There were elements of this book I really enjoyed. For instance, I thought the narrator did a fantastic job matching the atmospheric feel of the book.

Issues:
However, there were some things that prevented this book from going beyond 3-star territory. Overall, I felt like the characters were enjoyable, but not fully fleshed out. Don't get it wrong--I did enjoy them and found their romance to be cute and not distracting from the main plot, but there just wasn't enough for them to feel entirely real.

Now, the thematic element regarding grief and exploring it was done in a compelling way. However, I thought the author brought up a few points that she didn't fully explain, i.e. character grappling with tough realizations and then going on as if they're nothing. This is exemplified in two ways:

the Bone House encampment literally had musicians, dancing children, etc. and Ryn felt bad for like .02 seconds and then was like "well, I guess I'm on a mission to take out the cauldron so it's fine that I've taken people with some sentient thoughts" meanwhile they have the bone goat following them. Plus, Ryn found her Bone House father and we don't get much time focusing on that scenario.

Plus I think the author was trying to create more mystery with Ellis and then flattened it out by the time you were a fourth of the way through. I just felt like there was a bit more missing with the Bone Houses, the world, etc.

Final thoughts and recommendations:
With all the things I didn't like, I would still say this was an enjoyable listen and would recommend this to someone who enjoys dark but slightly humorous adventure stories. It kind of gave me Castlevania (tv show) vibes in how the characters interacted as well as the humor.