I want to thank PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book, When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain. I thought this was a very interesting, haunting novel about a young girl who can hear the bones of those buried in her town of Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, a small town in the Ozark mountains. She's often been enlisted to0 help find the bodies of missing hikers, something that has been happening more and more. Little does she know there is more to this than she could possibly believe.

I thought this was a very well written book. I found the supernatural elements of this book very interesting and eerie. I felt like I did have an idea of the end of mystery way before the reveal, but overall it was a decent YA mystery.

📖✨ Book Review: When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain ✨📖

⭐ 2/5 | 🕵️‍♂️ Mystery Level: 2/5

Unfortunately, this novel just did not work for me. After weeks of trying to get into it, I ended up skimming to the end—which was so disappointing. A Southern Gothic featuring a girl who can hear the bones of the dead? That concept alone had me hooked. But a fantastic premise can only carry a book so far.

The mystery and eerie atmosphere were promising, but once the story shifted focus to the romantic plotline, I lost interest. And from there, it just dragged on. I found myself re-reading chapters, hoping to connect more, but it never fully clicked.

That being said, if you enjoy murder, spirituality, and an eerie mystery, this might be the book for you! It’s well-developed, just not my cup of tea. ☕

🔪👻 Have you read this one? Let’s discuss! #Bookstagram #WhenTheBonesSing #BookReview #MysteryReads #SpookyVibes

I really don’t know how to explain how this book made me feel without screaming into the abyss for a solid 5 minutes.

This is dark, gothic, atmospheric, magical. It twines together the supernatural, the real, and everything in between to deliver a heartbreaking story about grief, love, and loss. Dovie’s ability to hear bones sing is what starts this whole mess, but ultimately finishes it.

Dovie is forever going to be one of my favorite FMCs. Even through her doubt, she believed in Lowan and that was everything in the end.

Lo and Xan are both angels. I wasn’t expecting half of what happened, but the dynamic between these three was enough to have me kicking my feet and wishing it was longer.

Easiest 5 stars I’ve ever given. A perfect blend of thriller and romance. Big thank you to the publisher for the arc!

I went through a phase in my young adult years when I wanted to live in the woods and practice some sort of magic and ignore most (read: almost all) people. When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain delivered on those vibes that I craved back then (and still crave today, let’s be real), but it also added to that my adult love of dark mysteries and complex human relationships.

We follow Dove throughout in this novel. She, like her mother and grandmother before her, has the ability to sense the bones of the dead. This gift (or talent, as she likes to say) makes her invaluable to the local police as she tracks down missing murder victims, but it also isolates her from her religious small town. When tourists begin vanishing in increasing numbers, Dove is called upon to locate their remains.

Then there’s Lo—Dove’s best friend and soul mate—who returns to town after a failed attempt to escape (no one truly leaves their Ozark town, after all). But Lo is now haunted, literally, by the ghosts of the recent murder victims. Dove doesn’t believe in ghosts, but she believes in Lo. So determined to free Lo from his torments and stop the killings, Dove and Lo dive headfirst into trying to figure out who the killer is. But is the killer a person? Or is it the Howler, the legendary town monster?

This book hooked me from the very first scene. We’re immediately thrown into Dove experiencing the pull of the bones of the most recent murder victim. And we’re immediately immersed in the setting—sweltering summer nights, dense and claustrophobic woods, steep Ozark hills, and a dangerous sulfuric river. The setting isn’t just background; it’s a character of its own, rife with atmosphere.

Needless to say, that atmosphere was a major draw for me, but the mystery kept the tension high throughout. Who is the killer? Could it be someone Dove knows? Or is it not a person after all and the Howler actually exists?

The danger feels immediate and relentless. A serial killer is on the loose. A possible monster lurks in the shadows. And worst of all, whoever—or whatever—is responsible is likely someone from town. As the story unfolds, we’re hit with building questions that deepened the characters and the plot: Lo’s mother died when he was one year old, and Dove’s mother disappeared when she was three years old, but what actually happened to the both of them? Why does Dove’s father keep disappearing into the woods at night? What’s up with the fire-and-brimstone preacher? And will the town turn against Dove and Lo before they can figure out who’s committing all the murders?

I found myself constantly guessing, and having fun trying to piece together the puzzle pieces. I was right about some things, and wrong about others, but had fun throughout. It was like playing a game of Clue (without feeling like anything was a trick).

Beyond the mystery, I also really liked the characters. Dove and Lo’s relationship felt raw and real, making the emotional stakes just as compelling (and stressful!) as the mystery. Their families share a history, and it’s said there’s a curse in the relationships between the family: Their grandmothers were best friends but had a falling out, their mothers were best friends but had a falling out. And I kept wondering (and fearing!) Dove and Lo would be next. That tension kept me on edge and hoping that history wouldn’t repeat itself.

That said, my biggest frustration with the book was the classic YA trope of sidelining adults when it’s easier for the action. Despite a serial killer (and possibly a monster) on the loose, Dove and Lo are running around in the dangerous woods at all hours of the night (sometimes all night) without interference from their well-meaning but oddly uninvolved parent figures. They also tamper with crime scenes without any second guesses or consequences. While this trope is common in YA to help further the plot or action, I did start to become frustrated near the end. It didn’t ultimately ruin my love of this book, but if that’s a pet peeve of yours, you might want to know that before going into this.

In all, this was a really fun book that kept the tension up throughout. If you’re drawn to to mysterious disappearances in the vast wilderness, possible monsters, and stories that blend witchy hill magic vibes with modern day mysteries, you’ll want to read this ASAP.

Read if you like:
- Soul mate bonds
- Dark woods, the vast wilderness
- Mysteries (disappearances, serial killers)
- Hill magic (think mountain healers and diviners)
- The possibility monsters, ghosts
- The clash of magic, religion, and secular views

Thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I went into this book pretty blind (picked it up because of the gorgeous cover!) and now I am hooked on this author’s writing. This is marketed as YA which sometimes doesn’t work for me as an older reader, but you would never know reading this story other than the ages of the MCs. I thoroughly enjoyed the MCs, the descriptiveness of the landscape, and the plot which kept me guessing until the last page. Definitely recommend giving this unique story a read even if you don’t typically read the genre!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an early copy of this book 😊. I was interested by the premise of this one and thought the storyline was interesting. I felt like the pacing dragged a bit and I was lost to boredom at times. I needed more of the mystery.. and the love triangle was a bit unnecessary to me.

This was a great read to dive into! It’s magical yet also twisty.. honestly a bit or a weird combination.. but it works!

The first half of this book is definitely story building, so you have to stick with it. But the second half, as the secrets and lies unravel.. it blows you away every single time. I swear the last half of the book I was just staring at the pages in shock! And just when you think you have it all figured out, you’re wrong. 😑

This one had me hooked. I loved the magical concept in it that said little phrases that I’ve heard before, or how each story/legend comes from a bit of truth.. that’s always something I’ve believed. I enjoyed this one to the very end!

This is a haunting story about a girl who can hear the bones of the dead.

Dovie is from a small Ozark town with an extraordinary amount of dead hikers. The local sheriff uses Dovie’s gift to locate the victim’s bones. While she’s able to help the victim’s be found and laid to rest, no one seems to be looking into why so many hikers meet a grisly end. When Dovie’s best friend tells her that he’s being haunted by the dead hikers, they decide to find out who is responsible for all the bloodshed and put an end to it once and for all.

I found this story to be completely captivating. Author @ginnymyerssain has a way of slowly pulling you in and not letting go. Her descriptions of the Ozark have you feeling as if you’re standing right there, seeing everything just as the characters are, and feeling a constant sense of dread about what is happening in the town.

Thanks for the opportunity to read!

🪦 YA Folk Horror
🌸 Southern Charm
🪦 Misfit FMC
🌸 Pinch of Romance
🪦 Hauntings and Monsters

I really enjoyed this one, but I also felt like it was lacking a little bit as well.

Dovie is a 17-year-old girl who is a bit of a misfit with a special talent. She can locate people who have died easily because their bones call out and *sing* to her. After an uptick in murders surrounding her small Ozark community - where hikers frequently pass through - this skill definitely comes in handy.

I thought this was really well written. It's a neat concept. The book has a lot of charm and an overall sense of foreboding throughout with its gothic horror roots. I also found it was pretty unpredictable, but I was also able to guess portions of the conclusion early on.

The adults were all idiotic, though, especially the police who waited for the bones to sing for Dovie instead of launching their own investigation. There is a little bit of a love triangle, and I didn't feel it really added anything to the story. The story behind the murders felt very... unhinged and also unbelievable, to be honest. It also felt like Dovie should have been aware of some of the background information in this story before the first page. We kind of just fall directly into her life and story after there have been multiple murders already that she hasn't really questioned.

Pushing aside the logistical issues, it was still fun, and I was captivated throughout. It was a binge-able story. The scene setting, characters, and concepts were phenomenal, but the plot execution held the story back for me.

𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓸 𝓝𝓮𝓽𝓰𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓮𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓟𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓾𝓲𝓷 𝓣𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓒𝓪𝓷𝓪𝓭𝓪 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓐𝓡𝓒 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴. 𝓐𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓮𝓮𝓭𝓫𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓸𝔀𝓷.

To begin this review, I would like to thank Penguin Young Readers Group|G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers and author, Ginny Myers Sain, for allowing me to read this book, When the Bones Sing, via #Netgalley. All opinions following are my own.

This novel follows Dovie, who literally hears bones of deceased people singing to her until she finds their bodies for their loved ones. It's a gift that started with her grandmother and passed to her mother, and now her. She's been busy recently, though, because 24 hikers have been murdered in the past three years in the Ozarks, where she lives with her grandmother and father. They all called to her, and she worked with the sheriff to bring them all home. However, no one knows who is murdering all the hikers.

Well, no one knows but her best friend, Lo. He and his grandmother believe it's the Ozark Howler. They're "Hill People," and have been taking care of their town surreptitiously for generations, but that doesn't mean they're accepted. Dovie doesn't care, though, because their families have been connected for generations, and she loves Lo more than anyone in the world, even if he now claims that the spirits of the murdered hikers are torturing him. Dovie doesn't believe in spirits, magic, or religion since her mom abandoned her and her father when she was a young girl, but she does believe in Lo. Therefore, she will do anything to help him.

I gave this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. At points, it was a little far-fetched for me and even predictable. However, I really liked the characters and their development. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys paranormal thrillers. This book is hot off the press, too! It just hit the shelves yesterday, March 04, 2025!

#BrenBreathesBooks #brenreviewsbooks #MarchReads #NewReads #ginnymyerssain #WhenTheBonesSing #netgalleyreviewer #ARCReader #ARC #paranormalthriller #romance #romantasy #4starreads #hotoffthepress #BookCommunity #booksofinstagram #bookstagramcommunity

Definitely captured my attention and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I didn’t figure out this mystery on my own. I was shocked 😳! Totally unexpected ending!

Thank you Penguinteen Putnam books and Netgalley for the gifted arc in exchange for an honest review.

First of all what a gorgeous cover! I can't stop staring at it, it's aestheticly pleasing. This book caught my attention because of its premise. It follows a teenage girl Dovie, who has this extraordinary ability—she can hear the bones sing to her.

Dovie lives in Lucifer’s Creek, a small town known for its hiking trails, but also for the eerie disappearances of hikers over the past three years. Each time, Dovie is the one who finds their bodies, using her unique ability to hear the bones sing. Since her mother and nana also had this ability and her family don't go to church, the locals call her a witch. While they blame a monster for the killings, Dovie suspects otherwise. When her best friend Lo starts seeing the ghosts of the dead hikers, they decide to seek the truth and put an end to it.

What I love about this book is that it doesn’t take the easy route of forcing supernatural elements onto the reader. Dovie herself doesn’t believe in magic, which kept me guessing until the very end. I wasn’t a fan of the romance angle, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. The pacing is moderate, and while I usually don’t like books that dwell too much on preachers and religious sins, this one balanced it well. Honestly, I enjoyed it, kept me hooked, and I loved the characters.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ginny Myers Sain for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for When the Bones Sing coming out March 4, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really enjoy this author. I think she has a lot of stories that are earthy and real. She writes beautifully. I really enjoy the characters. This book was labeled as a southern Gothic story. I thought the original premise of the story was really interesting. The idea of bones singing to her would be interesting to explore. I enjoyed the first half of the story. I think things were a little more muddled during the second half. I think it turned more into a relationship with Dovie. I think that she deserves to have that, I was hoping for more of a Gothic story. I would definitely check out more books by this author.

"When the Bones Sing" is another gothic YA novel from Ginny Myers Sain that really kept my attention.

Dovie, a 17-year old girl, has a strange magic within (despite not actually believing in magic). She is able to locate dead bodies through a connection to the bones. It is a skill constantly being put to the test as a possible serial killer is on the loose in her small town in the Ozarks.

With the help of her childhood best friend, Lo, Dovie must confront the past and present to stop the killings from happening once and for all.

This was a fun read filled with surprises. It was also such a quick read as well. I didn't want to put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers for selecting me for this ARC. I have enjoyed every book I have read by Ginny Myers Sain and can't wait for the next one.

Ginny Myers Sain needs a little treat because oh my god, I love the way this human writes. The Southern gothic vibes, the mystery, the characters, etc.--it was just so good. The mystery was so twisty and compelling, and the setting was so atmospheric and well-realized. The characters were so well done and I loved our MC and watching the way her relationships unfolded. This was just such a great story, and I cannot wait for more from this author.

This has SUCH an interesting premise. And SO much potential. BUT this fell a bit short for me. Lucifer’s creek could be so much more, and I think so could Lo and Dovie. But mamas diary was such a good plot point. I enjoyed this, but I just..needed an OOMPH.

This was such a twisty, fantastical mystery full of Southern Gothic charm. Healing women, "burn the witch" townspeople, religious fervor in the town pastor who has his own secrets, a creature in the woods. I really liked the atmosphere of this book. It felt like I was taking a break from my hike up the Ozarks and came upon the only town for miles where weird things were happening. I loved the twists, the red herrings, the reality of the situation in the end. Dovie is an excellent narrator, and I felt her emotions very strongly. Her relationship with Lowen and the family friendship throughout generations was just so beautiful to me. I liked the speculative elements as well. Overall, a really good book. There was a random romantic buzz (not the one between Lo and Dovie) that I didn't care to have be there. I don't think it really added all that much. If you love books of this style, definitely check this one out! I read an ebook copy, but I feel like the audiobook would be really good as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Young Readers for the eARC.

When the Bones Sing had such an interesting premise and I really liked our main character. I enjoyed my time with this book and will look forward to future works by this author.

Book Summary:

Dovie was four years old when she first heard the bones singing - they led her to the first of many buried bodies. Now Dovie is 17, and she’s helped uncover 23 bodies in the last three years.

That’s a lot of bodies, especially for a town as small as hers. None of them were local, which makes things all the stranger. Something has to change, and with the return of Dovie’s best friend, now may just be the time for something drastic.

My Review:

My favorite thing about diving into a new Ginny Myers Sain book is that I never know what to expect. All of her books have been different, incorporating paranormal elements to create something wholly unexpected. So, obviously, I was looking forward to When the Bones Sing.

When the Bones Sing is a tense murder mystery with several familiar thriller tropes to spice things up. It is an isolated town with seemingly incompetent sheriffs, religious pressure, and more. The way Ginny Myers Sain combines these elements makes it unique.

Okay, the paranormal bits also helped on that front. Dovie herself was a fascinating character, even without the fact that she could hear the bones singing. Her family story feels directly tied to the larger story, but it takes time to unfold.

Overall, I enjoyed When the Bones Sing. It’s not the strongest book in the set, but it’s still a decent read with an atmospheric storytelling style.

Highlights:
Paranormal Thriller
Singing Bones
Small Town Lore & Drama

Trigger Warnings:
Missing People
Dead Bodies

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars

This had an interesting premise but struggled to keep my attention. I did enjoy the descriptive writing and spooky elements. It also kept me guessing as to the “who done it.” Thank you to netgalley and Penguin group for a free copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.