The Bone Queen

“That book you’re listening to is creepy,” my spouse mumbled, under the weather and less than half awake from the passenger seat as we were crossing the state of Virginia yesterday.

He wasn’t wrong. The Bone Queen by Will Shindler did have creepy moments, and beautifully narrated by Tamsin Kennard, was clearly effective enough to pervade a sleeping spouse’s dreams.

The Bone Queen is told from a few points of view; in current day, we follow Chloe, a teenager who feels feelings about her parents’ divorce, her mom’s drinking, and life in general, and Jenna, her mom, who is distraught when Chloe runs away and uses clues she finds in Chloe’s room to track her to a creepy, far away island.

We learn more about the legend of the Bone Queen, from Chloe’s experiences, from Jenna’s investigation, and from stories from previous encounters with her that are shared from other time periods and POVs.

This all makes to build a chilling mythology of The Bone Queen - and suspense to the end around what or who the Bone Queen really is.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the advance copies for my honest review.