Bonebag by E. M. Elliott

Thanks to @NetGalley for the advance copy of this book! 🦴

Forced to attend the whim of his so-called parents, a boy called Bonebag lives an isolated life in the forest, with few comforts but pages from a book, the faint memory of perfume, and a feeling that this isn’t the life he was supposed to live. But trapped inside a nightmare world where dark creatures prowl, how can he change his fate? ✨

Bonebag finds a way to leave the forest. He travels to a city, and makes friends with another lost boy like himself, one without parents. But escaping the forest left a mark, he’s been cursed and every day he loses more of his humanity. 👹To break it, he must find a way to return, and bring back the final ingredient of a potion - a flower that grows in the forest where he was kept for years. 🪻Joined alongside his new friends, he must discover the truth of how he arrived in the forest to begin with, and the question that has followed him all his life - who are his real parents? 🤔

What a wonderful book, full of incredible world-building. 🥰 The characters were all so unique and I loved the language and dialect used by the lost boys! This Middle Grade novel is being published on 26 May ‘26, and I wish it every success! 💖

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Thanks Net Galley for the ARC!

I loved this book with my whole heart ❤️ It was so fun to read and really captured why I fell in love with reading when I was just a a wee one.

This is such a great little adventure, about a boy trying to find his place in the world after suffering a horrific upbringing. It honestly reminded me of The Pagemaster where he goes through all the different genres, it started with horror, went a bit adventure/fantasy, then a little mystery, then back to horror and I loved it!

This definitely gave me Little Nightmares vibes, the horror part is so creepy, especially from the eyes of a child. And the rest was giving His Dark Materials in the way that it's like our world but slightly different and it had the same feeling of adventure and importance that HDM gave me.

If you have a kiddo who likes a bit of everything or likes horror without being scared silly by ghosts and stuff, this one is a must!! But also, if You're an adult and just want a really fun, short, well contained story for in-between your main books, go for it! It's so much fun!

Bonebag, written by New York Times bestselling author E.M. Elliott, and his son, David Elliott, is one of the most unique middle grade novels my daughter and I have read together in quite some time. From the very beginning, the language itself feels unusual and intriguing in a way that immediately pulls the reader into the story’s atmosphere. There was this constant feeling that we were standing right on the edge of something strange and unpredictable, always questioning where the story was about to go next. That sense of uncertainty kept both of us completely invested.

What surprised me most was just how emotionally attached we became to Bonebag himself. Beneath the eerie atmosphere and horror leaning elements is a deeply compelling emotional core that makes you genuinely care about what happens to him. This is definitely a more intense middle grade novel, and while my eight-year-old absolutely loved it, she also had plenty of questions throughout. I could tell she appreciated experiencing this story alongside me rather than reading it independently, which honestly made for some really wonderful conversations as we read together. The story invites discussion in a way that many children’s books do not.

The writing is stunning, the pacing keeps you engaged, and the twists and turns genuinely surprised us. It is the kind of book where you truly cannot predict how things will unfold or where the story will ultimately land. While it may not be the perfect fit for every young reader, no book truly is, and I think many families who enjoy darker, atmospheric middle grade fiction will absolutely adore this one. It feels imaginative, unsettling, emotional, and entirely memorable all at once.

Thank you to NetGalley and Astra Young Readers for entrusting me with an ARC of this title. It is truly appreciated and always such a treat to be able to read new books and share my opinions with fellow literature lovers.

Books like Bonebag are exactly why I like middle-grade books. It’s been quite a while since I read a middle-grade story that managed to feel this creepy, tense, and magical all at once. I read this in one sitting because this book was THAT good.

Bonebag has lived his life in a lonely cottage in the forest Scura with his cold, unsettling parents, Modor and Faeder. Bonebag does the chores for his parents, and strangely, his parents don't eat the foddish they prepare for him; in fact, they don't seem to eat anything. Bonebag has never spoken with other children, but he finds clothes of children his age near his cottage. His only joy is the Tatters hidden beneath his mattress, containing stories. But soon it seems his already strange parents might actually be dangerous....

The first half of the story had Coraline vibe, and I was actually scared that Bonebag might not make it out alive. Even after reaching the Great City, the story continued to carry the dark and tense feeling. Coming over to the characters, Toby was my favourite. He brought a bit of lightheartedness to this otherwise serious book. Some parts could be foreseen, but the execution, the imagery, and the overall atmosphere of the story made it an incredible reading experience. And the ending? I think it is just right for the story.

In short, I loved this book.

Thank you, Author and Publisher, for giving me the chance to read this book!!!