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jadavis95's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
abbydawn84's review
2.0
61% into the book and there’s a sudden and completely unnecessary sex scene. Totally out of the blue. No build up tension to give warning to the reader/listener. Didn’t go with the story line at all and immediately ruined the story.
bntyle01's review
3.0
It was just too long for me. I like a lot about it but it didn’t need to be that long in my opinion. Good book, good writing, good narration.
I received this audiobook from NetGalley and am giving my honest review in return.
I received this audiobook from NetGalley and am giving my honest review in return.
camilleisreading24's review
5.0
Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Magda is the passionate curator of a historic home in the Florida Keys. Famous as the home of poet Isobel Reyes, Whimbrel House is a tourist attraction and school field trip destination. From meticulously restoring the furniture and books in the home to be authentic to the time, to giving tours of the house and quoting Isobel’s poems, Magda eats, sleeps and breathes her job. The home has an added mystery in the fact that Isobel met her untimely death when she drowned in the cove behind the house. The story has inspired copycat deaths over the years, but it’s nothing Magda can’t handle.
With a hurricane bearing down, the Keys are evacuated. But Magda decides to hunker down in Whimbrel House during the storm. She will do anything to keep the home intact and unharmed. But it quickly becomes clear the storm is more powerful than anticipated and multiple disasters threaten to take Magda and Whimbrel House down. And then a man and his daughter arrive seeking refuge, and threatening the tenuous safety Magda has found…
I loved this book! It’s a survival thriller with multiple mysteries. The setting is so atmospheric. I have read and loved many blizzard mysteries but never one with an active hurricane. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I understood how much Magda loved the house and her job, and why she decided to stay there during the storm. I wholeheartedly recommend this entertaining book.
Magda is the passionate curator of a historic home in the Florida Keys. Famous as the home of poet Isobel Reyes, Whimbrel House is a tourist attraction and school field trip destination. From meticulously restoring the furniture and books in the home to be authentic to the time, to giving tours of the house and quoting Isobel’s poems, Magda eats, sleeps and breathes her job. The home has an added mystery in the fact that Isobel met her untimely death when she drowned in the cove behind the house. The story has inspired copycat deaths over the years, but it’s nothing Magda can’t handle.
With a hurricane bearing down, the Keys are evacuated. But Magda decides to hunker down in Whimbrel House during the storm. She will do anything to keep the home intact and unharmed. But it quickly becomes clear the storm is more powerful than anticipated and multiple disasters threaten to take Magda and Whimbrel House down. And then a man and his daughter arrive seeking refuge, and threatening the tenuous safety Magda has found…
I loved this book! It’s a survival thriller with multiple mysteries. The setting is so atmospheric. I have read and loved many blizzard mysteries but never one with an active hurricane. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I understood how much Magda loved the house and her job, and why she decided to stay there during the storm. I wholeheartedly recommend this entertaining book.
azdesert_bookworm's review
3.0
This was an interesting book. That’s really the feeling I walked away from the book with. There were moments of tension and suspense mixed with moments of strength and discovery all while under the shroud of a category wipe-the-coast-of-Florida- off-the-map hurricane.
Set in beautiful Key West, Magda, is the caretaker at Whimbrel House, a historic home turned museum of a turn of the 20th century poet who committed suicide in 1918 at the age of 23. Magda is slightly obsessed with the home and works of Isobel Reyes, and that’s putting it mildly. So, when an evacuation is called, Magda decides to stay at Whimbrel House to ride the storm out.
I guess I don’t need to tell you how that turns out! While there are the issues caused by the hurricane - flooding, house damage, injuries - to say that Magda is a little obsessed would be an understatement. There are times throughout where she endangers her own life to protect aspects of Whimbrel House. Those preservation plans are impeded by the unexpected arrival of Hank, the local handyman and his daughter, who float up on their boat caught by the storm and unable to get out in time. Sometimes, you just don’t know the people around you as well as you think you do.
When I started reading, I had such high hopes. I loved the mysteriousness surrounding Isobel’s century old death, and it was clear that there was more to the story than we knew. I loved the survival story of making it through the hurricane. The intentional build up to the storm actually hitting Key West was done very well. Everything just got muddy when Magda was no longer the lone wolf and had to share the pages with Hank and Emily. In the end, I enjoyed the book. It was different from the other things I have been reading lately, so if you are looking for a change of pace, a story of survival and natural disasters with a touch of history and unexpected guests, you should put this one on your TBR list.
I am grateful to Crooked Lane Books for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Set in beautiful Key West, Magda, is the caretaker at Whimbrel House, a historic home turned museum of a turn of the 20th century poet who committed suicide in 1918 at the age of 23. Magda is slightly obsessed with the home and works of Isobel Reyes, and that’s putting it mildly. So, when an evacuation is called, Magda decides to stay at Whimbrel House to ride the storm out.
I guess I don’t need to tell you how that turns out! While there are the issues caused by the hurricane - flooding, house damage, injuries - to say that Magda is a little obsessed would be an understatement. There are times throughout where she endangers her own life to protect aspects of Whimbrel House. Those preservation plans are impeded by the unexpected arrival of Hank, the local handyman and his daughter, who float up on their boat caught by the storm and unable to get out in time. Sometimes, you just don’t know the people around you as well as you think you do.
When I started reading, I had such high hopes. I loved the mysteriousness surrounding Isobel’s century old death, and it was clear that there was more to the story than we knew. I loved the survival story of making it through the hurricane. The intentional build up to the storm actually hitting Key West was done very well. Everything just got muddy when Magda was no longer the lone wolf and had to share the pages with Hank and Emily. In the end, I enjoyed the book. It was different from the other things I have been reading lately, so if you are looking for a change of pace, a story of survival and natural disasters with a touch of history and unexpected guests, you should put this one on your TBR list.
I am grateful to Crooked Lane Books for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
the_sassy_bookworm's review
3.0
⭐⭐⭐
This book can really be separated into two parts (ratings). Before the hurricane hit and the appearance of the teenage girl and her father (2 stars). And everything that came after. (4 stars). The first part I found was slow, dull and flat. Magda didn't seem to be mentally all there, and it is never explained if she was sick? Or what? Considering the reaction her ex had at seeing her.
kbranfield's review
4.0
The Bone Cay by Eliza Nellums is a fast-paced mystery with a unique storyline.
Historian Magda Trudell is obsessed with poet Isobel Reyes. She works at Isobel’s family home, Whimbrel Estate, in Key West. Isobel died in 1918 and Magda is dedicated to bringing Whimbrel back to its former glory. But funding is tight, so she has only managed to complete the first floor. With a possibly deadly hurricane bearing down on Florida, Magda refuses to evacuate so she can protect Isobel’s treasures. With the hurricane raging around her, Magda is shocked when handyman Hank McGrath returns by boat with his teenage daughter Emily. Although her attention mainly focused on a shocking discovery, she cannot help but worry about Emily. Can Magda protect the historical home and keep everyone’ safe ?
After an unsettled childhood with her musician father, Magda has set down roots in Key West. She discovered Isobel’s poems while on the road with her father and she immediately connected to the poet’s words. Magda is fiercely protective of Isobel’s history and she is determined to keep the Whimbrel Estates’ treasures, house and property as safe as she can during the hurricane.
Trouble ensues almost immediately as Magda makes costly mistakes. She is less than thrilled when Hank and Emily arrive but she has no choice but to ask them to join her. Magda is distracted by what she just unearthed but she realizes something is just a little off with father and daughter. Her uneasiness grows as the hurricane worsens and dangerous flooding threatens to overtake the house. However, Magda soon learns that she might be in more danger than just the hurricane.
The Bone Cay is an intense mystery with a clever storyline. Magda’s obsession with Isobel is a distraction as she rides out the hurricane with people she finds difficult to trust. The setting vividly springs to life and it is impossible not to feel the extreme threat posed by the hurricane. The storyline is well-developed with stunning twists. Magda is a little irritating as she continually puts herself in peril because she makes unsound decisions. Emily is a sympathetic character but is she telling Magda the truth? Hank becomes more menacing as Eliza Nellums brings this suspenseful mystery to a pulse-pounding conclusion.
Historian Magda Trudell is obsessed with poet Isobel Reyes. She works at Isobel’s family home, Whimbrel Estate, in Key West. Isobel died in 1918 and Magda is dedicated to bringing Whimbrel back to its former glory. But funding is tight, so she has only managed to complete the first floor. With a possibly deadly hurricane bearing down on Florida, Magda refuses to evacuate so she can protect Isobel’s treasures. With the hurricane raging around her, Magda is shocked when handyman Hank McGrath returns by boat with his teenage daughter Emily. Although her attention mainly focused on a shocking discovery, she cannot help but worry about Emily. Can Magda protect the historical home and keep everyone’ safe ?
After an unsettled childhood with her musician father, Magda has set down roots in Key West. She discovered Isobel’s poems while on the road with her father and she immediately connected to the poet’s words. Magda is fiercely protective of Isobel’s history and she is determined to keep the Whimbrel Estates’ treasures, house and property as safe as she can during the hurricane.
Trouble ensues almost immediately as Magda makes costly mistakes. She is less than thrilled when Hank and Emily arrive but she has no choice but to ask them to join her. Magda is distracted by what she just unearthed but she realizes something is just a little off with father and daughter. Her uneasiness grows as the hurricane worsens and dangerous flooding threatens to overtake the house. However, Magda soon learns that she might be in more danger than just the hurricane.
The Bone Cay is an intense mystery with a clever storyline. Magda’s obsession with Isobel is a distraction as she rides out the hurricane with people she finds difficult to trust. The setting vividly springs to life and it is impossible not to feel the extreme threat posed by the hurricane. The storyline is well-developed with stunning twists. Magda is a little irritating as she continually puts herself in peril because she makes unsound decisions. Emily is a sympathetic character but is she telling Magda the truth? Hank becomes more menacing as Eliza Nellums brings this suspenseful mystery to a pulse-pounding conclusion.
doloresofcourse's review
4.0
3.5 Sometimes the story was a solid four but then it would drop to two. The story needed more fleshing out. Especially what had happened in the past.
pharmdad2007's review
4.0
Really great thriller. I love books with deep literary (even if fictional) roots, and this one fits the bill perfectly.
readwithkaylah's review
4.0
3.5⭐️
The Bone Cay is a story of survival in more ways than one. I thought the book was well thought out and presented but I wish there was a little more action to the story. Magda, the caretaker of the estate, would randomly rattle off facts about the house during the weirdest times (even during a sex scene). I enjoyed the narrator (Nancy Peterson) and she was probably the reason I continued to listen to the end. The big plot twist with the visitors is what bumped it to a 3.5 for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review!
The Bone Cay is a story of survival in more ways than one. I thought the book was well thought out and presented but I wish there was a little more action to the story. Magda, the caretaker of the estate, would randomly rattle off facts about the house during the weirdest times (even during a sex scene). I enjoyed the narrator (Nancy Peterson) and she was probably the reason I continued to listen to the end. The big plot twist with the visitors is what bumped it to a 3.5 for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review!