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carlaabra's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
She was there when he woke again. He felt her presence like a bruise, as though she’d been beaten into his bones.
Unfortunately the author couldn’t stick the landing. Some of the flowery language gets excessive (who uses a word like eonian?). The third act in particular was a mess - plot spiraling out of control, random cameos from characters from the prior book that haven’t been mentioned in this one. Our MCs saying awful YA lines like this:
“It was supposed to be my graduation dress…I didn’t walk though, so. Now it’s just something I take out and stare at when I’m feeling tragic.”
“The end justifies the means,” <blank> said. “Niccolo Machiavelli said that.”
We never do find out what Wyatt did to Micah, which is annoying since it’s mysteriously hinted at the entire goddamn book. I think Wyatt should’ve been either a few years younger or a few years older. Eighteen is too old to be this naive and angsty. It’s also (imo) too young to be making decisions about the future of your bloodline and the world (since she is apparently
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent
tnemelce's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Torture
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
alatedbibliophile's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I received an advanced copy of this book to give my honest review. Everything in this review is written in my own words for no other compensation than the e-copy of this book. For more information on my review policy, click here.
This was my first read by Kelly Andrew. I have to admit, the cover immediately drew me in, and then I read the blurb and knew I had to read it. Fantasy? Check. Creepy aesthetic? Check. Friends-to-enemies-to-lovers vibes? Check, check, check!
This book was [mostly] a pleasant surprise. It was wonderfully written with some lovely prose that I greatly enjoyed reading. I love fantasy and paranormal, so the premise of this story was right up my alley.
- the monsters in this book were genuinely creepy and a couple times what I was reading gave me a chill I wasn’t expecting!
- Peter was a walking red flag and I loved it.
- since I didn’t read the first book Kelly wrote, I had no prior attachments to or expectations for Wyatt’s friends and the way they were introduced to this book was kind of jarring. They were just all of the sudden there. Maybe if I’d read the other book, it wouldn’t have felt so out of the blue, I’m not sure.
- this has no merit to the story whatsoever, but this is absolutely one of my favorite covers ever. It’s gorgeous!
Overall, I enjoyed this book as a whole, but I’ve gotta admit…the ending almost ruined it for me. Oftentimes the ending will either make or break a book, and this one kind of broke the book in my opinion. This will not be a re-read. Honestly, if I’d known how the book was going to end, I probably wouldn’t have ever picked it up to begin with. If you have book ending anxiety, I have a spoiler tag below that you can click on. Otherwise, that’s all I’m going to say about it. (I took the spoilers out of this review. If you want to read them, feel free to visit my blog)
3/5
Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Slavery, Abandonment, Animal death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, and Bullying
nikki_saulnier's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Blood, Child death, Murder, and Violence
nostoat's review against another edition
5.0
They'd dreamed together. They'd fought together. And eventually - reluctantly - they'd grown together.
"You're mine. You and Peter. You always have been." / "People don't belong to people." / "Don't they? I take care of what's mine."
He could only remember James. The way he laughed, lit from beneath by a firefly glow. He could only remember Wyatt, and the way the skies thundered when he kissed her that first impossible time.
This book hit me in the same place that remembering reading Narnia, watching Little Woman (2019), and watching my nieces and nephews grow up while contemplating the flow of my own life between my fingers does. Which is to say, it hit me in the gut with all the force of a freight train with emotions about childhood, growing up, leaving it all behind, being haunted by the ghosts of the past good and bad and complicated. It doesn't matter how grey the skies were, the golden moments of joy still ache like taking a bite of fresh from the freezer ice cream. I feel it in my teeth, in my bones, in my soul. This book is one long "you can't go back, god, you can't go back, you just can't ever go back."
It's also a story about three people so deeply deeply entangled, it's as though the green sap of Willow Heath runs through all their veins. It's always the three of them, you see. There is hate, there is anger, there is violence and blood and crying and kissing. And at the end of it all there they are. What relationship between three people who grew up under the heavy thumb of a strange, pressing ritual guild could possibly come out normal in the wash? Their hands are bloody for each other; their arms locked in an embrace nothing could possibly break. Is it romance? Sure I guess. I don't know. I'm aromantic. To me, this is simply the deepest well of devotion that could possibly exist; bigger than romance. Deeper than romance.
There is so much pain in this book, but there is also power. Andrew, in my opinion, balances the power dynamics so deftly on a knife's edge. It's thrilling. It's delicious. I felt like I was reading a feast spread just for me.
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Medical content
sol_journal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Torture, and Death
Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement
There’s also mention of spiders but mildly so for anybody with arachnophobia. It’s nothing terribly explicit, I’d say?? But there is a big spider mentioned in one or two chapters towards the end of the middle half.takarakei's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“There’s a Welsh word I learned in school,” said James. “Hiraeth. There’s no direct translation for it in the English language, but it means a deep longing for a home you can never return to.”
- Gothic
- Scary forests
- nature emotion magic
- Childhood friendships
- Angst
- the price of immortality
- Adult men on power trips 🙄
Kelly Andrew is the queen of writing YA fantasy that will leave you in a puddle on the floor. Her writing is descriptive and beautiful (even when describing gross things). Endlessly quotable and I highlighted so many parts!! The reveals keep you reading and engaged. Even though the ending is foreshadowed you still have to see how it plays out. The one downside is the magic isn’t explained super well so you just gotta go on vibes. I found myself a bit confused at some parts but also reading an eARC formatted weirdly might have been a contributing factor. I will definitely be rereading this once I can get my hands on a physical final copy 🙌
Thank you to Netgalley and Scholastic for the eARC.
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death
Moderate: Confinement, Animal death, Body horror, and Torture
Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Animal death: mentions of hunting and cleaning animals.roseleebooks's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
I did think that some of the plot elements felt a little rushed at the end, however thinking more about it after finishing the book I appreciated the direction it went in.
Overall this was the horror with heart at it's center that I didn't know I wanted to read. It is a story of loss, love, and hope with all the supernatural horror that I could ask for. There are no easy solutions in the world Kelly Andrew has created and I am glad that the story embraces that element.
Thank you to Netgalley and Scholastic books for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Abandonment, Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, and Violence
This is a horror novel with some romantic elements, I would not characterize this as a romance centric book.ellejo3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Your Blood, My Bones is set in the same world as The Whispering Dark and has the same lush, atmospheric writing, but instead of dark academia, it's cottage-core horror. Kelly Andrew nailed the setting and vibes, and I loved the dynamic between Wyatt, Peter, and James. The tension between the three of them! And that ending!! Ahh - I'm still thinking about it! I was also pleasantly surprised to see Lane and Colton from TWD make an appearance. Though don't worry if you haven't read TWD. While it helps to understand the concept of lay lines and walking between worlds, Andrew does a good job of explaining it in YBMB.
If you liked The Whispering Dark, read Your Blood, My Bones! If you never read The Whispering Dark, but you like cottage-core horror, read Your Blood, My Bones!
Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for giving me an ARC. All thoughts are my own.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Torture
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Blood, Animal death, Murder, and Medical content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
eenicem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Wyatt and Peter/Petyr are both really compelling as characters and really make you want to root for them. Even when things are really tense between them or their circumstances are really fraught, their dynamic feels very realistic and natural instead of forced for the plot.
And the plot as it unfolds is really exciting and keeps the revelations coming. I’d definitely recommend this book to anybody who enjoys supernatural YA with high stakes and characters who’ve seen some shit and will definitely see more before the book is through. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it’s worth it.
(ARC received through my job as a bookseller)
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Torture
Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Vomit