The pacing was absolutely spot on. There was the perfect blend of world-building to action and the last 20% put me through about a million emotions. The ending might be one of my favorite YA fantasy endings. Fane is an ironfetch, pledged to the service of the Tylwyth Teg, the fae. Blessed with the ability to sense iron and cursed with the magic of death, Fane once sought to avenge his family, killed by mercenaries when he was a child. The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life. It can be hard to stand out in fantasy, but despite incorporating a familiar fantasy trope - the heist - Lloyd-Jones’ story was original, witty and well-written. This is really up there with the greats. Emily Lloyd-Jones is extremely talented and a brilliant writer. For years, Mer has been running from the prince who bound her into his service – and forced her to kill thousands with her magic. Now, all Mer truly wants is a safe, quiet life, far from power and politics.

The greater good" is a central theme of this novel, and I loved how the author makes us question: at what point do we draw the line? At what point does justice become vengeance, and how can we, as mere individuals, choose which lives should be sacrificed, when all life is innocent and sacred? As a huge fan of The Bone Houses, The Drowned Woods was one of my most highly anticipate releases for 2022 and it did not dissapoint. I enjoyed every moment reading this and felt immersed in such a well crafted world, with exposition revealing enough to be engaging but leaving part to the imagination, creating an air of mystery and myth surrounding the story. The story itself was so much fun, balancing tension, levity, and emotional hits that certainly landed for me (tears were shed by the end). Taking what may seem a typical heist story The Drowned Woods succeeds in its originality and firmly has it's own identity. The exploration of themes of guilt, identity, and responsibility were very well handled; however my one fault with the book is that at moments it did feel eager to move things along, rarely lingering on any moment, although this may just be my tastes speaking as I do prefer slower paced stories and would have loved to spend even more time with these characters. mer. in simple terms, she’s basically a very powerful waterbender. which is cool! but also, not as cool as katara and never escapes the hollow “fantasy YA female lead” mold that’s been written to the grave. i love to reuse tropes and character types, but i felt physical pain with how flavorless mer was. actually, with how all the characters were, which is why:Words cannot express how much I loved this book. I honestly wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did so it's safe to say that it exceeded my expectations. I was instantly hooked from the prologue and was drawn into the world and the characters. Together, they must destroy the magical well that protects the prince’s lands, and what seems so straightforward at first, soon becomes a dangerous and life-threatening endeavour. Mer wants the freedom she was promised when she undertook the job, but she’s not the only one with an agenda, and people she thought she could trust are never who they really claim to be. One of my favourite parts of this book was the Welsh mythology. It was super interesting to read about, magical and enchanting. This book is filled with myths, legends as well as mythological creatures and places (including Welsh Atlantis!). The characters are brilliant and I felt connected to all of them. Mer is the perfect female lead, she is strong and courageous and also has a great sense of humour. Her interactions with Fane are marvellous and Fane’s bond with his dog, Trefor, is adorable.

It is through these contradictory characters that the story begins to unveil itself. On the surface, The Drowned Woods seems like a thrilling YA fantasy adventure about a heist, but since the plot is very much character-driven, the author slowly and masterfully reveals an unexpected twist that I could have never predicted. There is a bit of romance thrown in, but it is never the focus and develops very, very slowly as our main characters grow and mature over the course of the events of the book.Part heist novel, part dark fairy tale, and rich with Welsh legends, The Drowned Woods is an ethereal fantasy, perfect for fans of Kristin Cashore and Maria V. Snyder. The Gaelic was beautifully interwoven, and even though some of the names were very foreign to me, I was able to read this effortlessly. I liked how the mythology was explored, at times humorous, but very informative. I loved the characters. Mer and Fane had my heart as soon as they were introduced (though no one comes close to Trefor, of course.) Their friendship felt very natural and it was really refreshing to read about a couple that didn’t jump straight to romance. I really liked Ifanna and Renfrew too and I feel like the author did a great job of making me care even for the side characters. This book delivers exactly what it promises - a Welsh folklore-inspired heist with magic and slowburn romance.