Wake the Bones

A Novel

By: Elizabeth Kilcoyne

Narrated by: Bailey Carr

Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

The sleepy little farm that Laurel Early grew up on has awakened. The woods are shifting, the soil is dead under her hands, and her bone pile just stood up and walked away.

After dropping out of college, all she wanted was to resume her life as a tobacco hand and taxidermist and try not to think about the boy she can’t help but love. Instead, a devil from her past has returned to court her, as he did her late mother years earlier. Now, Laurel must unravel her mother’s terrifying legacy and tap into her own innate magic before her future and the fate of everyone she loves is doomed.

Elizabeth Kilcoyne’s Wake the Bones is a dark, atmospheric debut about the complicated feelings that arise when the place you call home becomes hostile.

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.

©2022 Elizabeth Kilcoyne (P)2022 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"YA horror has found a new standard-bearer." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Dark, gripping, and gorgeous, Wake the Bones will lead you into the woods and keep you up late. As lush and sweltering as a Kentucky summer... Elizabeth Kilcoyne is a force.” — Gwenda Bond, New York Times bestselling author

"Seething with shadows, summer, and uniquely southern magic, Wake the Bones is a powerful debut that captures the ache of home being a place you simultaneously love and loathe." — Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf

Enchanting.

Beautiful landscape, world developing and writing. Character development done well. I thoroughly enjoyed the mythological retelling with a hint of Bloody Bones/Rawhead Rex and Wicca The rich, but not overdone descriptions made me feel like I was right there in the story.

The narrator is FANTASTIC

Her southern drawl really added to the story is such a delightful way, I absolutely adored her storytelling.

DNF - unfortunately slow and boring

I was so intrigued by this book, and I enjoyed the way it started. Mysterious, atmospheric, and bone collecting! But gosh it was just so slow and boring… I really didn’t understand why the characters were so wrapped up in their interpersonal drama when a reanimated BONE COLLECTION was just trying to kill them? I ended up not really caring about whether laurel and Ricky hooked up, or whether Isaac ditched Garrett, or what sort of witchcraft was happening or not happening… which says a lot. Teen/YA love drama and killer devil bones would normally be right up my alley. Hopefully this author writes more books and hones her craft because she has a lot of potential but this just wasn’t it.

Promising start…doesn’t stick the landing

The novel starts out strong, featuring interesting, complex characters. Unfortunately, by the end of the book, the writing leans heavily into trite, trope laden silliness and ridiculously out-of-place “action” sequences that don’t make much sense or do the characters any justice. The use of magic in the plot becomes a bit…convenient…and all-too-predictable. I was left feeling like this was a missed opportunity to create something unique. I wouldn’t recommend it.

What exactly happened in this book?

The language in this book was so flowery, and the reading so dramatic, that I honestly could not tell you what this book was about. The plot got lost in the words, if that makes sense. Maybe this is a better read than a listen?

Did not finish- missed the point

Boring and seems to focus on character drama and pointless domestic sequences versus the cool and uncanny aspects of the story, which are magic and Skinwalkers and the Devil!!! Who cares about your high school crush?? Also, nothing irritates me more or makes me ditch a book faster than a person that inherits magic, but they are also the absolute worst candidate for it. Magic, but give it to a teenage girl, who finds her crush’s axe body spray un-ironic.
Pass on this one.