Mer, sold by her family at a young age has a coveted gift and Prince Garanhir takes an interest in her for ill gains. Trained by a spymaster, Renfrew, she escapes and so does he....and they team up for a heist with some company including Fane and the lovely Trefor.

The characters were likable but Fane was the one I connected to but him and Mer were alike in many ways.

Mer - 'The nobility called such people diviners.'

Renfrew - 'He was whisper and steel, poison and shadow.'

Fane - 'Fane was death itself.'

I really enjoyed this story full of Welsh folklore and I ached to read more about it and searched up some terms!

The writing was utterly beautiful, there was lots of action, drama and a few bombshells dropped!

The end made my heart sing a little. Overall a brilliant standalone!

The drowend woods is my first book by this author and I was very curious what to expect. The blurb grabbed my attention straight away and I love the cover. It fits the plot very well. The writing style is very easy to read. Very detailed, exciting and also emotional. I dived straight into the story and within two days I had already finished it. Reading the book was an up and down. It starts very exciting, then it calms down a bit and the more the plot progresses, the more exciting it gets again.

There were many different characters that at first glance don’t complement each other at all, but the closer you look, the more you realize that the characters are perfectly chosen. From page one I admired Mer for her strength and backbone. She doesn’t give up, whether she’s been betrayed or used. These things will only make her stronger. I really liked the dynamic of the whole group. I was just expecting an exciting fantasy story. But the book was so much more. Betrayal, tension, love, family and one big heist.

I really enjoyed reading it and would recommend this book to any fantasy reader. You will not be disappointed.

Emily Lloyd-Jones weaves a dramatic landscape full of stunning Welsh mythology and folklore. Mer, Renfrew, and their unlikely companions (corgi included) are a colourful band of misfits, each with nuanced and well-rounded characters. There is no perfect hero or villain in this story, instead, Lloyd-Jones dances along the greys threads of morality as they work to understand themselves and each other.

The landscape is vivid, bright. It is easy to picture the world that Lloyd-Jones has created and how the characters move through it. The story itself is compelling and well-paced.

I recommend this book to any fantasy fans, especially those who love Celtic folklore.

The Drowned Woods follows Mer, the last water diviner, as she's offered the chance to bring down the prince who abused her. With the Prince's former spymaster, a fae-cursed young man, the lady of thieves, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy, she goes on a journey to find the magical well that keeps the prince’s lands safe and destroy it.

The Welsh mythology intwined with an amazing plot and lovable characters made for such an enjoyable read! It was fast paced with a slow burn romance that was perfect. Each of the characters had their own motivations and struggled with trust which led to some amazing twists!

Mer was a great protagonist (I loved her magic and backstory!) but Trefor the corgi stole the show for me. I didn't realise how badly I wanted more dog characters until this book. I highly recommend it if you're looking for an enchanting standalone full of Welsh mythology!

The cover, title and premise were all stunning - however it didn't quite live up to its full potential for me.

The prologue gave this an incredibly strong start with a beautiful style of prose and gave a glimpse into different types of magic. I also love third person POV as it's a personal favourite of mine so that definitely scored high with me, particularly combined with a heist plot and Welsh lore which always sits well with me.

However after the prologue I found it began to dip. Books can generally lean on being more character or plot driven, however I found this novel didn't really head strongly in either direction. The characters weren't as fleshed out as I would have hoped, and I think if their names weren't included in the POVs then I would have struggled to tell who was narrating - potentially it would have been better for it to be a single POV for Mer as the suspense and drama felt diluted. It felt weird that my favourite character was a dog.

I also found the resolution at the end of the book a bit underwhelming and almost a bit too easy with all of the loose ends tied up. It felt quite rushed and I didn't really feel any proper pay off. I really wish the magic was explored some more as even the creatures we meet later in the novel didn't get enough of a look in.

Overall, this novel had a promising beginning however I felt it lost its thread approximately 40% through the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for receiving an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this! Amazingly written and kept me reading even when I had to stop I wanted to read more !! Can’t wait to read more from this author !!

This book made me order the author's previous novel set in the same world, which should already tell you that this is going to be a positive review.
I haven't read anything from Lloyd-Jones before and admittedly didn't know of her existence before stumbling over "The Drowned Woods", immediately enchanted by the promises of it's description. A fantasy set in olden times Wales, inspired by a "Welsh Atlantis"? Count me in!

The world is fascinating, steeped in Welsh mythology. The writing is beautiful and there is an atmosphere throughout the whole book that draws you right in. It's a darker approach to ya fantasy that I quite enjoyed. The world, the mythology and the beautiful prose are what made me order that previous novel. It's really where this book shines.
Now, the characters are definitely lovely too, though I did find some of them rather flat or recognized their type of character from many other ya books, which kept me from feeling all too invested in them. I enjoyed Mer as the primary protagonist and loved her tragic backstory, and I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED her complex relationship with Renfrew. It was honestly the one relationship I was really invested in - I am, admittedly, a sucker for complicated father-daughter-stories. Fane is another protagonist with his own pov, and I really enjoyed his backstory too. I also liked that he wasn't described as yet another incredibly handsome perfect dream boy. He's rugged, he's scarred, he's flawed. Obviously he must also be a giant because apparently giant boys are The Big Trend in ya literature right now, but I do like giant boys so I'm not complaining. The third pov belongs to Ifanna, the lady of thieves who should have been my favourite character because she's just my type, but alas, she doesn't really have a lot of actual content in the book.
There is a bit of a romance, but I'm honestly glad that this was just a verrrrry minor part of this story (and I was honestly a bit more interested in the side romance).
The side characters are honestly just kind of there. I couldn't tell you much about them beyond their on page motivation and like, one character trait maybe if at all. They're forgettable. Well, all of them but the bestest of best boys Trefor of course. I'd honestly read a book just telling me stories about Trefor's travels and I would enjoy absolutely every single second of it. He's the best and the most important.

The plot is a little slow-paced in the middle part of the book, but the epic ending and the general atmosphere of the setting make up for it. Considering I did read that Welsh Atlantis note beforehand I was kind of guessing at what was going to happen, but it still happens in such an intriguing, exciting way that I fully enjoyed it.

All in all, this is a really fun, atmospheric read with beautiful prose, set in a fascinating mythological world. The characters aren't very memorable, the side characters especially forgettable, and there are some pacing issues but it's still absolutely a 4 star read for me.

Following a young woman who has power over water, The Drowned Woods is a mixture of Welsh mythology and a heist story with a twist, and I really enjoyed reading this. The story starts off with a beautiful prologue, that really reads like a fairytale, before diving into the heist story, with a band of characters aiming to take down a cruel prince. I really loved the Welsh mythology woven into the plot, especially reading about the twylyth teg. You've also got the most adorable companion in the form of Trefor the corgi, who honestly is one of the best parts of the story. Sadly, the human characters fell a bit flat for me; there were some parts to them that I really liked, but I felt they could have just done with a bit more character development. The middle of the book does drag slightly, but when you get to the peak of the heist and from there on, the story does pick back up and I really enjoyed the ending, especially the epilogue, as it was written in the same fairytale style as the prologue. I kind of wish that the whole book had been written in that style throughout, but that might have made it confusing; however, the author's writing is really beautiful in the prologue and epilogue that I would love to read a whole book in that style of prose.

A beautifully written book. Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read

TW: mention of drowning, blood, death, violence, burning of homes, poisoning

REP: f/f romance, queer MC (not defined sexuality but has dated women and men)

Where do I even start with my review. I’m not sure I know how to put into words my thoughts around this book. I finished this book two hours into a eurostar journey back to the UK and valiantly tried not to cry for the remainder ~20% of this book.

I loved The Bone Houses and as soon as I saw Emily had another book coming I knew I needed to read it. I am so glad I did. The world, the characters, the plot - all divine. I am obsessed with Mer and Fane. They are precious to me and I adore them.

I just have no words. The pacing of this book was excellent from start to finish; it never felt slow or rushed and I settled into the world easily and with no confusion. What I loved about this book and what I loved about The Bone Houses is that it’s the characters that really matter. There is plot and there is world but the characters are so at the heart of the writing and it just seeps through the pages.

Also - there is a dog. A delightful and adorable dog who anyone would want as a companion. Spoiler alert: the dog survives.

Loved everything about this book, the characters, the adventure, the magic, the writing and especially how fast paced it was. It was so well written I was hooked from the start and couldn’t stop reading it until I had finished. The ending was beyond beautiful and finished the book in such a way I think it will stay with me for a while. Also…loved Trefor the dog <3

I really enjoyed this sci fi book, it is completely engaging and highly enjoyable. It is full of Welsh fairytales and lore, and it also contains part heist too. It's a great book, with great characters and a great storyline.

In this book we meet Mererid or Mer to her friends. Who is the last living water diviner, she has mad magic skills and can manipulate the water a really awesome unique power which people would kill to possess.

But not everything is amazing with her power and Mer has been on the run for years trying to hide and outrun the prince who forced her to kill thousands of people with her magic. But all Mer wants is a safe, quiet, happy life, as far away from the kingdom, power and politics.

But then Mers old friend who is also the king's spymaster, finds Mer and begs her to return, giving her a proposition that is too hard to pass up. Use your skills to bring down the prince who abused them both.

Will Mer return and help the kingdom find happiness and safety and rid it of the awful prince?

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.

"The farmer had four ordinary children, which is why the magic of the fifth came as a surprise."

Mer is the last living water diviner and when she is approached by her old mentor, the two go about assembling a motley crew to find a magical well, steal its treasures and topple the kingdom. If they happen to get revenge against the prince who abused them both, then hey, that's a fortunate bonus.

The plot seems simple enough: find well, take treasure, leave well, but we all know things don't always work out for heroes and so the last 20% of this book was jam-packed with plot twist and jaw-on-floor moments that had me hooked and itching to see what would happen next.

On that note, the pacing is expertly executed, too; nice and fast to build tension in all the action scenes, slowing down to take a breath and move through more intimate moments. The characters felt well developed and although Emily doesn't spend a lot of time on world-building, it feels beautifully fleshed out. I especially liked how the view was at one point described not as lush, but more rugged, which really felt unique from the sort of settings we usually see in fantasy books.

I also loved that The Drowned Woods was inspired by a Welsh myth about a magical well that kept the sea at bay and a now sunken kingdom, because that really added to the mythical atmosphere of this book. And then, of course, there's also the fact that this is part fairy tale, part heist, which is probably my favourite combination.

If this book was longer, I would've happily read along and it might actually have given the characters time for more interaction, but that's only a note of mine because I was greedy for more. I would happily put this alongside something like Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson or Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo; which is to say, I adored everything about this book and would definitely recommend it.

This book delivers exactly what it promises - a Welsh folklore-inspired heist with magic and slowburn romance.

Mer was born other-touched: she can control water. Because of her gift, she was taken from her father at eight years old and raised by Renfrew, spymaster to the Prince of Gwaelog. But she was made to do terrible things and fought to escape the shackles of the prince. Then Renfrew appears in her life again, with an outrageous plan - he wants to take down the Prince by targeting the magic that protects the city. But to do that, he needs Mer’s talents.

Joined by a merry gang, including a man who traded seven years of service for an other-touched ability to kill, a scholar of faerie magic, a thief, a hired hand and a corgi, they set out to take down the Prince.

It is fast-paced and high-stakes, but the character development is just as strong as the plot. And the TWISTS. I’m actually struggling to articulate everything I loved about this book because all of it was SO GOOD. I finished it and stared into space for five minutes because I had Feelings. I can’t recommend it enough - it’s a new favourite.

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of "The Drowned Woods" by Emily Lloyd-Jones.

I am Welsh so reading a retelling about a Welsh myth was so exciting to me. And this read didn't disappoint. You could tell Lloyd-Jones did her research and the story was spectacular. Lloyd-Jones didn't overwhelm non-welsh people with Welsh but also included parts of Welsh culture that fitted perfectly with the English narrative.

Overall, this read was absolutely amazing and Emily Lloyd-Jones has immediately become a new favourite of mine.

I first got a glimpse of this book on netgalley and after receiving the arc I was excited to read it. I’ve read Emily’s previous book The Bone Houses and that was absolutely bewitching so I had high hopes for The Drowned Woods.

The prologue pulled me in, I found myself hooked and eager to learn more about what was going on and to try to make sense of things. The book was full of detail all the way through to the end but I did wonder in places if perhaps it might be confusing for other readers.

The premise behind the book is fascinating who doesn’t like heists and myths? Overall it was a good read, Emily has a nice writing style and although I didn’t enjoy this quite so much as TBH I still found myself content after reading it.

It’s definitely worth a read.

4/5 rating. A slow burn romance mixed with fantasy is always a win in my books. It’s pretty unique to use Welsh mythology as the inspiration and have a unique magic system. Would recommend!

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Based on Welsh mythology, the Drowned Woods follows Mer, a water diviner — think avatar the last airbender— as she is pulled back into a world she thought she had escaped when her old spymaster calls on her for one last job. Together they build an unlikely crew to steal ancient treasure and bring a tyrannical prince to his knees.

Allof the main characters are likeable. Mer, the last water diviner and Fane a fae cursed young man are the real heart of the novel. Their shift from cautious allies to tentative friendship was one of the elements that first caught my attention. As with all good heist plotlines there are a very solid collection of background characters, especially Ifanna heir to the thieves guild and Trefor corgi and possible fae spy. I will no longer be accepting fantasy heists without corgis.

There is romance here, though it is far from being the central to the plot. (also in my opinion, it went in the wrong direction… I’m a sucker for a reconciliation). The focus was much more on more platonic relationships, and power and responsibility.

The writing style was engaging and clear. I particularly liked the 'fairytale' style of the prologue and some of the transition chapters. It helped to tie in the mythology elements to the story, and tie this reimagining into the original Welsh mythology.

I find stand alone fantasy novels incredibly hit or miss. It can be so difficult to cram all of the world building and plot development as well as creating strong emotional ties to the characters. Generally this one was a hit. The writing style and pacing are generally good, especially for the first half, though the climax seemed to drag, and somehow also was rushed. The world building was well done, and I LOVED the welsh setting, this alone makes the book worth a read in my opinion. The bit I felt was most lacking was the emotional connection to the characters, I liked them all but I didn’t feel when they did. The focus was much more on the plot development.

If you are looking for a plot driven standalone fantasy I absolutely recommend this, and I will be reading more of Emily Lloyd Jones’ work!

The Drowned Woods

Thank you Net Galley for this ARC!

** Welcome to the City of Caer Wyddno **

Beautiful lyrical fairytale prose with an opening that gripped me tightly and did not let me go until the very end.

Mererid - I love you!!

Mer’s diviner power was so fun to read. Every obstacle she encountered forced her to use her magic in a new and exciting way. The magic system as a whole makes perfect sense and is versatile enough to be different depending on each time it is used and whoever is using it.

The dialogue was excellent - the perfect balance between sounding natural but still effectively revealing information about the plot. The detailed imagery made the world feel so REAL. So many little details that truly transported me to the city.

It can be hard to stand out in fantasy, but despite incorporating a familiar fantasy trope - the heist - Lloyd-Jones’ story was original, witty and well-written. This is really up there with the greats. Emily Lloyd-Jones is extremely talented and a brilliant writer.

The Gaelic was beautifully interwoven, and even though some of the names were very foreign to me, I was able to read this effortlessly. I liked how the mythology was explored, at times humorous, but very informative.

The relationship between the main characters - Mer, Renfrew, Fane, Gryf, Emrik - was so fun to read! I loved the banter and the camaraderie.

Every fantasy lover should read this book!