The Drowned Woods: The Sunday Times bestselling and darkly gripping YA fantasy heist novel

£7.495
FREE Shipping

The Drowned Woods: The Sunday Times bestselling and darkly gripping YA fantasy heist novel

The Drowned Woods: The Sunday Times bestselling and darkly gripping YA fantasy heist novel

RRP: £14.99
Price: £7.495
£7.495 FREE Shipping

In stock

We accept the following payment methods

Description

Beautiful lyrical fairytale prose with an opening that gripped me tightly and did not let me go until the very end. If you are looking for a novel that is part heist, part fairytale, and fully enrapturing, then The Drowned Woods is the book for you! Starting from the legend of “Cantre'r Gwaelod”, a Welsh sunked kingdom, Emily Lloyd-Jones creates a high-fantasy novel enriched by stories of promised treasures, magical debts, and a lot of complicated adventure stories. To some extent, it is similar to Leigh Bardugo’s “Six of Crows” adventures, in a stand-alone format. This is such a solid fantasy heist and I loved the characters and the betrayals they committed and the sacrifices they made. What makes it even better is that the setting isn’t very common in fantasy. Whilst fantasy certainly favors the British isles, Wales is unfortunately often forgotten about. This however, was unmistakably Welsh and while welsh names are a bit of a tongue twister for me, I absolutely loved them, especially since it’s a retelling of a Welsh legend. I have noticed a trend of retelling a myth, legend or fairytale from a certain culture and then erasing that culture from the story and sometimes even giving the characters more English names, so the fact that this book didn’t do that made me incredibly happy.

I am quite glad that I experienced this story as an Audiobook, because Emily Lloyd-Jones does not go easy on the reader with all the Welsh names of people and places. I actually had to look up the spelling of half the things, cause my mind alone would not be able to piece them together without help!!! I mean there were the normal ones - Mer, Fane, Ifanna but then there were also Renfrew, Garanhir, Caer Wyddno, Gwaelod and then castell which in WELSH "ll" has a [ɬ] sound it so sounds like "Caste thhh".... This crew, I loved watching them all come together and as they set off on their quest, I knew this story was going to be a slam dunk for me.The greater good" is a central theme of this novel, and I loved how the author makes us question: at what point do we draw the line? At what point does justice become vengeance, and how can we, as mere individuals, choose which lives should be sacrificed, when all life is innocent and sacred? If I was to talk at length about everything I loved about The Drowned Woods, we'd be here all day, and I'd rather anyone reading this review spend their time reading this masterpiece of a book instead. What I will say, however, is that these characters completely captured my heart. I adore Mer, and how complicated she is, and her history, and her dynamic with Renfrew especially (ELJ really tugged at my heartstrings with this one). Fane was wonderful, but of course Trefor the corgi was even better (what a sweet little baby <3). And I can't not talk about Ifanna, the princess of thieves who exudes the most Chaotic Good energy. Mererid, known as Mer, is a badass water diviner or 'other-touched' and the last of her kind after everyone else with her powers was killed. She was an incredible character to follow. She is strong, lovable, willing to sacrifice everything for the safety of others, and with a horrific past that failed to wholly shatter her compassion. Oh also, she's a dog mom which is my favourite thing about her. I will love her forever just for that. She deserves the world just for that. I really love this story, friends. It contains some of my favorite characters: the last living water diviner, a fae-cursed young man, the chaotic-good heir to a thieves guild, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy. It’s one part dark fairytale and one part heist. I usually prefer a bit more romance in my books than what we got here, but honestly, I don't even care. The Drowned Woods didn't need any more romance than what it had, and everything else about it was so perfect anyways. Unfortunately I didn't have time due to university exams, but I could have very easily devoured this in one sitting. It was simply enchanting, and I was hooked from the very beginning.

I'll admit, in the beginning, it was a bit hard to delve into this story. And I found it a bit difficult to even appreciate Mer as a character. But with every chapter, she grew on me. I loved watching her transform from a woman on the run, to a woman on a mission to pull off an impossible heist, to becoming a hero who chooses the lives of others over her own.And I have to talk about the corgi!!!! He was one of the best parts of this book and was so adorable just following everyone around (not to mention he's also a spy). The plot was great and even though it is a little slow in the middle, the ending more than makes up for it. There's tension and mystery but also humour and even a cute slow-burn romance which I loved.

Full transparency, I hadn't even read The Bone Houses until this month. The reason I was so excited for The Drowned Woods was based on its synopsis alone. It sounded absolutely captivating to me. Special thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.And the character development was absolutely spot on for everyone--not only for Mer and Fane, but also for other characters such as Renfrew, Mer's secondary love interest Ifanna (yay for bisexual rep!), and even the "villain" Prince Garanhir. I say villains with quotes, because in truth, while there are cruel and merciless characters in this book, there are no stereotypical good guys or bad guys--all of the characters are varying shades of morally grey, and I absolutely loved it. I really enjoyed Mer though. She was caring, determined, and just utterly amazing. She carries a lot of guilt based on the atrocities she had a hand in when being used by the Prince, and so has a strong moral desire to do good and right. Fane was also spectacular and his arc was heartbreaking and still sweet to see unfold. The romance between the two of them is cute, adorable and very understated - this is almost the perfect type of romance for anyone. It's a great experience for readers who don't like romance in their books, as it's not the main plot or subplot. BUT it also gives us romance lovers at heart our little squeals of delight! I really liked the main character Mer and her powers (she is essentially a superpower water bender). She was smart and resourceful, fierce but also kind. She had some great dialogue and I loved the interactions she had with all the other characters. There was a great mixture of characters with different skills and personalities that created a fun group dynamic. As you get to the end, the truth behind the connection to The Bones Houses is revealed. I cannot even tell you what that moment was like, reading that reveal. The worldbuilding and history are top notch and wanted more in a good way. The magic system made me enthralled with the descriptions of how it differed for every magical capable being.

I enjoyed the short storytelling sections at the start of each part. It gave the whole book a fairytale vibe, as if we were being told the story around a campfire. It didn’t feel out of place at all, and flowed into the narrative very smoothly. i>Thank you Little Brown and Netgalley for providing me an eARC of this book in return for an honest review.

The Drowned Woods

She has spent years of the run, the prince's men forever on her heels. Just when she thinks that perhaps she will never be able to stop running, her former teacher, spymaster Renfrew, offers her the chance of a lifetime: find the Well, steal the magical items within, bring a kingdom to its knees. She would be rich enough to run somewhere that she could truly begin anew. She would finally have justice, finally be free. this was a solid 4 star read the entire book, up until i read the epilogue. it explains how this story is connected to ‘the bone houses’ and i gasped! its literally the most perfect thing, so im rounding up! Which is extremely ironic because Fane's gift is that he can kill without ever being wounded, and when he is recruited on the heist, his role is to play the muscle for hire. Mer's able to fly under the radar working as a barmaid. That is until the day her old handler, Renfrew, the Prince's ex-Spy Master, approaches her with an opportunity to bring the Prince down. I will 100% be reading more of Lloyd-Jones' work now (especially The Bone Houses); her writing style is so beautiful, and the 'fairy tale' description you've no doubt seen alongside this book is right on the money. I really hope ELJ writes more books set in this world, because I adored the worldbuilding and magic system, and would absolutely love to see more of it.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
  • EAN: 764486781913
  • Sold by: Fruugo

Delivery & Returns

Fruugo

Address: UK
All products: Visit Fruugo Shop