Title: The Drowned Woods
Author: Emily Lloyd-Jones
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publishing date: 16th August 2022
Rating: 4/5 stars

A magical, ethereal fantasy from IndieBound bestselling author Emily Lloyd-Jones.

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.

The Drowned Woods—set in the same world as The Bone Houses but with a whole new, unforgettable cast of characters—is part heist novel, part dark fairy tale.

A big thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for including me and sending me a copy to review for this Blog Tour!

Click here to check out the rest of the amazing bloggers on this tour!

Book Links:

Goodreads – Amazon – B & N – Book Depository – Indigo – IndieBound

My thoughts: The Drowned Woods is a magical, ethereal fantasy story rich in Welsh folklore and plenty of plot twists. This story follows Mer, a water diviner who is on the run from a Prince who captured her for her powers. After living in the castle since she was a child, she finally manages to escape but is constantly looking over her shoulder in fear that he will find her.

I really enjoyed reading this story. The magic really reminded me of Avatar: The Last Airbender, especially with Mer being able to manipulate water. She was basically Katara! And the otherfolk were typical fae, don’t make deals with them, never trust them kind of thing.

There were multiple pov chapters in this book, which I really enjoyed. I got to see each main character’s back story and their take on different events that took place. Fane was definitely my favourite character. There’s a lot more to him than I first realised, he’s got a very interesting story and his character arc is *chef’s kiss*.

I did feel that the ending kind of sped by too quickly. A large portion of the book is preparing the perfect team for the heist and it was over so quick. But overall I did really enjoy it, the plot was wrapped by nicely and the epilogue connected this book to Emily’s other novel, The Bone Houses.

Hope you all enjoyed my review! I really enjoyed this one! Happy reading x

About the Author

Emily Lloyd-Jones grew up on a vineyard in rural Oregon, where she played in evergreen forests and learned to fear sheep. She has a BA in English from Western Oregon University and a MA in publishing from Rosemont College. She currently resides in Northern California, where she enjoys wandering in redwood forests. Her young adult novels include Illusive, Deceptive, The Hearts We Sold, The Bone Houses, and the forthcoming The Drowned Woods. Her debut middle grade, Unseen Magic, will release in 2022.

Author Links:

Website – Twitter – Instagram – Goodreads

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