I’m not quite sure how to describe The Bone Houses - perhaps YA horror-fantasy? Beautifully written horror-fantasy that stresses the love and importance of family. With zombies.

The central character is Ryn, a seventeen-year-old girl trying to keep her broken family together. Her mother is dead, and her father and uncle have disappeared, leaving Ryn and her two siblings alone in the world. Ryn spends her days gravedigging for her small village, and her nights watching for and destroying wandering bone houses. That’s where the zombies come in - the dead don’t always stay dead. They usually hide within the boundaries of a nearby forest, but with the arrival of a young map-maker named Ellis, the bone houses start coming out. Violence ensues.

The premise sounds like it could be a campy story, but Lloyd-Jones has written this book with great depth and emotion. There’s a respect for the dead you don’t usually see in a traditional zombie story, which elevates The Bone Houses to an impressive level of storytelling. It’s touching and beautiful, and may just be one of my favourite books of the year. The. Year. I can’t recommend this book enough. Read it.