Such an addictive and lighthearted read. I binged this in one sitting!

I absolutely loved the characters, they were so well written and I was so invested in Mers journey from start to finish.

Would recommend to all fantasy lovers

I really enjoyed this Welsh-inspired story of a heist with a motley crew of characters trying to undermine a corrupt ruler in a fantastical world where the fae provide a mysterious dimension as well with their powerful but removed influence.

Mererid is an eighteen year old runaway from the service of her prince. But when I say service, I mean slavery. Taken from her home at a tender eight years old, Mer was raised and trained by the prince’s spymaster, for her water divining skills. Able to find and manipulate water, Mer is a dangerous and powerful asset to have and control. Which the prince did.
The story starts two years after Mer fled her enslavement, and she’s working in a tavern, trying to keep a low profile - made difficult by the brand beneath her eye, which marks her as one of the Prince’s own. But the arrival of her old mentor/father figure gives her the opportunity to take revenge on the man who wielded her as a weapon - even if that does mean confronting her ex. On the plus side, though, it does also mean she gets to meet a Corgi who may or may not be a spy for the fae.
I enjoyed this book, and read it over the course of two days - although I did spend several hours on a plane that day, which probably increased my reading time. I found it a bit hard to really connect with the characters at times - there were a lot of moving parts, and back story that made it feel a little like jumping in midway through the story.
Thoroughly enjoyed this overall, though, and will seek out The Bone Houses, which is set in the same world.

BOOK REVIEW: The Drowned Woods by @em_llojo

4 Stars

I didn't know what to expect from this book as it was my first read by this author. I will definitely now be reading her linked book The Bone Houses as this book was such a great read!

The Drowned Woods is a story about Mer, a young woman with rare water magic. As a young girl she is stolen from her home and taken to the prince where she grows up in the castle and is made to use her magic for his needs. She escapes and finds herself recruited for a heist with some interesting characters.
The story is so much fun with magic, an adventure, lots of action and a corgi who may or may not be a spy! It was gripping and enjoyable and I loved the characters. There is a very slow growing romance which I loved as well!
Mer is so incredibly brave. I love a strong female lead and she definitely brought that to this book. She has had a tough life but never gives up. She also has a great sense of humour which I loved. The side characters were also brilliant, I won't go into them as I don't want to give anything away but they all played such important roles. Also I love an animal companion in books and so the corgi was a wonderful addition!
The writing was fantastic and I felt really connected to the characters and story. There were a few moments when it got a little slow/boring but that was rare but has meant I cannot rate over 4 stars.

Overall a thoroughly interesting and magical story that I really recommend to fantasy lovers. Such a fun read and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Please note that I was #gifted this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I hate the way this was written. The story doesn’t flow at all and it’s full of ramblings and it’s mostly all being told, not shown. If occurrences in the past are that important that they need to be retold while the ‘present’ story is happening, then just create a prologue or simply write a chapter about each character in the past (since it seems like that’s what the author is going for anyway).

I didn’t expect much going in and I’m sad to say I had to DNF at 16%. Not worth the time.

Thank you for NetGalley for providing me with this ARC.

Fantasy! Fantasy and more fantasy!
Girl saving the day and the world. It was perfect to read and even more perfect to read again 💗
I've said it before and I'll say it again, " Who run the world?"
The story, the setting, the romance all woven together in a beautiful story.
I highly recommend this and it should totally be on everyone 's summer TBR

4.5 stars

this didn’t seem like my scene but i actually really enjoyed it. the writing was so easy to read and i was never bored. loved the characters and the story!!

i received the arc from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, as someone whose dad is Welsh and who spent part of her summers on Anglesey, I adore that The Drowned Woods includes welsh mythology - although I do feel a little sorry for the non-Welsh speakers attempting to decipher some of the names, Welsh is not a language that works with Germanic rules, sorry folks!

The story got off to slow start, but I adored the unravelling tale of a young girl and her strange hidden magic. Mer is our main character - a water diviner given up to the charge of the King’s spy master, and raised to be a weapon who won’t ask too many questions. Clearly, that upbringing didn’t take too well, or we wouldn’t have much of a story!

The characters are fully fledged, complex, and imperfect - except Trefor, the corgi, who is wonderful in every way. The story was intriguing and had some delightful twists and turns. The ending was everything I could have hoped for.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Drowned Woods and am very pleased to have a special edition winging its way to me. If you like Welsh inspired fantasy with morally grey characters, this one’s for you!

An Atlantis-esque Welsh-legend inspired  retelling with magic, thieves and a heist? Yes please!

<i> "It was that day the girl learned that water could save a life- or take it."</i>

Mer is a powerful water diviner. Taken as a child and raised in the Princes household, he uses her powers for his own gain until she eventually escapes. Living on the run all Mer longs for is freedom. When the Princes ex-spymaster tracks her down and offers her a shot at the one thing she longs for, they team up to take down the man whose ruled their lives.
 I thought this was a fab story. I really enjoyed the mini- story teller like insight we got to each of the main protagonists, setting up  bit of their backgrounds and legends before we got their first POV chapters. I felt these really added to the depth of the story and I enjoyed how they made the story flow.

<i> "Mer was a woman born with magic. And he was a man who had traded seven years of his life for it. Perhaps between the two of them, they could do the impossible." </i>
I thought the magic system and the idea of some humans being "other-touched" was a really interesting concept, and love how ELJ wove this into a beautiful story steeped in Welsh legends and world building. 
I loved the beginning and the end, but found it did slow down and plateau slightly in the middle. I would honestly say the saving grace was the narrator- I absolutely adored the accents and personality she instilled into each character and found myself unable to stop listening.

I enjoyed the plot and characters and found this a fun YA fantasy. I've never read anything by this author before but this has definitely made me want to try out more books by her! Personally, I would have like a tad more romance, but I understand this was not the focus of the book. Kudos for the LGBTQ+ rep though 👌

***thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ecopy of this book in exchange for and honest review ***

Loved the mix of fantasy with real-life places, and the dystopian vibes of this book. I didn't connect too well with the characters, but the plot really made up for that for me.

I’ve always been drawn to Welsh mythology. It’s something about the way the stories circles around the mysteries of nature which always manages to draw me in. So when I heard about The Drowned Woods as an upcoming new fantasy book with Welsh influences, I knew I had to read it.

The Drowned Woods both was and was not what I expected it to be. It is an amazing story which draws you in immediately, told in this lyrical and outright beautiful way. This book isn’t written in what I would call the typical young adult fantasy kind of way. The writing feels a bit more like that you’d find in an adult high fantasy novel which was quite refreshing. While there is in fact a romance subplot, it is by no means the most important part of this book. It heightens the main plot in my opinion without taking over.

You know the feeling of taking a dive into a cold, crystal clear lake (or the ocean for that matter) on a hot summer night? The way the water seems to wash all your problems away and when you break the surface, there’s nothing but this feeling of calm and silence. That’s what reading this book pretty much felt like. Cool and calming although it definitely doesn’t lack in action.

The Drowned Woods is such an unique gem of a book and if you decide to read it (which you should!), I hope you enjoy it just as much as I did.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳 & 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘈𝘳𝘤 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an E-ARC of this amazing book!
Mererid 'Mer' (I love that name!) has finally escaped the clutches of the prince who used her water divining powers for ill purposes, and she now lives on the run, always looking over her shoulder. But one day, her old handler finds her and instead of returning her to the prince, as she fears, he tells her of a plan he has to take down the prince once and for all.
I loved the motley crew of characters brought in to complete the quest , especially the corgi who may or may not be a spy! I loved that Mer never loses her suspicions about people and never lets her guard down but stays true to her character throughout the story. The twist in the end was a nice shock for me as I never saw that coming! I kinda wish there was a sequel as I'd like to see more from these characters. Maybe a spin-off about the adventures Mer had with Ifanna? I'd read that!

Emily Lloyd-Jones honestly can't do any wrong in my eyes.

This was a quick, enjoyable read with lots of twists and turns. It kept me engaged and wanting more.

Definitely an autobuy author for me

This was a fairytale esque Welsh folk story with some interesting ideas and a corgi sidekick named Trevor.

It’s essentially a heist book with some other elements thrown in, such as Mer (the main character) is a water diviner and essentially has water manipulation powers. When you think of how many things in the world have water in them you realise how powerful this can make her.

They assemble a group to go on this quest and none of them really trust each other so it’s a classic game of ‘guess who will betray who’.

The pacing of the story was ok and the action scenes were well written but I would have liked more character development for the side characters to really understand their motives.

Overall, it was a fun read that had me interested throughout, and where the story ended wasn’t quite where I had guessed it was going!

Thanks to Little Brown and Netgalley for the ARC, thoughts are my own.

Thankyou to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book. Emily Lloyd-Jones is an author where i will buy anything that she releases and her latest installment did not disappoint. i loved the characters, the plot was unexpected but i liked all the twists and turns and the way that everything was wrapped up.

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones is a Welsh-inspired, mythology-based YA fantasy. It tells a heist story as a framing device to retell a part of Welsh mythology that gives an origin story to the landscape – which is absolute catnip to me, having studied similar narratives in my past life as an academic. I devoured this fantasy, and found much to love. Mer, the main character, is openly bisexual – there is a femme ex love interest and a masc current love interest on page – and it is simply accepted in this medieval-ish society. Such heart-eyes, such love from my side. It isn’t the type of highly researched fantasy like Spear, this is more on the lighthearted and entertaining side, but it is exactly what I needed this weekend. The characters were great – Mer, Ifanna, the thief who betrayed her in the past, Mer’s mentor who she was never quite sure how she felt towards him and Fane, the love interest with fae connections. A great YA.

“Those without choices are often willing to risk themselves for the chance of something better.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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.

Mererid has dealt with a lot in her short life and yearns for simplicity. But, of course, things are never that simple and something will always go tits up. I admired her courage to go on this quest - all in aid of her finding the life she wants away from those who will hurt her. She was able to find positives in the dire situations she found herself in and fought tooth and nail whenever she needed to. I think what I loved most was that despite all she’s gone through, she hasn’t let it beat her down. She’s gotten up, dusted herself off, and she keeps going. I really do enjoy seeing that in a character.
Fane is a soft-spoken, gentle being with some very deadly abilities. Having a corgi companion just endeared him to me further and I just wanted to see more and more of him. The bits we did get to see were enjoyable and he was a fun character to get a POV from.

I like that this story is based off the tale of Cantre’r Gwaelof - a sunken kingdom that supposedly once stood where Cardigan Bay now exists. It isn’t one I’ve heard of before but it certainly intrigued me. I think it was a great premise and lurking danger for the characters to be wary of. The flow of the story really worked for me and I liked the separate parts - how they focused on a specific person and how they were first set on their journey. I found it a really easy read which I love. There is nothing worse than feeling like you are struggling through a story. I think the ending was well though out and I really enjoyed the surprise at the end. I do believe that it could have worked without it but I do like it’s inclusion.

Overall, The Drowned Woods is an interesting story drawing well from a great myth.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you again to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of this book. Review will be live on my blog on 15th August.

Sadly, this story fell flat for me. I was very intrigued with the opening of the story, but unfortunately, it only went downhill for me. I didn’t feel any connection with any of the characters, and thus I found it hard to care about their story and their journeys. The plot line of the story started off good, but I just did not feel like it had anything particular that had me gripped by the story. I don’t really like prolonging a negative review since I don’t have anything particularly good to say, however, I do recommend the audiobook to those who love listening to audiobooks. The narrator really brought out the magical aspect of the story.

Huge thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for the eArc!

Lovely prose and a vividly rendered fairytale atmosphere, although the story did leave some to be desired. Strong start, but sags for a large portion in the middle and the plot doesn't recover its pace from there until the very last few chapters. All in all, beautiful writing, although the characterisations and plot could have done with some polishing.

I loooooooved this standalone so much. The writing and story of the Welsh myth Cantre’r Gwaelod was so beautiful and gripping. I loved Mer and her strength, despite all that she’s been through. Adored Fane and Trefor (the cutest dog I have ever seen in any book) and Fane’s character development throughout the book. Ifanna was also a great addition and I loved her spirit and attitude.

The plot twists were amazing and I literally gasped at one at the end. I really didn’t see it coming. The author really has a way of capturing your senses so that you are completely off guard when she throws a twist out of nowhere.

The epilogue was soooo cute and I wish we could have had another 50 pages of it. Another review mentions it being connected to “The Bone Houses”, which I haven’t read yet so that will be next on my list!

In summary, we need more Welsh folklore in our lives.

The Drowned Woods is an enjoyable, stand-alone, fantastical tale steeped in welsh folklore with a kick-ass, magical, somewhat reluctant, female heroine. While it felt primarily plot-driven with the heist plot-line and revenge at the forefront, the complexities and conflicted depths of the characters cannot be denied. The chapters are easily digestible but I felt the 3rd act was where the story really shone so it was as slow a burn for me as the romance element. I also loved how understated the sexuality was noted. Definitely worth a read if you like stand-alone, adventurous stories with magical realities and conflicted characters,