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exorcismemily's review against another edition
4.0
"Getting sewn together isn't as bad as having pieces cut off."
The Bone Weaver's Orchard is Sarah Read's debut novel, but it does not read like it's new territory to her. The storytelling in this book is so good, and it's a wonderfully atmospheric read.
I was introduced to Sarah's work in the Suspended in Dusk II anthology - her story Still Life with Natalie caught my attention, and I was so excited to get my hands on The Bone Weaver's Orchard as soon as I heard about it.
Horror fans who enjoy stories with young protagonists growing up & combatting evi (IT, Boy's Life, etc.) should check this one out. While it deals with the standard themes in these types of stories (things like loneliness, friendship, knowing who to trust, lack of help from most adults), The Bone Weaver's Orchard stands apart with its setting. It's fairly gothic and has a more serious tone than the other stories. It feels bleak at times, and I really loved being in the world that Sarah created.
There were moments in the story that reminded me of certain books or movies that I love. I am not comparing this book to them, so don't freak out. Although it's not a magical school, it reminded me of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Boarding school is such a fun environment to read about, and I loved the castle exploration and mischief in both books. Charley, the main character in The Bone Weaver's Orchard, doesn't have much of a family, either...which also led me to think about the movie A Little Princess (I love it!). His father is stationed abroad, and he isn't treated well by the people in charge. I was also reminded of Great Expectations since he is in this environment with people who seem to be of higher stature & they want him to be something he can't be. There's a lot more to this story than these aspects, but this is what stood out to me.
The only thing that I didn't really love was the ending. I wanted more answers, and then it just sort of ended. There's still enough to wrap the story up, but I just wanted more of a reason behind what was going on. It was also sometimes hard to keep track of who was who at times, but I eventually sorted it out.
The Bone Weaver's Orchard is a solid debut, and Sarah Read is definitely one to watch. I can't wait to see what else she does, and I am crossing my fingers for more gothic stories since she's so damn good at it. Thank you to Trepidatio Publishing for sending me a copy. The Bone Weaver's Orchard will be out on 2/1!
The Bone Weaver's Orchard is Sarah Read's debut novel, but it does not read like it's new territory to her. The storytelling in this book is so good, and it's a wonderfully atmospheric read.
I was introduced to Sarah's work in the Suspended in Dusk II anthology - her story Still Life with Natalie caught my attention, and I was so excited to get my hands on The Bone Weaver's Orchard as soon as I heard about it.
Horror fans who enjoy stories with young protagonists growing up & combatting evi (IT, Boy's Life, etc.) should check this one out. While it deals with the standard themes in these types of stories (things like loneliness, friendship, knowing who to trust, lack of help from most adults), The Bone Weaver's Orchard stands apart with its setting. It's fairly gothic and has a more serious tone than the other stories. It feels bleak at times, and I really loved being in the world that Sarah created.
There were moments in the story that reminded me of certain books or movies that I love. I am not comparing this book to them, so don't freak out. Although it's not a magical school, it reminded me of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Boarding school is such a fun environment to read about, and I loved the castle exploration and mischief in both books. Charley, the main character in The Bone Weaver's Orchard, doesn't have much of a family, either...which also led me to think about the movie A Little Princess (I love it!). His father is stationed abroad, and he isn't treated well by the people in charge. I was also reminded of Great Expectations since he is in this environment with people who seem to be of higher stature & they want him to be something he can't be. There's a lot more to this story than these aspects, but this is what stood out to me.
The only thing that I didn't really love was the ending. I wanted more answers, and then it just sort of ended. There's still enough to wrap the story up, but I just wanted more of a reason behind what was going on. It was also sometimes hard to keep track of who was who at times, but I eventually sorted it out.
The Bone Weaver's Orchard is a solid debut, and Sarah Read is definitely one to watch. I can't wait to see what else she does, and I am crossing my fingers for more gothic stories since she's so damn good at it. Thank you to Trepidatio Publishing for sending me a copy. The Bone Weaver's Orchard will be out on 2/1!
lauriereadslohf's review against another edition
4.0
"Ghosts don’t bleed."
This book was a debut? Wow, I am super impressed. It was creepy, polished and the main character was a sweetheart of a kid who loves his buggy friends.
Charley is sent off to boarding school with his collection of exotic creatures. At school he encounters meanies and cruelties and adults who do not seem to give a good goddamn that kids are going missing. Charley takes it upon himself to investigate the catacombs of the school and finds some horrifying, sinister and rattling secrets but I am NOT going to tell you what any of them were. You should read the book.
Charley is a fantastic character. He makes you feel for him from the very first time you meet him. I think you will love him, even if you're not into all of the creepy crawlies. He is a kind, strong soul and an admirable little person. But if you do dig the creepy crawlies this book has them. I was surprised by some of the gruesome turns in the final section, yikes! Prepare thyself.
This book was a debut? Wow, I am super impressed. It was creepy, polished and the main character was a sweetheart of a kid who loves his buggy friends.
Charley is sent off to boarding school with his collection of exotic creatures. At school he encounters meanies and cruelties and adults who do not seem to give a good goddamn that kids are going missing. Charley takes it upon himself to investigate the catacombs of the school and finds some horrifying, sinister and rattling secrets but I am NOT going to tell you what any of them were. You should read the book.
Charley is a fantastic character. He makes you feel for him from the very first time you meet him. I think you will love him, even if you're not into all of the creepy crawlies. He is a kind, strong soul and an admirable little person. But if you do dig the creepy crawlies this book has them. I was surprised by some of the gruesome turns in the final section, yikes! Prepare thyself.
mangrii's review against another edition
4.0
4,25 / 5
El viaje comienza cuando Charley Winslow recala en la escuela para chicos Old Cross, en el año 1926. Recién llegado de Sudáfrica, su educación ha sido un tanto inusual. Sumado a su gusto por la entomología, digamos que no es apreciado por el resto de compañeros. Objeto de burla y maltrato, solo congenia con otro nuevo estudiante -con alma de geólogo- llamado Ethan Bowles y el jardinero Sam Forster. Pero algo se oculta en la vieja abadía. Un viejo secreto que se remonta a cuando la escuela era el hogar de una familia noble. Cuando Ethan desaparezca de la enfermería donde recalaba tras un incidente con otros niños mayores, Charley comenzará una búsqueda que pondrá la abadía patas arriba.
Sarah Read organiza una fiesta para la novela gótica mientras recorremos los pasillos y recovecos de una tenebrosa abadía perdida de Inglaterra, desvelando un secreto tras otro en cada esquina. Túneles oscuros y serpenteantes. Pasadizos imposibles detrás de los armarios. Puertas traseras. Ruinas cerradas ¿Qué secretos guarda este tenebroso edificio? La escuela Old Cross es un escenario clásico, inmersivo y tétrico que agarra al lector por las sienes y lo traslada a una perpetua sensación de tensión y suspense. Sarah domina los tiempos narrativos, dosifica la información, juega la baza del suspense todo lo posible y nos hace dudar, hasta en el último momento, sobre quién es amigo o enemigo en esta historia.
Si El jardín del tallador de huesos funciona, en gran medida, es por Charley. Es así de simple. Toda la novela se basa en la empatía que entreteje Sarah entre el lector y el señorito Winslow. En sufrir y vivir con él toda esta historia. Un niño diferente y peculiar, huérfano, idealista, valiente e impulsivo, que siempre transita con un pie fuera de la norma. Un corazón bondadoso, que no sé achica ante ningún reto y lleva la palabra aventura grabada a fuego en su pecho. Las maldades, perdidas y dolores que sufre el joven Charley, llegan a salir de la página para sentirse nuestras propias carnes.
Sarah Read nos propone un intenso viaje repleto de misterio y sorpresas por una vieja y rechinante abadía no apto para cardíacos. Una historia que homenajea los tropos de la novela gótica y los remezcla en un cóctel de persecutorio terror que funciona a las mil maravillas.
Reseña extensa en el blog: https://boywithletters.blogspot.com/2020/12/el-jardin-del-tallador-de-huesos.html
El viaje comienza cuando Charley Winslow recala en la escuela para chicos Old Cross, en el año 1926. Recién llegado de Sudáfrica, su educación ha sido un tanto inusual. Sumado a su gusto por la entomología, digamos que no es apreciado por el resto de compañeros. Objeto de burla y maltrato, solo congenia con otro nuevo estudiante -con alma de geólogo- llamado Ethan Bowles y el jardinero Sam Forster. Pero algo se oculta en la vieja abadía. Un viejo secreto que se remonta a cuando la escuela era el hogar de una familia noble. Cuando Ethan desaparezca de la enfermería donde recalaba tras un incidente con otros niños mayores, Charley comenzará una búsqueda que pondrá la abadía patas arriba.
Sarah Read organiza una fiesta para la novela gótica mientras recorremos los pasillos y recovecos de una tenebrosa abadía perdida de Inglaterra, desvelando un secreto tras otro en cada esquina. Túneles oscuros y serpenteantes. Pasadizos imposibles detrás de los armarios. Puertas traseras. Ruinas cerradas ¿Qué secretos guarda este tenebroso edificio? La escuela Old Cross es un escenario clásico, inmersivo y tétrico que agarra al lector por las sienes y lo traslada a una perpetua sensación de tensión y suspense. Sarah domina los tiempos narrativos, dosifica la información, juega la baza del suspense todo lo posible y nos hace dudar, hasta en el último momento, sobre quién es amigo o enemigo en esta historia.
Si El jardín del tallador de huesos funciona, en gran medida, es por Charley. Es así de simple. Toda la novela se basa en la empatía que entreteje Sarah entre el lector y el señorito Winslow. En sufrir y vivir con él toda esta historia. Un niño diferente y peculiar, huérfano, idealista, valiente e impulsivo, que siempre transita con un pie fuera de la norma. Un corazón bondadoso, que no sé achica ante ningún reto y lleva la palabra aventura grabada a fuego en su pecho. Las maldades, perdidas y dolores que sufre el joven Charley, llegan a salir de la página para sentirse nuestras propias carnes.
Sarah Read nos propone un intenso viaje repleto de misterio y sorpresas por una vieja y rechinante abadía no apto para cardíacos. Una historia que homenajea los tropos de la novela gótica y los remezcla en un cóctel de persecutorio terror que funciona a las mil maravillas.
Reseña extensa en el blog: https://boywithletters.blogspot.com/2020/12/el-jardin-del-tallador-de-huesos.html
0hfortheloveofbooks's review against another edition
5.0
“It's like the dust here is made of memory. You could wander in the past for years.”
I finished The Bone Weaver's Orchard in only a couple of days but really I read three quarters in one sitting because I could not stop flipping the pages. I absolutely had to know what was going on and how it would all end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the story, the characters, the atmosphere.
The Bone Weaver's Orchard is set in the rain and fog of the moors of England in the 1920s in a centuries old Abbey turned all boy boarding school. How could this book not be creepy?! The setting and the weather perfectly mirrored the creepiness and dread of the story. From the opening lines, Read steadily built the tension and foreboding until it was towering over you, ready to collapse like the dilapidated East Wing. It seemed everyone had a secret to hide; the teachers, the staff, the very walls themselves, and the reader, along with Charley was left grasping for the truth like grasping at the insubstantial mist.
Charley was such a sweet, lonely, misunderstood little boy and I yearned to give him a big hug. While Charley was the protagonist and main focus of The Bone Weaver's Orchard, my heart lies with Sam. I adored him with his dirt stained hands and secret past. I thought he was such a wonderful addition to the story.
I could have lived in Read's world for a hundred more pages. I am selfish and I wanted more spooky happenings, more bumps in the night, more mischief, more Old Cross! Her descriptions of the decrepit school and all its inhabitants were both horrifying yet beautiful; I didn't want them to end. But now that my time at Old Cross has come to an end I feel like I need everything Read has written and I'll be snatching up everything she continues to write.
I finished The Bone Weaver's Orchard in only a couple of days but really I read three quarters in one sitting because I could not stop flipping the pages. I absolutely had to know what was going on and how it would all end. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the story, the characters, the atmosphere.
The Bone Weaver's Orchard is set in the rain and fog of the moors of England in the 1920s in a centuries old Abbey turned all boy boarding school. How could this book not be creepy?! The setting and the weather perfectly mirrored the creepiness and dread of the story. From the opening lines, Read steadily built the tension and foreboding until it was towering over you, ready to collapse like the dilapidated East Wing. It seemed everyone had a secret to hide; the teachers, the staff, the very walls themselves, and the reader, along with Charley was left grasping for the truth like grasping at the insubstantial mist.
Charley was such a sweet, lonely, misunderstood little boy and I yearned to give him a big hug. While Charley was the protagonist and main focus of The Bone Weaver's Orchard, my heart lies with Sam. I adored him with his dirt stained hands and secret past. I thought he was such a wonderful addition to the story.
I could have lived in Read's world for a hundred more pages. I am selfish and I wanted more spooky happenings, more bumps in the night, more mischief, more Old Cross! Her descriptions of the decrepit school and all its inhabitants were both horrifying yet beautiful; I didn't want them to end. But now that my time at Old Cross has come to an end I feel like I need everything Read has written and I'll be snatching up everything she continues to write.
maleficentknits's review
5.0
Sarah's dark works are always a pleasure to read.
This gothic tale wraps you up so that you don't want to stop reading. You have to find out the terrible secrets hidden in the East Wing of The Old Cross School for boys.
This gothic tale wraps you up so that you don't want to stop reading. You have to find out the terrible secrets hidden in the East Wing of The Old Cross School for boys.
craigwallwork's review
4.0
Sarah Read’s debut novel about Charlie, a young boy attending a Yorkshire boarding school in the early 1900s, establishes Read as a writer you need to pay attention to. Weaving together just the right amount of tension and chills to keep you engaged, and the lights on, we find ourselves plunged into a school where ghosts roam the halls, children go missing, and a history more disturbing than someone called the Ragged Man.
While the following comparisons should be taken as merely themes, not facsimiles, the book reminded me of the Devil’s Backbone, The Orphanage (only for its feel) and strangely, Harry Potter too. That I’m even drawing these comparisons in a testament to Read’s ability to craft prose that is as atmospheric as it is effortlessly composed. If you like your stories gothic, haunting, and beautifully constructed, then please check out The Bone Weaver’s Orchard. The big question is, what will Read write next? I for one can’t wait to see. 4.5 stars.
While the following comparisons should be taken as merely themes, not facsimiles, the book reminded me of the Devil’s Backbone, The Orphanage (only for its feel) and strangely, Harry Potter too. That I’m even drawing these comparisons in a testament to Read’s ability to craft prose that is as atmospheric as it is effortlessly composed. If you like your stories gothic, haunting, and beautifully constructed, then please check out The Bone Weaver’s Orchard. The big question is, what will Read write next? I for one can’t wait to see. 4.5 stars.
tracyreads's review
5.0
“The gravel became flagstones, and the stones became stairs as the face of the old abbey towered over him.”
Full review from Sci Fi and Scary:
We meet young Charley as he journeys to his new “home” in a rickety vehicle, over a poorly maintained country road. Set in England, these introductory scenes took me back to the first time I read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, or even the atmosphere provided by the works of Bronte and DuMaurier (think Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Rebecca); however, The Bone Weaver’s Orchard is most certainly NOT a children’s book or a direct “throwback” to those other books by any stretch of the imagination. This is horror. Read provides a dark atmosphere of uncertainty and trepidation with an effortless grace.
An ominous, dark old school building with a closed-off wing. An awkward, loveable protagonist. A grumpy headmaster. A caring school nurse. A mystery. Sound familiar? DO NOT BE DECEIVED. Sarah Read’s debut novel drew me in with familiarity and then “flipped the script” entirely to leave me bewildered and thoroughly engrossed in a tale that challenged my expectations. I should’ve known better – I read her short story, “Still Life with Natalie”, earlier this year and she caught me unawares in that one, too.
I found the novel to be incredibly well-paced; the pages just flew by, and before I knew it, it was over and I wanted more. I wanted more because I’m greedy and I needed more of Charley’s story. The ending is spectacular; I was so involved I could have read 100 more pages, at least. The characterization and Read’s power of description are stunning. There are scenes in this novel that had me cringing with disgust at times, and peeking through my fingers at others.
This novel will be released by Trepedatio Publishing on February 1, 2019. It is available for pre-order from the publisher. Be sure to grab this one.
Full review from Sci Fi and Scary:
We meet young Charley as he journeys to his new “home” in a rickety vehicle, over a poorly maintained country road. Set in England, these introductory scenes took me back to the first time I read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, or even the atmosphere provided by the works of Bronte and DuMaurier (think Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Rebecca); however, The Bone Weaver’s Orchard is most certainly NOT a children’s book or a direct “throwback” to those other books by any stretch of the imagination. This is horror. Read provides a dark atmosphere of uncertainty and trepidation with an effortless grace.
An ominous, dark old school building with a closed-off wing. An awkward, loveable protagonist. A grumpy headmaster. A caring school nurse. A mystery. Sound familiar? DO NOT BE DECEIVED. Sarah Read’s debut novel drew me in with familiarity and then “flipped the script” entirely to leave me bewildered and thoroughly engrossed in a tale that challenged my expectations. I should’ve known better – I read her short story, “Still Life with Natalie”, earlier this year and she caught me unawares in that one, too.
I found the novel to be incredibly well-paced; the pages just flew by, and before I knew it, it was over and I wanted more. I wanted more because I’m greedy and I needed more of Charley’s story. The ending is spectacular; I was so involved I could have read 100 more pages, at least. The characterization and Read’s power of description are stunning. There are scenes in this novel that had me cringing with disgust at times, and peeking through my fingers at others.
This novel will be released by Trepedatio Publishing on February 1, 2019. It is available for pre-order from the publisher. Be sure to grab this one.
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