When the Bones Sing - Ginny Myers Sain - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Ginny Myers Sain

GENRE: YA Mystery

PUBLICATION DATE: March 4, 2025

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A YA Paranormal-Fantasy-Mystery about a teen girl who can hear the bones of the dead. Amazing atmosphere, great use of the setting (The Ozarks), interesting characters, average mystery, simplistic plotting. Recommended to YA readers.

Plot Preview:

In the last three years, more than two dozen people have disappeared in the hiking trails of Lucifer’s Creek, a small town in the Ozark mountains. There’s never any clue about what happened to these hikers, until seventeen-year-old Dovie hears the bones singing, calling her to dig them up. Dovie’s special skill is the only way the sheriff can discover the location of the dead.

Several people believe that it is the Ozark Howler, the mythical monster, who is doing away with the visiting hikers. But despite her skill, Dovie doesn’t believe in magic, or in the Howler, or in her best friend Lo’s claim that he is being haunted by dark shadows. However, when the murders don’t stop and Lo’s mental state worsens, Dovie knows she needs to do something before another hiker is killed.

The story comes to us in Dovie’s first person perspective.

Bookish Yays:

☠ Fabulous description of the Ozarks. It’s very clear that the author loves and respects the mountains. Her words bring the location to life.

☠ The atmosphere, whether in the dark mountains or the murder scenes or the mysterious howls or the supernatural shadows. Brilliant and vivid!

☠ The small-town vibes of Lucifer’s creek, and its myriad denizens with their varying attitudes towards superstitions and religion and xenophobic attitude towards hill people. Added well to the claustrophobic feel of the book.

☠ Dovie as a character is perfect for her age. Strongwilled, brave, and impulsive. I love how she has her head on her shoulders for the most way and considers her talent a natural skill than magic.

☠ The two grandmas in the story: Dovie’s Grandma Fern and Lo’s Grandma Pearl. Both so unlike each other in beliefs and yet such interesting characters who could do anything for their grandchildren.

☠ Lyrical writing that made me pause and ponder many times, especially in the first half.

☠ Decent pacing despite the descriptive prose.

☠ The concept of the magical humming of the bones of the dead. I wish this had been explored more, but like all good fictional magic, it stays unexplained and intriguing.

☠ The Ozark Howler! Hadn’t heard of him before, so it was great to learn about the mythical cryptid.

☠ That fabulous title and the cover art!

Bookish Mixed Bags:

👻 I was worried that the book would turn into a typical YA Romance the minute Lo came on the picture. Well, it does happen but not for a long while. However, there is a hint of a love triangle. This development bugged me as there was absolutely no need for it. YAs might feel differently about this inclusion.

👻 While most of the conversations in the book are quite well-written, there is a good deal of secret-keeping in the second half. This gets a bit annoying after a point.

👻 The ending was okay in terms of its reveal (I guessed the guilty party even before the halfway mark), and with an extended infodump confession, a bit tedious. However, I did like the revelations and was also surprised by a couple of details.

Bookish Nays:

👺 In certain scenes it's tough to understand why the youngsters do dangerous things on their own instead of asking reliable adults for help. Yeah, I know… Typical of a YA book! But these events should have been penned in a more convincing manner.

👺 It was quite easy for me to figure out the identity of the villain as the overall approach is a bit too straightforward. I wish there had been multiple suspects in parallel instead of having the light shine on the characters one at a time.

All in all, this is quite a good atmospheric read. Had the mystery been handled more cleverly, I would have rated it higher. But the book might work better for the right age group. The murders and the spooky vibes make this a good fit for older YAs, aged 15+.

Recommended to lovers of YA mysteries with mild fantasy and paranormal vibes.

My thanks to Penguin Young Readers Group and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for providing the DRC of “When the Bones Sing” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.