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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rageful and raw, Spit Back the Bones is the perfect summer horror novel to devour. The setting feels like midwestern Mike Flanagan with the nuanced nostalgia and hate-love relationship that often accompanies returning home. King uses powerful descriptors and engaging characters, attesting to the complicated world of small-town politics, grief, and angry girl magic. I am beyond excited to read everything else you put out into the world, Teagan!
dark
emotional
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Spit Back the Bones is a fantastic gothic horror fueled by female rage and an appropriately creepy atmosphere.
I really loved the writing style and highlighted so many lines! The prose kept me engaged even as I struggled to connect as much as I’d wanted to initially. I loved the bog’s perspective immediately but it did take me a little while to get into Mila’s perspective, but once I did, the story really flew by!
The creepy, gothic atmosphere of the bog and the small town was definitely the initial selling point of the book but it was overtaken by the relationship between Mila and Roe. I love an angry soft boy who could never be a monster. The familial relationships (good, bad, and complicated) also really hit home for me.
I didn’t realize how important to the story the town preacher was, so if you have any religious trauma I think that’s something to be aware of, but I think the corruption of the church and the town is really well done and powerful.
All that said, I was a little surprised when I found out that this wasn’t categorized as YA- I knew the characters were slightly outside the age range but they did feel more YA and the roles of the older adults in the story all felt more secondary the way they would be in a YA novel.
This will be the perfect book to read as summer turns to fall and I highly recommend to anyone interested in a creepy, gothic horror.
Thank you NetGalley and Keylight Books for the ARC- all thoughts my own!
I really loved the writing style and highlighted so many lines! The prose kept me engaged even as I struggled to connect as much as I’d wanted to initially. I loved the bog’s perspective immediately but it did take me a little while to get into Mila’s perspective, but once I did, the story really flew by!
The creepy, gothic atmosphere of the bog and the small town was definitely the initial selling point of the book but it was overtaken by the relationship between Mila and Roe. I love an angry soft boy who could never be a monster. The familial relationships (good, bad, and complicated) also really hit home for me.
I didn’t realize how important to the story the town preacher was, so if you have any religious trauma I think that’s something to be aware of, but I think the corruption of the church and the town is really well done and powerful.
All that said, I was a little surprised when I found out that this wasn’t categorized as YA- I knew the characters were slightly outside the age range but they did feel more YA and the roles of the older adults in the story all felt more secondary the way they would be in a YA novel.
This will be the perfect book to read as summer turns to fall and I highly recommend to anyone interested in a creepy, gothic horror.
Thank you NetGalley and Keylight Books for the ARC- all thoughts my own!
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I really liked the setting of the book because it was described as eerie, and I could easily imagine how the whole town would smell like the bog.
I also enjoyed the plot because it was interesting and at the same time a critique of the church.
However, I found the characters quite flat, and I couldn’t really connect with them, which made me enjoy the book less.
But if you’re more of a plot-driven reader, you might really like this book.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I grabbed this book because the premise sounded super interesting. A girl who could hear the voices of the dead from the bog. A monster killing and the bog itself angry and wanting vengeance. The story was good but it wasn’t love for me.
Here are my thoughts:
Bog. The word is so overused in this story. The first 30% of the novel I swear the word was used every other sentence. I almost DNFed because of it. It was really bad. We need some editing here for sure.
The main character is just angry about everything. That’s her personality. Just mad. I would get it if it there was some reason for her to have that anger with her all the time but there isn’t.
The FMC acts like she has a history with one or two of the characters but we never get that in depth look. The FMC doesn’t have much development other than anger and she hates the bog.
The MMC. This boy is just crying in every scene. I think every time we see him he cries. I get it. He’s soft to her anger but cmon already. Roe is a decent character but we are told his history, not shown. This whole novel is about telling and not showing.
The action is actually pretty good. The scenes where something actually happens are done well and have a good spooky vibe. The creepy preacher, the gothic swamp vibes done well. I just wish we had more. More showing, more depth, less predictability, less slow motion.
The main plot was interesting when you dug through the rest. Do I think this is a good story? Yes. Do I think it needs more edits to get to it? Yes. I hope this story gets a little more attention and it’ll shine.
Thank you to Turner Publishing Company/Keylight books and NetGalley for the arc.
Here are my thoughts:
Bog. The word is so overused in this story. The first 30% of the novel I swear the word was used every other sentence. I almost DNFed because of it. It was really bad. We need some editing here for sure.
The main character is just angry about everything. That’s her personality. Just mad. I would get it if it there was some reason for her to have that anger with her all the time but there isn’t.
The FMC acts like she has a history with one or two of the characters but we never get that in depth look. The FMC doesn’t have much development other than anger and she hates the bog.
The MMC. This boy is just crying in every scene. I think every time we see him he cries. I get it. He’s soft to her anger but cmon already. Roe is a decent character but we are told his history, not shown. This whole novel is about telling and not showing.
The action is actually pretty good. The scenes where something actually happens are done well and have a good spooky vibe. The creepy preacher, the gothic swamp vibes done well. I just wish we had more. More showing, more depth, less predictability, less slow motion.
The main plot was interesting when you dug through the rest. Do I think this is a good story? Yes. Do I think it needs more edits to get to it? Yes. I hope this story gets a little more attention and it’ll shine.
Thank you to Turner Publishing Company/Keylight books and NetGalley for the arc.
This book started off so promising, but by the halfway mark it had devolved into kind of annoying and repetitive. I kept reading just to see what would happen and the ending was not great so...
This is the story of Mila coming back to town and figuring out what is going on with the bog and trying to find her missing siblings. Now Mila is a bit of an unlikable character. At first she is super angry in a way that didn't make much sense, but I like myself an unlikable character so I didn't mind. Only she turned into a super annoying character that I couldn't stand by the end. She is not the most intelligent and cannot put 2 and 2 together to get 4. Everyhting is about the bog and her brother Jed. I swear if I had to read her going on about Jed one more time, especially when she doesn't know what happened to him, I was gonna scream. It's all Jed Jed Jed. And the bog. It also the bog the bog the bog and it gets so repetitive it loses any sense of tension or unease.
This is marketed as a horromance and the romance aspect was fine. It wasn't the worst romance I have read, but not the best either. Part of the problem is I didn't care about any of the characters, plus it was super obvious what was going on so hard to get into it. I would be interested in reading something else from the author to see how it goes. This one didn't work for me in the end which is a shame as I was really loving the beginning.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book
This is the story of Mila coming back to town and figuring out what is going on with the bog and trying to find her missing siblings. Now Mila is a bit of an unlikable character. At first she is super angry in a way that didn't make much sense, but I like myself an unlikable character so I didn't mind. Only she turned into a super annoying character that I couldn't stand by the end. She is not the most intelligent and cannot put 2 and 2 together to get 4. Everyhting is about the bog and her brother Jed. I swear if I had to read her going on about Jed one more time, especially when she doesn't know what happened to him, I was gonna scream. It's all Jed Jed Jed. And the bog. It also the bog the bog the bog and it gets so repetitive it loses any sense of tension or unease.
This is marketed as a horromance and the romance aspect was fine. It wasn't the worst romance I have read, but not the best either. Part of the problem is I didn't care about any of the characters, plus it was super obvious what was going on so hard to get into it. I would be interested in reading something else from the author to see how it goes. This one didn't work for me in the end which is a shame as I was really loving the beginning.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Ok so I thought the premise of this story was really interesting, and the beginning and end was decent. It was the middle part of the story for me that just lacked something. I felt like some of the reactions the characters had to things were a bit nonchalant, I also struggled a bit to follow exactly what was happening as it was written in a way that seemed quite rushed. There are horror elements in the story but I didn't find it scary. There is also a slight romance storyline but it felt very odd to me. Overall a good premise but the execution just didn't do it for me I'm afraid.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Spit Back the Bones by Teagan Olivia King is a horror-romance set for release in September 2025.
Mila-May returns home to Credence Hollow anticipating a shaky reconciliation with her tattered family only to find herself knee deep in the bog she's been running from her whole life. When her sister goes missing and the ominous voices return in her mind, Mila reunites with her could-have-been lover to dig up the secrets of her family, the town church, and the bog they live on.
--------------
I didn't fall in love with this book.
That is to say, the themes and tones are things I already carry with me (like it or not). This book is everything you probably think of when you think of a bog. Rage, bitterness, loss, agony, death, grime, and ugly roots.
I will do my best to not spiral about the ugly roots and all of the ways that they're relevant inside and outside of these pages.
Spit Back the Bones is a good blend of character and plot. I only found myself aching to "get to it already" a couple of times and found that a page or two later I was there. I appreciate that Teagan Olivia King did about as much showing of Mila-May's and Reverend Byron's characters as she did telling, though I did find something to be desired for some of the supporting characters.
With the primary characters being in their early 20s, I was relieved that the tone of the narrative matched the tones of the characters without it feeling immature. The dialogue is realistic and feels genuine, even if in the way you might want to strangle someone for not getting the point.
As an aspiring lore-nerd, I did hope for a grander or more detailed origin story reveal, but overall I felt it suited the medium-fast pace of the book. And the resulting cryptid reveal was just gross enough to not make me too fussed about any extra details.
I received an ARC for this book as part of Teagan's street team for this release and I'm immensely grateful to have gotten an early chance to read this book. One more tip of the scale in converting me to a horror girly.
Mila-May returns home to Credence Hollow anticipating a shaky reconciliation with her tattered family only to find herself knee deep in the bog she's been running from her whole life. When her sister goes missing and the ominous voices return in her mind, Mila reunites with her could-have-been lover to dig up the secrets of her family, the town church, and the bog they live on.
--------------
I didn't fall in love with this book.
That is to say, the themes and tones are things I already carry with me (like it or not). This book is everything you probably think of when you think of a bog. Rage, bitterness, loss, agony, death, grime, and ugly roots.
I will do my best to not spiral about the ugly roots and all of the ways that they're relevant inside and outside of these pages.
Spit Back the Bones is a good blend of character and plot. I only found myself aching to "get to it already" a couple of times and found that a page or two later I was there. I appreciate that Teagan Olivia King did about as much showing of Mila-May's and Reverend Byron's characters as she did telling, though I did find something to be desired for some of the supporting characters.
With the primary characters being in their early 20s, I was relieved that the tone of the narrative matched the tones of the characters without it feeling immature. The dialogue is realistic and feels genuine, even if in the way you might want to strangle someone for not getting the point.
As an aspiring lore-nerd, I did hope for a grander or more detailed origin story reveal, but overall I felt it suited the medium-fast pace of the book. And the resulting cryptid reveal was just gross enough to not make me too fussed about any extra details.
I received an ARC for this book as part of Teagan's street team for this release and I'm immensely grateful to have gotten an early chance to read this book. One more tip of the scale in converting me to a horror girly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Mental illness, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A small town with a supernatural bog and missing people sign me up! Mila returns home three years after her brother went missing to find that her sister is also missing. With the sheriff being absolutely no help, only person that wants to help her is the reverend’s estranged son. Why are more and more people being taken by the bog? While this book was atmospheric, chilling, and emotional, it wasn’t my favorite. The writing leaned more toward YA and it just felt like something was missing. Maybe the romance could have gone up a notch.
A small town with a supernatural bog and missing people sign me up! Mila returns home three years after her brother went missing to find that her sister is also missing. With the sheriff being absolutely no help, only person that wants to help her is the reverend’s estranged son. Why are more and more people being taken by the bog? While this book was atmospheric, chilling, and emotional, it wasn’t my favorite. The writing leaned more toward YA and it just felt like something was missing. Maybe the romance could have gone up a notch.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was absolutely terrified reading this book. I could not put it down (I read it in 2 days) because I NEEDED to know what was going to happen next. The writing is phenomenal and I was genuinely scared to go to bed. If this were a movie, I’d sleep with the lights on! The plot twist was insane and everyone got the ending they deserved. I will definitely not be going anywhere near a bog ever again!