This YA fantasy/horror novel is about a young Welsh girl, Aderyn (or Ryn, as she prefers to be called), who inherits the family’s gravedigging business after her mother dies and her father goes missing. Ryn is trying to keep the family (i.e., her younger siblings) together while living with her uncle, who also goes missing. The village people are afraid of the bone houses, i.e., the walking dead, that have started encroaching into their village after the arrival of a young mapmaker named Ellis, who was raised by a prince after he was found wandering in the woods as a child. Ryn and Ellis join forces to search for Ryn’s father and answers about Ellis’s life. The book started slowly but the action picks up; however, the numerous scenes with the bone houses become somewhat repetitive, and the twists were fairly predictable. ( )

I really enjoyed this read. I thought it was a had such a fun setting and also such a fun cast of characters. I don't normally love books about zombies but this book so refreshing and just a fun fast pace read. I really did enjoy the main characters in this book a lot. I found them both to be super compelling. I thought the characters voices could have been clearer because I sometimes struggled to remember who's head I was in and would have liked something like chapter heading to make it more obvious. I rather enjoy this read and thought it was such a solid standalone read, that impressed me. I will def read more by this author in the future. ( )

I really enjoyed this read. I thought it was a had such a fun setting and also such a fun cast of characters. I don't normally love books about zombies but this book so refreshing and just a fun fast pace read. I really did enjoy the main characters in this book a lot. I found them both to be super compelling. I thought the characters voices could have been clearer because I sometimes struggled to remember who's head I was in and would have liked something like chapter heading to make it more obvious. I rather enjoy this read and thought it was such a solid standalone read, that impressed me. I will def read more by this author in the future. ( )

The author, Emily Lloyd-Jones refers to this story as "gravedigger versus medieval zombies" and I don't think there is a better description for it. A fairy tale horror story living inside a fantasy YA novel that was was such a fun ride. Full of adventure, suspense and wickedly snarly monster moments made this a real page-turner for me. I highly recommend to every fantasy/horror fan, even if they don't normally read YA. ( )

Magical zombies! Ryn just wants to survive. Ellis wants to find his family. Together, they might be able to figure out the mystery of the Bone Houses. Fun read. ( )