Wake The Bones ARC Review // aka the bones are ALIVEEE

In my introduction, I will be answering the question that is on everyone’s minds: did I write that headline with Pinocchio: A True Story in mind? The answer is yes, yes I did*. However, Wake The Bones is certainly deserving of a strange title because this book is absolutely insane.

*in case you are both incredibly confused and slightly perturbed by my lack of professionalism, let me redirect you to a “viral movie moment” so to speak that overcomes all qualms regarding professionalism

🦴 Bone magic

🍄 Full of nature

😲 Unpredictable

TL;DR: A girl is forced to battle against a strange force who awakens on her farm using her strange abilities involving bones.

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

A huge thank you to the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wake The Bones is an eerie, otherworldly story that will leave you unsure of what, exactly, you just read. It’s simmering in the summer heat, ripe with bones and new growth and dead things walking. There are some books that will be favorites for those who connect with them, and I believe that this will be that book for many people.

We follow a girl named Laurel Early who has an affinity for magic involving bones. Unfortunately, when something unearthly awakes on her farm, she is forced to come to terms not just with her magic, but with the truth surrounding her mother’s death and her own life. And that’s probably a terrible synopsis but this is the sort of story where you should dive in blindly and just go where the current takes you.

Personally, I didn’t love this book. It has some great elements: a summery horror atmosphere, a swampy farmland setting, and relatively quirky characters with their own relationship dynamics. It just didn’t all come together the way that I wanted it to. However, I truly do think that it was more of a “me” thing and not the fault of the book.

I genuinely have no thoughts on this book? Like, it’s all some sort of vague “eldritch thrumming*” semblance of something in my mind that cannot be fully separated into the plot, characters, worldbuilding, etc. If you enjoy weird magical stories sprinkled with horror, there’s a good chance you might enjoy this!

*if you’ve seen stranger things 4 with subtitles…then you understand. if not, oh well

So that’s it! This is definitely one of the most unique, atmospheric books I’ve read all year. Tell me: Wake The Bones comes out July 12, so you can add it to Goodreads, Storygraph, and preorder it!

more reviews to check out if you enjoy strange stories with a dash of fantastical horror:

Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads | Girlfriend Box | The StoryGraph | TikTok

Advertisement