I enjoyed The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones for the most part, but I did want more. I tend to assume fantasy will be a series, but this is a stand-alone. Even so, I don't think there was quite enough. I didn't want flashbacks of before Mer escaped being the Prince's water diviner, I wanted to actually be there and see it. And I felt the same for when Fane was a fetch for the Otherfolk.

It's not just because it's a stand-alone, it just didn't feel like there was much to this story. And I really liked the characters, the worldbuilding, the glimpse of politics we saw. I just wanted so much more from it. If it had to be a stand-alone, it should have been much longer.

I loved learning about Mer and Ifanna, though I would have liked to have seen more of it - again. I didn't quite see the romance between Mer and Fane though. I was kind of surprised by it; there wasn't much in the way of chemistry or flirting, or really any kind of indication that they were actually into each other. I assumed they would be friends, and it would be a story without romance. So it was quite a shock when that's the route it took. It really wasn't developed enough.

I did enjoy this story, I just wanted more from it.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton for the eProof.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features blood, vomit, corpses and skeletons, violence against women, and torture.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read this fantastic book.

I really enjoyed reading this book, especially the last few chapters. The ending was so beautiful and made my heart full.
I really liked the heist part of the book, it was fast paced and with really interesting plot twist happening at the end.
I loved all the characters and I will forever hold Mer, Fane, Ifanna and especially Trefor in my heart.
Although I think some part of the plot were a little predictable, I really liked the Welsh legends aspect.
Now that I know that The Bone Houses is set in the same world I really want to pick it up read it.

Just pointing out The Bone Houses is also set in this world which I think definitely adds to this! I enjoyed this one more than I originally thought, it kept the world building to a minimum which is great when the other book is out in the world, it allowed it to be a little more fast paced for me. I liked the secondary plot of the romance running through; that was lovely and for it to not be the main point of the book was great. I just think this has everything I wanted, magic, mystery and of course a heist! Really liked this one. Also stunning cover!

This book seemed to be an attempt at becoming the next Six of Crows, but sadly did not reach that same high. The set up of the story was good, but the characters were not interesting nor very likeable. The middle of the book was very slow due to the lack of interesting characters, but the plot did pick up near the end. All in all it was not a terrible book, but it also was not very memerable.

Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, but tragedy grounded his dreams. Now the dust has settled, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home.

Now I’ve not read anything by Emily Lloyd-Jones before, but The Drowned Woods was perfection. It made me want to read her other book. The Bone Houses because I believe it links to it in the epilogue? But you definitely don’t need to have read that to love this one!

‘Rain never touched the girl. She could stand in a thunderstorm and remain utterly dry.’

The setting and magic system in The Drowned Woods was so interesting and I love that it drew on Welsh legends. This book is for those who love found family and heists, along with a pinch of subtle romance. I’m someone who struggles to read something without a romance plotline and trust me, although this romance was a subplot, it was worth rooting for.

‘”Finished staring?”
“I could stare longer, if that pleases you?”‘

Mer is the last living water diviner and is on the run from the prince. Years ago, she was forced into his service, to do his bidding, and use her power to kill thousands for him. Renfrew, her old handler, finds her and asks her to do one last task: use her powers to bring the prince down. Mer is such a strong character, and I loved finding out more about herself and her powers throughout the book. Renfrew proposes they steal an old magical artefact that helps the prince keep control over the kingdom. To be successful, they need a team. Enter: Fane. I adore Fane and his adorable corgi, who Mer immediately loved. Aside from these two being dog parents, Mer and Fane had many cute moments over the course of this book.

‘But in his heart of hearts, Fane did not choose the city. He did not choose a kingdom. He chose her.’

The characters had so many layers to them, and I loved Mer’s ex-girlfriend, Ifanna. I wasn’t a fan to begin with, but quickly warmed up to her. The Drowned Woods was full of folklore, and I could picture each scene almost perfectly. The world-building pulled me in and I’m kind of disappointed this was a standalone, as I would love to read more about these characters.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to Hodder&Stoughton and NetGalley for an e-arc of this book.

This was a quick and easy read that left me wanting more.

I liked the book, but I did want more, more worldbuilding, more characterisation. Perhaps this could have benefited from a longer word count to allow for this.

I would still recommend this, I especially liked the Welsh myth aspect.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the early access!

It was enchanting, folkolore-esque, full of wonderful, interesting characters.

It's a book that will lift you out of a slump, you'll be hooked!

Wishing to introduce myself to more fantasy and folklore reading I couldn't have wished for a better book to come along when it did! Whilst I found the story a little slow to get off to a start, the character development made up for this. I loved Mer and Fane and the corgi!!!? I'd have possibly preferred it to be written from the perspective of any one character rather than in third person (maybe this would have made it feel less slow for me as I'd have gotten more attached to it...I'm not sure), but it didn't make it feel any less magical for me.

The plotline was brilliant and I've seen reviews that it was predictable but I disagree (maybe this is my inexperience of this genre). The descriptive writing immersed me in the world clearly intended by Lloyd-Jones and I thoroughly enjoyed it, finding it easy and enjoyable to read. My favourite part of it all was the fact that it was based on Welsh lore, and the passion for LLOYD-Jones heritage came through in their writing. Loved it!

This was not good, and not even in an interesting way. The characters were bland and forgettable, the romance was half baked, and the plot was mostly setup for a payoff that fell flat.

Two stars for the corgi.

A compelling and engrossing story with an interesting cast of characters and a gripping plot.
I loved the storytelling and the world building.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I was initially interested in this one for it's Welsh mythology, but I really didn't expect it to captivate me as much as it did. I was thoroughly engrossed.

What I adored:
- These characters have so many layers, there's no way you could say they were two-dimensional. All flawed, loveable and un-loveable in their own ways. So brilliantly imagined you almost don't realise that this is primarily a plot driven story rather than character.
- Myth, Legend, Folklore; the callbacks to welsh history and legend is wonderfully written and easy to take in. At no point did I feel overwhelmed with information, everything felt effortlessly woven into the narrative.
- What's that? Another ragtag group of people brought together for a heist to achieve a common goal? TAKE MY MONEY.
- There's a corgi.
- The subtlety of the romance. I think some YA can be a bit heavy handed in the portrayal of romance at times but this felt understated and just right.
- The ending. I cant say more than that.

Read if you love
- Found Family
- A Heist!
- Folklore
- WALES

I requested this book because of the Welsh magic and heist plot mentioned in the summary. The components of a fun read were there - a heist with a gang of varied characters is one of my favorite tropes. Unfortunately, this book fell short for me in almost every aspect, and I think that is mainly down to length - well, brevity. It was an ambitious plot set in a complex magic system, and nothing was given proper page time, including characters & their backstories. This resulted in everything feeling half-baked, from the unexplored Welsh lore, to the plot that quickly abandoned what the blurb promised, to more than one flat, unconvincing romance thrown onto the page.

The Otherfolk were not explored enough for my taste - Fane's magic in particular had me very confused, and this was important because the plot tension really hinged on whether he could only deal his death magic to seven people total, or unlimited people until his specific seven were killed. I did not buy a single sentence of either romance shoehorned in, either. The Welsh inclusions, from names to food nouns and beyond, were neat, but after a while I felt worn down by the compulsion to keep stopping and google pronunciations and definitions. It made for uneven reading and I think an audiobook of this would be a bit better. A specific tidbit of Welsh folklore shows up near the end, and at first I thought 'that's a neat easter egg', and then it devolved into a bit of deus ex machina action. Every cool aspect became too much or not enough.

Something that was genuinely well-done was scene setting and atmospheric description. I noticed this in Llloyd-Jones' other Welsh lore novel, the Bone Houses, a really cool vibe to her worlds that I can only describe as...goblincore. Super awesome, Black Cauldron vibes. The forests were creepy, the descriptions of the cities, as places full of bustle and iron and therefore 'not places for magic', were great. There's some imagery near the end of Mer against the waves, and it was a super cool, cinematic picture in my mind.

In the end, I am pretty torn on rating this book. I think The Drowned Woods would be a good story on audiobook, and not something to take as seriously as it takes itself at times. It has ethereal, fairytale aspects that were neat to read, a cute corgi following our characters around, and tons of Welsh vocabulary. But it also has romance that wasn't worth the page space it took up, almost too much Welsh vocab so you might want google at hand, characters that we hardly got to know, and lots of aspects that felt not fully cooked, especially as it was a short read.

The Drowned Woods is set in the same world as Emily Lloyd-Jones’ previous novel The Bone Houses, and from what I’ve seen briefly from reviews how this novel ends does tie in with something in that novel. That is as far as the links and similarities go and The Drowned Woods storyline and characters are completely different, so if you’ve not read The Bone Houses (like me) you’re not going to be missing anything. I like the idea that you can read either first and no matter which one you read first you’ll still get that “oh!” moment when both stories connect.

I fell completely in love with Lloyd-Jones’ story-telling and her characters immediately. There is so much depth to her characters and this isn’t just another heist book; it’s as much about the people as it is their plot. Each one had a unique backstory which tied into the wonderful world building that Lloyd-Jones has created using Welsh mythology. Throw in an adorable corgi who may or may not be a spy for the fae and everything about The Drowned Woods was a huge win for me. This is definitely one to check out, and I hope that Lloyd-Jones continues to write more in this universe as it’s got a lot of potential!

This was such a beautiful book, really really enjoyed it. So well written, gripping and intense. Would definitely recommend.

I came for the heist and the Welsh folktales, but I stayed for the Corgi. That's it, full stop. Trefor has my whole heart. His little sneezes stole my breathe....I could go on!!!

Many thanks to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author, for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows Mer, a water diviner, who was in the service of the prince of the land who is now on the run and a refugee. She is tracked down by her mentor who wants her to join him in one last heist before going into hiding again. Mer who unknowingly became a villain leading to the death of hundreds of people at the hands of the prince, sees this as her redeeming arc to make it up to her kingdom as this heist will result in bringing down the tyrant of a prince who branded her a criminal to the people for life. Mer and her mentor Renfrew assembles a crazy crew consisting of a body guard able to do fairy magic who is on his own mission, a historian, a miner, a thief (the princess of thieves might I add, who has a past with Mer) and one cute ass Corgi, Did I say it enough....A corgi...who can sniff magic...called Trefor. As they navigate the streams of betrayal, loyalty, love, hate, war, magic, trauma and earth shattering calamity, Mer might find solace after all.

This book did hold my attention from the very beginning, but kind of lost me somewhere along the middle. But when sh*t began to go down, I am not ashamed to say, I was worried only about Trefor, my immortal good boi! The prose is beautiful and I adored the descriptions, yet it felt too stretched for my liking. The book promises folktales, a heist, found family, betrayal, and welsh folktales. It does keep some of the promises. The twists at the end was good enough for me not to regret keeping on reading the book.

I really enjoyed this book! I like how it was inspired by Welsh mythology, and the magic system was really well-written. Even though some plots might have been complicated, the author did an amazing job of explaining it, and not once in this book did I feel any confusion. The idea of diviners was really well executed, and I loved the mentions of otherfolk and other legendary creatures.

Mer was a fantastic main character, brilliantly toeing the line between a kind spirit and a survivor. She did what she had to do to survive, even killing, but she still managed to be kind. Fane is the definition of a mysterious, troubled man, and I was never sure where his loyalties lied. I absolutely loved exploring his past, and I loved seeing the little details that made his and Mer relation progress throughout the book.

However, my absolute favourite thing was that the characters were accompanied by a corgi dog throughout the entire book and heist. THAT’S SUCH A POWER MOVE AND I LOVE IT OKAY 🥺❤️

A great adventure: magic, a quest/heist, a main character both hunted for, and wanted for her power, twists, turns, all rooted in Welsh mythology and folklore - loved it!

I have not read any of Emily Lloyd-Jones' books before, but I will definitely look out for more now.
This is one of my favourite books of the year, I was so pleased that this lives up to it's beautiful cover, after reading an e-arc of this (thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton), I bought the hardback edition, and smile to see it on my shelves.

It was nice to read a standalone novel, I think this might take place in a world seen in other books, but I did not notice any references to any other works, so my reading experience was not hindered at all by not being familiar with Emily's previous works. I don't know if any of the characters' stories will be told further in future work, but this does not deliberately set up a sequel, it is a complete story in itself.

The main character, Mer, is a water diviner, she can manipulate water with magic, and she is living in hiding from a cruel prince who hunts her for her power, wanting to use her to dominate neighbouring kingdoms. But her running days are limited, she is branded, and there are only so many places she can run, so when her old spymaster comes to her proposing that they bring down the prince that they both once served, she feels she cannot refuse. What follows is a fast-paced heist, a journey filled with traps - both magical and the pitfalls that come with trusting the wrong people.

I really loved all of the characters in this story, though, like the legends and folk tales they are based on, the story, rather than character building, is the main focus here. Sometimes it was frustrating that, despite all that Mer had been through, she had not seemed to learn from previous mistakes, she sometimes seemed younger than I think her age really was (though I can't remember exactly how old that is right now), but as the story moved along so quickly, I did not really dwell on that and enjoyed the story for what it was.

Having grown up with the stories of Alan Garner, like the Owl Service, that were also based on Welsh myth and legend, this felt like nostalgic familiar territory, but with more current values, including some LGBTQ rep, (a small element of lesbian/bi romance which, for me, fit really naturally into the story, and was an important part of the character's growth and motivation, so didn't just feel like a token mention).

The element of romance towards the end was a light touch, so much so that I'm not sure it was really necessary, but it was nice that it didn't define the story, or the decisions made at the climax of the adventure. As the romance is not a main focus, and is just a hint, this would also suit advanced Middle Grade readers and would be a great transition book from Middle Grade to YA.

What a cracking story. This book was based on Welsh mythology and now I really want to read more books like this one. I loved the storyline. Great character all with interesting back storys that kept me hooked. Story flowed really well. Didn't want to put it down. This is my first book by this author and I really want to read The Bone House's next. Highly recommended for any fantasy lover

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I absolutely adored this book. It gave me a lot of Six of Crows vibes, which is one of my favourite duologys, and found family and heists are two of my favourite tropes. All the characters were well-developed and the plot was compelling with a few twists and turns along the way. I've now got to go back and read the author's last book to see where they tie in!