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!

Nobody does magical stand-alones like Emily Lloyd-Jones.

Steeped in atmospheric folklore, this is a fast paced fantasy read, featuring a corgi you will fall in love with.
This book has moody characters, slow burn romance, bisexual rep, a heist, female guild leaders, welsh mythology, a magic system that will make your spine tingle and of course, a corgi who could be a spy.

In short, I loved it, and will continue to recommend ELJ’s books to everyone.

I loved this book. It was well written with an enchanting storyline and well developed characters that engaged me the whole way through and that I fell a little bit in love with. The world building was incredible too with vivid descriptions and rich imagery, I felt like I was there. I really enjoyed it and can't wait to read more by this author.

My, my, my! What a delightful adventure!

I hadn't read a heist novel before and dare I say, I love it? This story works perfectly for me ; well-crafted world-building (even though I haven't read THE BONE HOUSES by the same author), compelling characters, elemental magic, a dog character, a complicated father/daughter relationship, a greedy king, the fair folk, and casual queerness. And a lovely side romance who kept me hoping for the two main characters. What more to ask?

My only real complaint is about the use of the word "mayhap". Too many occurences really put me off.

4,5/5, really did the job!