
Member Reviews

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.

I liked the characters, especially both the grandmothers. The "whodunit" part felt pretty predictable but I did have questions about the motive. There was also enough other things happening to keep it interesting.
I didn't realize this was a debut author. I'll be interested in seeing what the author writes next.
Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fascinating tale, that was unsettling at times, but such a great ride. I don't want to spoil it, but this is truly a must read. Thank you to NetGalley and to Ginny Myers Sain, for allowing me to read the ARC of this tale. Dovie grew on me, as did Lo, and I would love to read more in this world. Perfect book to review during spooky season!

First, a disclaimer. I started this book during Hurricane Milton and finished it in the days after. Unfortunately, two trees fell on my home and caused a lot of damage, so I'm sure the stress of that situation kept me from fully enjoying this book.
When the Bones Sing is my second book by this author, and while I didn't like this one quite as much as Dark and Shallow Lies, it was still very good. Ginny Myers Sain excels at writing vivid settings and immersive atmosphere, so it almost feels like the place itself becomes a character. The mystery here is intriguing and though I did guess the culprit to some extent, the full scope of the twist was a huge shock. Didn't see it coming at all. It did seem weird to me that Dove was so adamant that there is no such thing as ghosts, an afterlife or magic when she literally feels the dead calling out to her and leading her to their bodies. I understand the reason she gave, but that still seemed hard to believe and made me not like her as much as I could have. This is a perfect book for the spooky season with its supernatural elements, the Ozark Howler and Southern Gothic vibes. I recommend this book and look forward to reading more by the author.

I really enjoyed this book. I was hooked immediately. I thought it had perfect pace throughout the whole book. I was never bored and never felt like a part was slow or unnecessary. I was super invested in the characters and could vividly imagine everything playing out thanks to the descriptive writing. There were characters I loved, disliked, found delightful, a few I found suspicious, and I really, really want to spend an afternoon at Grandma Pearl’s cabin.
The story follows Dovie, a teen who doesn’t believe in magic, has a gift of being called by the bones of the dead in order to find them. Several hikers have been killed over a 3 year span on the hiking trail that goes through their little Ozark town, Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, leaving Dovie to have dig their bones. Lo (Lowan), her best friend, is haunted by the ghosts of these dead hikers and while Dovie doesn’t believe in his ghosts, she knows whatever is happening to him is tearing him apart and she’s losing him to the madness of it all. They decide to try and solve the mystery of who the serial killer is in order to save them from torment these murders bring upon them; Dovie having to dig up their singing bones and Lowan being haunted by them.
Throw in an overzealous preacher, a mythical Ozark Howler, some ghosts, and a whole lot of suspense and you have yourself a really great book that you won’t be able to put down
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for giving me an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a sucker for a good YA mystery that takes place in the Ozarks, Appalachians, or deep in the bayou - the kind where the setting itself becomes an integral character to the story, and When the Bones Sing didn't disappoint. The treacherous hills of the Ozarks, the sulphur-scented Lucifer's Creek, and the small town nestled in between them were all really well-developed, and the setting was immersive.
Dovie's ability to "hear" the bones "sing" was fresh and unique, and paired with Lo's abilities and talents, made for a compelling combination in driving them to solve the mystery of the missing and murdered hikers. The intensity of their relationship felt like a bit of overkill at times, but I also think that as an adult, I am no longer the target audience for that type of romance, so take that comment with a grain of salt if you will.
I did think that the whodunnit of the storyline was predictable (I had it figured out by 30% of the way through), but that's typical of novels that have a short list of characters. The why-dunnit, however, wasn't as predictable, and I had been wracking my brain the entire book to figure out WHY this character would have done what they did. I didn't love the reasoning and resolution there, but I guess it did work in the context.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one, though, and I definitely think that the YA audience is going to eat it up.

‘From New York Times bestselling author of Dark and Shallow Lies comes a new southern gothic supernatural thriller about a teen girl in a small Ozark town who can hear the bones of the dead.’
Mannnnnnn. Sain just has this way, I swear. Her writing style is so damn delectable, I can’t get enough. I want to crawl inside her books, sprawl out and luxuriate in her words and all over the pages.
When the Bones Sing is riddled with witchy & magical things. And whispers of a legend, the Ozark Howler, what locals believe is the harbinger of death. There’s also a chilling mystery with gruesome serial murders and creepy Arkansas mountains where things lurk in the dark. There’s grief and pain but also love and eventually something a little like a balm.
Impossible to put down until you get to the truth.
Sain is a go-to for me. I will read anything she writes.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group PYRG | GP Putnam’s Sons books for YR for this arc in exchange for review.
Pub date: 3.4.25

This is a Wow of a tale! There is no opulence in Lucifer's Creek, just shades of impoverishment. Landmarks are named appropriately to reflect their evil or toxic nature and the foul odor to the place. And yet, among the dirt, the family ties are strong, and you can sense the love. Dovie and Lo come from families that are discriminated against because the locals think of the women as witches. They have no problem seeking the women out in private when they have reason, but no one would dare be friendly or helpful to either family in public. When Dovie and Lo begin to look into why so many hikers have been killed in their town, their support comes from an unlikely place, the non-ghost brother of one of the victims. This story truly has so many twists that it is like walking along the stream in Lucifer's Creek. From Dovie's stance against magic despite it being within her, to Lo's ability to see ghosts, to the Howler as a harbinger of death, this story has all the spooky feels of a fantastic Halloween movie. Then you have the serial killer aspect with a very unexpected culprit! This book has a lot going on! There is not a slow or dull page in this book. Once you start it, you will not be able to put it down!

In the past three years, more than a dozen people have disappeared in the Ozark mountains. The hikers disappear within minutes of being separated from their groups and never leave a trace. The Sherrif's department has given up hope of finding the hikers until Dovie's bones start to sing. Dovie comes from a long line of women whose bones sing for the dead and will not stop until the bones are found. When Dovie's best friend, Lo tells Dovie that he is being haunted by the missing hikers, the two must work together to find out who or what is killing these hikers.
Ginny Myers Sain has a way with paranormal mysteries that completely suck me in. I think this one is my favorite so far. This book was perfect for Fall and there were so many mysteries to unravel in this book that I couldn't stop reading. The ending took me by complete surprise, but the ending was not farfetched, and the clues were all laid out. I highly recommend this book for all paranormal mystery readers and cannot wait to see what the author comes up with next.
When the Bones Sing comes out March 4th, 2025.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Young Readers for the opportunity to review When the Bones Sing. All thoughts and opinions are my own.