative thought that went into telling the story, and it is unlike any other I’ll probably read this year. Would I want to reread it? No. I may have trouble sleeping tonight, so you’re warned. Well done, but scary as the dickens. For some of us, including me, the devil is real. #magic #power #devil #witch #evil #scary @elizabethakilcoyne @netgalley #netgalley #wakethebones #elizabethkiloyne #debutnovel
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I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley, and Wednesday Books for the opportunity to read this book. Pub Date: July 12, 2022.

#bookaddict #booksofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookshelf #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #reader #booklove #bookreader #beautifulcover

Happy Tuesday y'all! And happy release day to Wake the Bones! When Wednesday Books sent me an eARC of this one through Netgalley, I was super excited to read it because it looked so different and interesting from what I normally read, and it didn't disappoint!

Wake the Bones 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:

The sleepy little farm that Laurel Early grew up on has awakened. The woods are shifting, the soil is dead under her hands, and her bone pile just stood up and walked away.

After dropping out of college, all she wanted was to resume her life as a tobacco hand and taxidermist and try not to think about the boy she can’t help but love. Instead, a devil from her past has returned to court her, as he did her late mother years earlier. Now, Laurel must unravel her mother’s terrifying legacy and tap into her own innate magic before her future and the fate of everyone she loves is doomed.

At the beginning, I'm not going to lie, I was really confused. I didn't know where the book was going and I didn't really know what was happening. As soon as I embraced that feeling of complete confusion though and just let myself kind of feel the creepiness and the eeriness that completely encompassed everything about this book, I ended up liking it so much more! Can I really tell you everything that happened or why things were happening? Not really, but that doesn't change how much I enjoyed reading the book! Some parts of it were so creepy and made me so glad that I don't live in the middle of the country or on a farm. I'm glad I have neighbors close by. Pacing wise, there were times when I was a little bored and wishing that things were moving a little faster and there were other times when I thought things were moving a little too fast (like the ending). Characters wise, I really liked Christine, but Laurel, Isaac, Ricky, and Garrett were just ok to me. I also liked the whole idea of the Devil and everything that had to do with that and the history Laurel's mom had with the Devil. Overall, this was a cool and different read and I think it would be an interesting one for y'all to pick up today!

DNF at 20%

I wanted to like this because it sounded intriguing, but I could not get past my dislike of the characters, especially the brothers. I did not care for the relationships, be it romantic or friendly, that the book was establishing. It did have nice writing, and I’m sure this will be a hit for other people, it was just not for me.

Great worldbuilding, wonderful character development and interaction, interesting and compelling plot!

I have to admit this is the first book I’ve read with this eclectic mixture of genres. A little bit romance, a little bit fantasy, and a bit more horror. The pacing was extremely slow but I think it’s part of the genre crossovers. Details are extremely important and everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, has a special part in the story.

Laurel is a dropout and heads back to her farm where strange things begin to happen. I actually really liked how her farm was almost a character itself. Ricky was okay, but I preferred Garrett.

Honestly, this may have been a me thing because these aren’t my favorite genres but I often found myself drifting from the story. BUT I did keep coming back because I needed to know what happened next. For a debut novel, all I can say is well done!

4.5/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: magic, fantasy, fantasy-horror, horror, atmospheric reads, multiple POVs, LGBTQ+ characters

This review has been posted to Goodreads and Instagram as of 2/16 and has been posted to my book blog as of 3/9.

This book really captures the feel of a heavy, humid, hot summer. The imagery was vivid and I really felt Dry Valley's summer. I liked getting to see such a close view of the Early farm and surrounding woods. Laurel's love for it especially came through when she was describing things in her chapters. The whole setting was vivid, not just the Early farm, and Kilcoyne really captured the small-town feel in Dry Valley.

Wake the Bones is very much a book about coming of age and coming into yourself. Laurel, Isaac, and Christine are all out of place at the start of the book, needing to make decisions for and understand things about themselves. While the main focus is obviously on the magic and creepy goings on at the Early farm, the character arcs for this book are very centered on those two things. I think each of the characters is able to achieve this growth for the most part. The end of the book doesn't mark the end of their lives, so there's still stuff they need to work out, but that feels realistic. At the very least, each of them has identified their goal and is striding toward it.

I liked Laurel's character. She's very no-nonsense about a lot of things. She's used to being disliked in Dry Valley and she's used to having a dead mother. Dealing with those things is just part of everyday life, and when magic starts acting up, she handles it with a lot of that same attitude. She's decided what she wants, and that's to stay in Dry Valley, and so that's where she's clinging to throughout the book. As much as I liked her approach to things and her outlook, which has been both jaded softened by the aforementioned facts of her life, I'm not to sure about her repeatedly coming back to the idea that she needs to settle down. Like, I get knowing she wants to live on her family's farm for the rest of her life...but does she really need to be thinking about getting married so soon? Completely unrelated to this, I liked that she was a taxidermist and found that to be pretty interesting

Unlike Laurel, Isaac has this desperate desire to escape Dry Valley as soon as he's able. With an abusive, functionally alcoholic father, he has plenty of reason to leave. Kilcoyne did a good job building up that hollow acid feeling in Isaac's chapters. His desperation is clear, but it's also clear he's trying his damndest not to hurt too many people when he leaves. He wants to get lost in Garrett, but can't bring himself to do it so close to escaping. Likewise, his love for his friends comes through clearly and he puts off leaving to help Laurel.

Garrett was very sweet. He's 100% got less baggage than any of the other three narrators and he brings a bit of lightness to the page. It was interesting seeing things from his perspective, a bit like a step outside of the characters as a way to reflect on their actions and potential states of mind. He also provides a bit of this in chapters where he's not the narrator. He's got a good head on his shoulders and can act as the reasoning body when it's required. That being said, I'm not really sure there was a purpose to him being a narrative character since he goes through some of the least growth in the book.

Ricky is Garrett's brother and did not get a POV despite the fact that he's in the book about as much as his brother. Ricky is kind of hard to get a read on. It's obvious from the beginning that he and Laurel have an...interesting relationship. Isaac and Garrett seem to assume they'll murder each other, and while they act snippy toward one another, it's clearly a more friendly and romantically inclined sort of teasing than the other boys notice. I actually liked Ricky's character. He's complicated, being friendly and romantic toward Laurel while at the same time being a bit of a dick to Christine, who isn't that different from Laurel. He's funny, but also willing to get over himself when the time comes.

Christine is the last POV character and she only gets a few chapters. She's pretty interesting and I think a follow-up book following her wherever she ends up could be interesting. Christine has magic and knows it and uses it. The people of Dry Valley know she has magic too and aren't happy about it. That's all to say that Christine has had a rough time of it in Dry Valley and isn't exactly interested in helping out Laurel and her band of friends. She definitely classifies as the 'grumpy' one of the group, but she's also the one with the greatest understanding of magic. She offers an insight into the town and to the magical goings-on that isn't accessible otherwise.

The magic is all tangled together. There's magic being used for 'good' and magic being used for 'bad...but there's mostly magic that doesn't fall anywhere onto that spectrum. Magic isn't really explained for us in this book, it gets explored and experimented with, but since the characters don't really get a solid explanation for how it works, we don't either. Since there's not really a magic 'system' in the book, I actually think this works out pretty well. It does give it that air of stumbling-around-in-the-dark that feels realistic for late-teenagehood and young adulthood. I liked the dualities of the magic, too, the dueling of the life-decay cycle and the frozen nothingness.

There were some things at the ending that I thought maybe could've been left out. If there's going to be a sequel, then I think it's fine, but if this is supposed to be a standalone then I don't really think that part fits well. It introduces too many new questions for the end of the book. I understand wanting to have a somewhat open ending, but a book is a bit like an essay: you can't introduce completely new ideas at the close unless you're following it up with another book. I think the rest of the ending works, but this one part just needs some follow-up.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and thought it was fantastically creepy and magical. Kilcoyne managed to blend together the fantasy elements with elements of coming-of-age in a way that felt natural and suited the flow of the story and the story she's telling.

What an intriguing multi-faceted debut! This book is more than just a horror novel, it spreads itself into other genres as well. The pace is slow but it builds up the tension and anticipation of what is to come nicely. I love the atmosphere of the book and it was so easy to paint the picture in my head as I followed the story. The characters are well-developed and three dimensional. At first I wasn’t sure if I would like Laurel, (an issue I struggle with a lot and often end up dropping a book because of), she’s definitely an odd character but I grew to like her oddities. Overall, I really enjoyed the way the book was written. I think there were a few things that were a bit vague that maybe I just didn’t understand as the reader, but I’m so glad I stuck with this book! I can’t wait to read more by this author!