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[A] gorgeously eerie, lushly written fairytale...
— Book Riot
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Centered around a truly epic journey, with a satisfying ending and slow-burn love story complicated by the walking dead, The Bone Houses is a horror-drenched fairytale. Emily Lloyd-Jones spins wit, longing, and loss into something just as magical as the creatures that haunt the night in Ryn and Ellis's world, and the result is a careful, beautiful examination on the impression love leaves behind.
— Sarah Henning, author of Sea Witch and Sea Witch Rising
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* "With ghostly prose... filled with breathless moments and occasional humor... this melancholic horror novel digs its way into the heart.
— Booklist (starred review)
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This Welsh-inspired story is haunting and compelling...A stand-alone dark fantasy that readers will want to sink their teeth into...
— Kirkus Reviews
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* "...both exciting and imaginative. Inspired by Welsh mythology, this stand-alone novel is both a classic quest saga and a page-turning horror story....A required purchase for collections serving young adults, this fine novel will especially appeal to those who enjoy fantasy with more than a touch of terror.
— VOYA (starred review)
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...a new and magical journey, filled with the best parts of a fairy tale. Monsters, curses, love--both slow-burn and familial--beautiful descriptions of an eerie mythical Welsh setting, and a streak of humor make this stand-alone novel a must-read.
— SLJ
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[Emily] Lloyd-Jones (The Hearts We Sold) creates an evocative world of magic...and plays with the conventions of fairy tales and horror.... The story serves as a meditation on the complicated relationship between the living and the dead, combining fear, humor and enchantment in equal measure...
— Publishers Weekly
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Emily Lloyd-Jones has crafted a world of myth and magic, legend and lore, fantasy and fairy tale that has a quality of timelessness about it....readers who enjoy fantasy, adventure, horror, and/or folklore will certainly enjoy this novel with its engaging characters and unusual premise.
— SLC
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Readers...who prefer their fairy tales touched with darkness, will find satisfaction here.
— BCCB
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The Bone Houses is a dark and beautiful book, full of magic, as quiet as death and as powerful as love. Lloyd-Jones gives us a beautiful setting full of vibrant characters that's resonant with gorgeously eerie mythology, plus my absolute favorite literary goat. I loved this book."—Kate Howard, author of An Unkindness of Magicians
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A deliciously monstrous novel, full of the magic of ancient Wales. Reminiscent of Juliet Marillier and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Expect the unexpected in this funny, scary, mysterious, and ultimately unputdownable story!
— Dawn Kurtagich, author of Teeth in the Mist
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Throw excellent world-building, action-packed prose, and incredible representation for chronic pain into a cauldron, and you'll get The Bone Houses, a masterclass on the epic journey archetype with plenty of surprises in store.
— Sami Thomason, Square Books
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"The Bone Houses is the adventure of a gravedigger and a mapmaker, the story of the place where fable and rumor intersect with real-life danger and quest. Mysterious, earthy, utterly magical.
— Anna Bright, One More Page Books
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I immediately fell into the world Emily Lloyd-Jones created, and then I barely came up for air! This is the most original, mythical-magical, undead story I have ever read. I mean, there's a dead goat -- and you're gonna fall in love with her. The feisty, axe-swinging gravedigger's daughter found a place in my heart, too. The imagination and wit astound me. I am a lifelong reader of Lloyd-Jones' books. What's next?
— Alena Deerwater, Gallery Bookshop