This is such a tough book for me to review, as I always find it the toughest to review books that I adored, ones that made me feel something so strongly. I’ll try my best, though, and hope I can get across just a portion of my love for this book!

Ironically, I read this book in a drought of reading (for me), as I finished it while visiting my family and being busy with all the usual family + holiday things. It was honestly exactly what I needed, though, as it felt like a long drink of cold water, one that could keep me sated for a while to come. And honestly, it did! I carried the remnants of Mer’s story in my head for so long after finishing, that it felt like I could dip back into the waters of The Drowned Woods whenever I needed to for weeks after finishing. It’s just one of those stories that lingers (especially if you’ve also read The Bone Houses and understand the connection between them, because that’s a whole other pit of thinking to fall down into).

I really need to commend the audiobook as well. It won an award for being an exceptional audio, and I cannot agree more. It’s one of those audiobooks that only serves to make the book greater, and I felt like Moira Quirk really brought Mer and the cast to life. It just added an extra layer to the entire story, and while I feel like I would’ve loved this story either way, I definitely loved it more because of this audiobook. (I also just liked knowing how the Welsh words were actually pronounced!)

This book was so much more than just a heist story, even though that’s what the synopsis seemed to really focus on. I’d forgotten that aspect of the synopsis, though, and I ended up loving what I found in the story so much more than if it had just been a heist. However, I do feel like if someone goes in expecting heist + found family, they might end up disappointed, since I feel like it veers away from this quite a bit. There’s still plenty of fantastic side characters and heist antics, but it also feels like the focus of this book is on other parts of the story.

The Drowned Woods is one of those stories where I can’t quite pick a favorite piece, as I feel like it worked together so cohesively that my love for an individual piece is also due to how it worked with the other parts of the story as well. I loved the lore that built the base of this story, but I also adored the characters and how they struggled and fought and lived. And on top of all of that, the writing was the perfect complement to it all, managing to connect the reader so closely to the story and characters, and carry the gravity of some larger scenes of the book. It all just blended together so wonderfully, and I can see myself rereading this again so many times just to revisit it all (alongside The Bone Houses, of course!)

While The Bone Houses is still my favorite of the pair, this book feels like such a perfect complement to it, while still being strong on its own. I’ve definitely found a new favorite author here, and I can’t wait to see what comes next!