
Member Reviews

**I received an ARC of this book thanks to the publisher G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers and NetGalley.**
This is the type of book that has you questioning anyone and everyone. Multiple times throughout we are given evidence that leads you to believe that this person is the one murdering the hikers and then SIKE there is a “reasonable” explanation. At some point everyone just becomes sus. Some parts of the book were dull and hard to get through, the passage of time was odd but I guess in the sense of most of the time Dovie was starved and sleep deprived it would make sense. Overall, it was a good read and I think this book is perfect for the specified age range of 14 and up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.
Dovie is only 17, but she's already seen more death than most. She has the ability to hear bones singing, a generational ability passed down through her mother and grandmother. Even though the town treats her family like pariahs because they're different, the police aren't above using her to find the hikers that keep going missing in the area.
Atmospheric and heavy, I found this to be a great fall read. There's an underlying edge of spookiness. Dovie is tough as nails, but doesn't believe in anything or anyone besides her family and her best friend. She's angry and closed off, but only because she's scared of being hurt or left behind.
I like that as the story unfolds Dovie begins to question things around her and reach for new answers. It's just a very good book that I can see myself reading again.

Folk magic, superstition, and the power of belief all ring through this rich tale of love, loss, and mystery. Beautiful setting and strong emotions with a bit of magic - and the story as beautiful as the trees.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my e-ARC of When the Bones Sing!
𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🥾 have ever hiked in the Ozark Mountains
👻 enjoy spooky stories
🌪️ love a book with lots of twists
♥️ would do anything for your person
• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓
The past three years have been tough for Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, a small town quietly tucked away in the Ozark mountains. More than two dozen people have disappeared on the local hiking trails; there one moment, gone the next, not a trace left behind, until their buried bodies are discovered.
17-year-old Dovie doesn’t believe in magic even though she comes from a long line of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, and for the past few years the bones have been crooning nonstop, calling out to Dovie to dig them up.
Some of the old-timers believe that it’s the monstrous Ozarks howler snatching people off the Aux Arc Trail. Well Dovie doesn’t believe in the howler, and she doesn’t believe her best friend Lo when he tells her he is being haunted by dark shadows. All she believes in is her talent that guides the local sheriff to the bones when they begin their song, then reuniting the dead with their families to give them some peace.
Lo doesn’t know peace, though. The shadows follow him everywhere. He soon learns they’re the murdered hikers and they want answers. But the truth of their deaths isn’t buried with their bones; it’s hidden somewhere deep in the hills. And Lo and Dovie must unearth it before anyone else is killed.
• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒
Wow! I really loved everything about this story. The beginning threw us right into the action and didn’t really let up. The cast of characters is fairly small, so I didn’t have a super hard time figuring out who was behind everything, but I was having trouble understanding the why behind it. Dovie’s ability to find people was so cool and a really unique part of the story. I was definitely shocked by a few of the revelations though, and I even got confused during one point of the story near the end because it repeated itself and I thought the pages got mixed up. Overall, a really great read for spooky season! Make sure to preorder this one!

4.5/5 !
Wow what a story!! This was unlike anything I have ever read. Ghosts, magic, spells, curses, mystery, suspense, love - wrap it all up and you get this beautiful book!
Dovie has a gift, she can feel the bones of dead bodies sing to her. Which has been tough, because for the past three years in Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas in the Ozarks, more than 24 hikers have disappeared; and it’s Dovie’s job to find them.
Dovie’s best friend, Lo, has been haunted by the ghosts of the dead hikers. He must find out who, or what, is killing all these people and put an end to it.
I absolutely loved this story. The characters had a lot of depth to them and the reveal was so surprising! I thought I had it figured out several times but was of course wrong! The magic was surprisingly a lot of fun and I loved the ending how everything was beautifully wrapped up on so many levels.
I don’t normally go for books like this, about ghosts and magic, but can we talk about how stunning the cover is?!?! It really drew me in and the title was very fitting.
Thank you so much NetGalley and Ginny Myers Sain for the copy to read for a review.

The ending was some good closure of what the main character was feeling throughout the entire read. I liked how there was some twisty blame to draw out the book so, that it could keep pulling the readers in like a good old detective murder mystery. For this to be a YA, it was really close to being something that Lucy Foley would write. The writing styles are very similar. There was some young love attached, best friends through the years that turned lovers due to their strong presence for each other. They both dealt with some hurt and there were secrets among the families but, the way they found it was deeper than what they were allowing to let in, it turned out they really needed each other all along instead of pushing away. I overall loved this book and can't wait for anything more from this author.
Rating: 4.7 out of 5

Ginny Myers Sain has never written a bad book. Everything she writes is so eloquent, the prose is beautiful, the atmosphere is PERFECTION. Since they usually take place in the south, I can FEEL the sweat when I'm reading!
This book was another perfect novel from Sain. Tense. Atmospheric. A bit magical. I find her writing to be incredibly comforting, like a hug from a friend. The subject matter, while dark, is still perfection.

Wow! I loved When the Bones Sing! The book blurb got me curious, but the plot and writing kept me engaged. This book is one of those fun reads that pulls you in right away. I loved Dovie and Lo, and the mystery of the murdered hikers kept the story moving along while the little bit of the paranormal was just the cherry on top.

This author has always been and continues to be one of my favorite authors of all time. Her writing is so atmospheric and poetic, her books have become a comfort read of mine over the years (as weird as that is to say because of the content matter). The way she writes her settings transports me into the story almost like I'm there right alongside the characters. This book completely blew me away. I loved all of the characters, especially Dovie and Lo, they were so well written and unique. I loved the setting with its tiny little town and the eeriness of it all. I loved the paranormal and magical aspects so much, I wasn't expecting that going into this. And the twists, wow! They were fantastic and the ending wrapped up everything beautifully.
Many thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for the gifted copy for my honest review!

Wow. What a wild ride. This was a vacation read that I couldn't put down. Even when we were supposed to be getting ready I told the group to leave me alone because I had 40 more pages to go.
The characters were beautifully written. The despair of the MMC was heartbreaking. His mental health unwinding through the book gave me anxiety. Towards the end I didn't know what to expect or what to even think about his character and how he could or couldn't be involved in the plot. Beautiful.
The FMC you knew wanted to believe in magic but needed something to help her believe in again. At the end when she finally got back to her origins it was beautiful. She was haunted throughout the book by the loss of her mother and that loss followed her.
The twist in the book I felt in a way I was expecting something BUT NOT WHAT I GOT. I felt that the characters were traveling down this road but when the big reveal happened, I wasn't expecting THAT. I think that readers will really enjoy being that surprised. I know I did.
This book was such a fun read. I enjoyed every second of it.

Oh my! How grateful I am to have gotten a chance to read this ARC! This book had me all over with emotions! I could feel each chapter. From the bones singing to the spirits demanding justice with their presence. This book was such a masterpiece. It had me really thinking and trying solve the disappearances of the hikers. It was definitely a ride!

One of my favorite reads this year! This book has it all, dark, mystery, magic, murder, myths, and suspense. Just an amazing book, hit every mark for me.

It's magical and whimsical, filled with lovely romance and a creepy woods setting. Although I thought a lot of the mystery-solving elements were very repetitive, I really dug the climax and big reveal of who was doing the killing.
The three generations coming together in the end was lovely to see. Plus a romance that didn’t end badly was a plus.

When the Bones Sing is a haunting thriller about a girl, Dovie, that can hear the bones of recently killed people buried in the hills around her Arkansas home. Lately, there have been a lot of bones calling to her because someone or some thing is killing hikers. Her best friend, Lowan can see the spirits of these murdered people and says they need him to solve the crime. Together, Dovie and Lo start to investigate and the horror of what they find is beyond anything they could have imagined. The author created a perfectly dark novel that will keep the reader on the edge of their seat until the very end.
This book is for mature audiences. In addition to the expected violence, there is strong language.

Dovie can find the dead, and her talent, as she calls it, is in high demand. Hikers are being murdered on the trail that runs through her hometown, Lucifer's Creek, Arkansas. When Dovie and her best friend, Lowan, decide to hunt down the killer themselves, they start down a dangerous path as steep and rocky as the Aux Arc trail itself. This is another amazing supernatural mystery from Ginny Myers Sain! I highly recommend it for YA collections.

<i> "Some stories get told 'cause they're true." </i>
I really enjoyed reading this book! All the mysterious, small town eerie vibes! The character dynamics between Lo and Dove (and one upcoming hottie) are angsty and electric.

The writing was so immersive and the storyline so captivating!! This was my first book from the author and i plan to hunt all of her books down from now on.
Thankyou netgalley for the arc. All opinions are my own!
#WhenTheBonesSing #Netgalley

When the Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain
* Thoughts and Ratings: 5 Stars ⭐️. This is the first book I have read from the author and plan to read her other books based on the experience I have had reading this one. The writing style is immersive and the story was fast paced. I had a hard time putting this down. I happened to be camping in the Ozarks in Arkansas while reading this book and it made the story feel like it was jumping off the pages!
* Review: Dovie is a teenager with a special talent for finding the dead, the biggest mystery is why there are so many visiting hikers going missing from the Ozarks surrounding her small town and who or what is taking them. She is joined by her mmc Lo after he returns from his own journey and continues being haunted by the towns past. The pair end up at the center of a serial murder investigation and they know someone in town is responsible.
You will go through many emotions as you unravel the truth behind the missing hikers and the identity of the villain(s) involved.
The story has a bit of romance, but is mostly a southern gothic whodunnit. Beautifully written and the characters are very relatable. I only wish we had more time to explore Nana and Pearl’s friendship, fallout and mending!

**SPOILERS*
I really enjoyed the dark vibes of the story. The concept of bones calling to a person to find their resting place was unique and well done. I thought it was a little predictable. I was either thinking the dad or Ira as the killer, just because Ira was talked about sporadically how good he was. I didn't expect the reason being rich people wanting to hunt real people. Overall, I did enjoy it and thought it was well done.

I could not put this book down. When the Bones Sing is a mystery thriller about 17 year old Dovie Warner who can hear the bones of the dead, and this skill is put to use in the small town of Lucifer’s Creek where she’s from. For the past three years, hikers have been mysteriously vanishing and within a few months, their bones call out to Dovie screaming to be found.
As the body count piles up, Dovie’s best friend Lo finds he is haunted by the spirits of the hikers, and the spirits want justice to prevail. Despite her gifting, Dovie does not believe in the supernatural, but she will do anything to save her best friend. Together, they work to unravel the mystery of the darkness that’s plaguing their mountain, but the closer they come to the truth, the less sure they are they want to know…
There are so many layers of mystery to this book, and it’s woven together so well. It is dark and thrilling and twisty, and the end was one I never saw coming. If you’re looking for a spooky ghost story in 2025, this is it.
I would like to thank Penguin Group and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.