The Drowned Woods The Sunday Times bestselling and darkly gripping YA fantasy heist novel

4,5 Stars! Of course, is this only my personal opinion of the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean, that everyone will have that opinion. I got this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My opinion is my own. To be honest, I haven’t read a welsh mythology retelling since picking up this book, I think. I was excited to dive right in because it was a legend I haven’t heard of, and I am a sucker for mythology retellings! This book did not disappoint! There is a good mix of a heist and fantasy. Our main female character is a bisexual water diviner in hiding, and in the progress of the story, she also meets a fae-cursed man with a corgi. Yes, you read that right. A corgi! I found this book fast-paced and had no problems with the welsh mythology words. Also, I liked the characters and wouldn’t have minded a few extra pages at the end. Maybe I will pick up the other books by this author. Conclusion If you are looking for a nice heist fantasy standalone you should pick this up.

Mir hat das Buch mehr gefallen als ich gedacht habe. Der Schreibstil war sehr märchenhaft und hat toll durch die Geschichte geführt. Ich bin bei Fantasy Einzelbänden immer recht skeptisch, aber ich hatte hier nicht das Gefühl, dass mir etwas gefehlt hat. Ich würde nicht sagen, dass man das Buch gelesen haben muss, aber für zwischendurch ist es eine süße Geschichte.

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones is a fantasy novel inspired by Welsh folklore and it’s set in the same world as The Bone Houses but with different characters. And after reading this beautiful book I totally want to read The Bone Houses as well. The protagonist Mer is the last living water diviner and therefore she is very special and particularly valuable for the prince and kingdom. She was forced to work for the prince and hated it and she just wants to be free of this. Mer is a badass and amazing protagonist and I adored her. She is not the only one who despises the prince and when she is pursued by the spymaster Renfrew to help him in overthrowing the kingdom, she goes on this journey and they bring together an unlikely team. The characters are all so fascinating and I also really liked Fane. What I loved about the structure of this book is that you get to know Mer really well in the beginning and then it becomes part heist novel, part dark fairy tale. I could dive into this world completely and loved to follow alongside the crew. Overall, The Drowned Woods is such an intriguing and vivid fantasy story that weaves Welsh folklore into it beautifully. 4,5 stars. (ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)