Emily Lloyd-Jones

"Mer, the last living water diviner in the isles of Wales, seeks revenge against the prince who used her powers for his own evil ends"--

The Drowned Woods

Emma Miller

Fane shrugged. "Things are only immortal until you kill them."

A magical, ethereal fantasy from IndieBound bestselling author Emily Lloyd-Jones.
 
Once upon a time, the kingdoms of Wales were rife with magic and conflict, and eighteen-year-old Mererid “Mer” is well-acquainted with both. She is the last living water diviner and has spent years running from the prince who bound her into his service. Under the prince’s orders, she located the wells of his enemies, and he poisoned them without her knowledge, causing hundreds of deaths. After discovering what he had done, Mer went to great lengths to disappear from his reach. Then Mer’s old handler returns with a proposition: use her powers to bring down the very prince that abused them both.
 
The best way to do that is to destroy the magical well that keeps the prince’s lands safe. With a motley crew of allies, including a fae-cursed young man, the lady of thieves, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy, Mer may finally be able to steal precious freedom and peace for herself. After all, a person with a knife is one thing…but a person with a cause can topple kingdoms.

The Drowned Woods—set in the same world as The Bone Houses but with a whole new, unforgettable cast of characters—is part heist novel, part dark fairy tale.

Courtney Passio

A person with a knife was one thing. A person with a knife and a cause could topple kingdoms. 

A book about a girl with water magic and a boy who made a bargain with the fae folk, a deflecting agent of the military and a corgi spy who embark on a seditious quest to deal justice to a cruel and brutal royal ruler. Interlaced with Welsh myth, and YA type relationship stuff where loyalties are torn and beliefs are tested. 

Apiecalypse Jen

Welsh folklore, water magic and dogs… I would have been surprised if I hadn’t enjoyed this! Thought it was well paced and the characters, well written. Loved the connection between Mer and Fane. Overall an easy, very enjoyable read. :) 

I liked the writing and thought the Welsh mythology woven throughout was interesting, but the overall story fell flat. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, and I could feel my attention waning the entire time. I usually love a heist story, especially when there are magical elements to it, but I just didn't care about it. I think it had a lot of potential and the author nailed the atmosphere, but the execution was lacking.

Heather Harrington

Elaina 

I was definitely not expecting the ending.

Gillian Rose

3.5 stars

This was a weird one. I loved the characters. I loved the heist element. But there were also a lot of flashbacks that weren't easy to follow, so I couldn't keep track of the timelines. And it dragged a bit? There's a great plot here, but the execution was a little flawed.

4.5 Stars
 

I love heists, and dark fantasy and dogs, so that's all I need tbh
I loved the group and how they are interacting. The world building was absolutely fantastic. It was a classic heist aspect at first bit omg the betrayal. This really pushed the story and the plot line. 
I would have really appreciated if mer ended up with Ifannna instead of fane, because they definitely had the chemistry but overall I loved the "heist" and everything else.

Christine Bruce

I DNF's at 50%. 
Nothing wrong with it. Nothing terrible or badly written or anything. I just realized I was at 50% and didn't care about anything that was happening. I kept zoning out and didn't care about rewinding for what I missed. I just... didn't care. And didn't want to spend anymore time on something that I didn't care about.

This was enjoyable for sure. The characters were interesting and colored with depth. Each person had hidden layers that I enjoyed finding out with each twist and turn. Except Emrick. I always love a heist/one last job story but I think the reason that this book isn't a 4 star is because the heist part isn't as well executed as the other pieces. The heist feels like a frame but it certainly takes a backseat in some ways. The world is this beautiful and expansive fantasy settings but the plot to plot points feel either too slow or insanely rushed, particularly during the end act. The relationship between the characters were strong, especially Mer and Ifanna. However, I think I had less investment in Renfrew and Mer than I was supposed to due to the pacing being out of sync. I really loved the magic elements, particularly Fane's. It felt like the perfect curse but blessing situation in fables. The book really does deliver on the fabular nature of the story with water diviners and great boars guarding treasure. I was slightly disappointed by the ending but I think that's just because I felt that the part right before the actual ending, despite its sadness, was more narratively satisfying. 

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for this book.

As a huge fan of The Bone Houses, The Drowned Woods was one of my most highly anticipate releases for 2022 and it did not dissapoint. I enjoyed every moment reading this and felt immersed in such a well crafted world, with exposition revealing enough to be engaging but leaving part to the imagination, creating an air of mystery and myth surrounding the story. The story itself was so much fun, balancing tension, levity, and emotional hits that certainly landed for me (tears were shed by the end). Taking what may seem a typical heist story The Drowned Woods succeeds in its originality and firmly has it's own identity. The exploration of themes of guilt, identity, and responsibility were very well handled; however my one fault with the book is that at moments it did feel eager to move things along, rarely lingering on any moment, although this may just be my tastes speaking as I do prefer slower paced stories and would have loved to spend even more time with these characters.

My love for the main characters of this book really cannot be understated. While there were many intresting side characters I couldn't take my focus away from the main four: Mer, Fane, Ifanna, and Renfrew. Each character has a layered complexity and I couldn't help but get attached to them, with Mer and Fane in particular becoming new favourites of mine. Each has their own internal struggle and this leads directly into their complex relationships between one another. For these character trust is hard, trust can be dangerous, but trust is necessary; this world can be unforgiving and brutal and doesn't shy away from consequence and the horrors of power and betrayal. But this makes all of the connections formed the more heartfelt. Interactions are laced with desperation and longing for comfort, influencing how these characters act and the important choices they have to make; for better or for worse.

The Drowned Woods is an extremely fun read, filled with complexity, and the emotional core of it's main characters. It feels fresh and its own, with an immersive world full of personality and characters that were hard not to love. I highly reccomend it.

caly

with 2 sapphic main characters, magic, adventure, betrayal, a heist, a terrible prince who they hope to take down and hopes for freedom at the end, this book has my heart

This book was so promising you guys (insert crying emoji) but it just fell SO flat for me. The prologue, the premise and the corgi had me, but I just struggled so much while reading this that I gave up around the 80%(ish) mark, I just couldn’t do it anymore.

Mer (the main character) is your typical YA fantasy female protagonist (which I usually love btw) but she was just so dull. She just had zero spark and life to her for her to be this amazing glorified water-bender.

I also think I just didn’t enjoy how the story as a whole was written, it felt choppy at times and switches POV’s out of nowhere. It definitely could use some namer headers which leads me to the “monsters” names in this book. I know this is a fantasy and I’ve read a TON of fantasies where there are some out there names but the names of these creatures?! They were truly out of this world 😅.

Anyway, it’s not often I write a negative review but this book let me down for sure. The only saving grace was the Corgi spy.

This book was so promising you guys (insert crying emoji) but it just fell SO flat for me. The prologue, the premise and the corgi had me, but I just struggled so much while reading this that I gave up around the 80%(ish) mark, I just couldn’t do it anymore.

Mer (the main character) is your typical YA fantasy female protagonist (which I usually love btw) but she was just so dull. She just had zero spark and life to her for her to be this amazing glorified water-bender.

I also think I just didn’t enjoy how the story as a whole was written, it felt choppy at times and switches POV’s out of nowhere. It definitely could use some namer headers which leads me to the “monsters” names in this book. I know this is a fantasy and I’ve read a TON of fantasies where there are some out there names but the names of these creatures?! They were truly out of this world 😅.

Anyway, it’s not often I write a negative review but this book let me down for sure. The only saving grace was the Corgi spy.

Read if you like:

Welsh mythology

Corgi spies

Heists

Fancy water bending

Typical female lead

Standalone fantasy

The Drowned Woods

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