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Bones of Faerie
(Bones of Faerie #1)
by
The war between humanity and Faerie devastated both sides. Or so 15-year-old Liza has been told.
Nothing has been seen or heard from Faerie since, and Liza's world bears the scars of its encounter with magic. Trees move with sinister intention, and the town Liza calls home is surrounded by a forest that threatens to harm all those who wander into it. Then Liza discovers sh ...more
Nothing has been seen or heard from Faerie since, and Liza's world bears the scars of its encounter with magic. Trees move with sinister intention, and the town Liza calls home is surrounded by a forest that threatens to harm all those who wander into it. Then Liza discovers sh ...more
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Hardcover, 247 pages
Published
January 27th 2009
by Random House Books for Young Readers
(first published December 29th 2008)
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Alley Lee
Not so much of a romantic in the first book but in the second it has a little more. there is alot more romance in the third book tho
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Bones of Faerie (Bones of Faerie, #1)

Though I read this book two weeks ago and have been meaning to write a review ever since, I haven't managed to really rally my thoughts about it until now. BONES OF FAERIE is a fascinating and welcome addition to the YA faerie world by virtue of combining faerie lore with a post-apocalyptic world for a haunting and eerie effect.
I should preface this entire review by saying that this book is for young adults. I know that will sound weird as most of the books on my Goodreads page are for YA, but m ...more
I should preface this entire review by saying that this book is for young adults. I know that will sound weird as most of the books on my Goodreads page are for YA, but m ...more

This is an amazing book. I am unnerved at the way I kept managing to lose it around the house from the time it came out (when I got it) until I found it for the sixth time yesterday and chose to read it instantly before it lost itself again. It makes you wonder about things like faeries, which is nonsense! Right?
The reason I ticked sf as well as fantasy is because the characters live in a bleak and scary world, the result of a war between humans and fae. Almost all the things we taken for grante ...more
The reason I ticked sf as well as fantasy is because the characters live in a bleak and scary world, the result of a war between humans and fae. Almost all the things we taken for grante ...more

This was older and darker than I expected. I think I had assumed it was middle grade because of her other publications (I actually think this is as suitable for tweens as teens) and fluffy because of the titular "faerie" which usually seems to involve some sparkliness. Well, there are sparkles, but they're the light of evil magic that wants to eat you.
...more

This is a fantastic read for the Young Adult genre. Filled with faeries, magic, shape-shifters and, of course, mere humans, this book has everything that a younger reader could hope for. The story pulled me in from the first page, as the story unfolded, the writing simply flowed so that I was half-way through, then promising myself "one more chapter" I finished the entire book. The relationships in this story are unlikely, yet remarkably sweet, and somehow, just right. The fantasies are subtley
...more

I've been stuck on a reading glut lately, I've got 100000 unfinished books on my ebook reader, most of which I've made slight progress, and I've no desire to finish or continue reading any of them. So to ease my boredom, I've been rereading some old familiars that I know are enjoyable.
Some series are even more wonderful than I remembered (The Iron Fey), and some made me wonder how much alcohol I had been imbibing when I decided to give it a 4 rating. Bones of Faerie would be an example of the la ...more
Some series are even more wonderful than I remembered (The Iron Fey), and some made me wonder how much alcohol I had been imbibing when I decided to give it a 4 rating. Bones of Faerie would be an example of the la ...more

2018 TBR Challenge: Book #4
★★
I wish I had more to say about Bones of Faerie but its mediocracy does not lend well to descriptive reviews.
The world was creative. I’ll give Simner that. I loved the combination of the fantastical fae elements with the post-war apocalyptic landscape. Or I did in theory, at least. The world building was a tad too underdeveloped for me to completely fall in love with it. Matthew’s history and shifter abilities were never explained, and for the most part, Faerie ...more
I wish I had more to say about Bones of Faerie but its mediocracy does not lend well to descriptive reviews.
The world was creative. I’ll give Simner that. I loved the combination of the fantastical fae elements with the post-war apocalyptic landscape. Or I did in theory, at least. The world building was a tad too underdeveloped for me to completely fall in love with it. Matthew’s history and shifter abilities were never explained, and for the most part, Faerie ...more

This book had no heart and no soul, no flavor but nice color--which is to say that the setting is interesting--a post-apocalyptic US, where war between humans and faeries has devastated the world and corrupted nature to the point that tree shadows can slice and dice you, and even seeds are dangerous lest they take root in your skin--but the characters? They are boring, flat and wooden, with no depth. The protagonist Liza is a ho-hum-de-dum teenage girl abused and repressed by her tyrannical fath
...more

I have to say this book was beautifully written. The descriptions were so vivid and I found that I could really see the world that Simner created. I think her main characters could have used some strengthening, but all in all this was a good book.
Liza is the main character and she goes on a journey after finding out that she holds magic within her. Knowing that her Father would kill her if he found out she goes in search of her Mother who left after her Father left her sister out for the Faeries ...more
Liza is the main character and she goes on a journey after finding out that she holds magic within her. Knowing that her Father would kill her if he found out she goes in search of her Mother who left after her Father left her sister out for the Faeries ...more

This is quite possibly the most captivating first chapter of a book that I can ever remember reading. It is only eight short paragraphs long, but Simner manages to get her hook so deep into you that the thought of putting the book down is impossible. It made me catch my breath. It made me go back and reread those two simple pages to see if the text was as fabulous as I thought it was (it was.) It made me say "there's no way the rest of this book can be THIS amazing (it was.)
The premise of this ...more
The premise of this ...more

Killer trees, exploding butterflies, vegetables that fight back when you try to harvest them? What's not to like?
As a fae book, I wouldn't list it as a major favorite, but it was definitely fun and easy to read. It had enough darkness and creepy things happening to have the potential to be a really dark fantasy, but the mix of the absurd or silly things added in kept lightening it up. (Like an oak tree beaming them with acorns).
Overall, it is a fun book and really clean. No romance or love trian ...more
As a fae book, I wouldn't list it as a major favorite, but it was definitely fun and easy to read. It had enough darkness and creepy things happening to have the potential to be a really dark fantasy, but the mix of the absurd or silly things added in kept lightening it up. (Like an oak tree beaming them with acorns).
Overall, it is a fun book and really clean. No romance or love trian ...more

One of my friends was writing two-word poetry for a competition the other day, and I thought: now wouldn't that be fun to do for a review?! So I did!
Unique Worldbuilding
[image error] Too descriptive
No romance
[image error] Too short
[image error] Two-dimensional characters
[image error] Slow pacing
[image error] Reader's disconnect
dead baby
villainous father
[image error]
magic system
Overall: so-so ...more

[image error] Too descriptive

[image error] Too short
[image error] Two-dimensional characters
[image error] Slow pacing
[image error] Reader's disconnect



Overall: so-so ...more

The entire Bones of Faerie Trilogy now has a new look and new ebook editions!

Ruth: The human world has been rendered almost unlivable, victim of the wild magic unleashed by the faeries in their war with the humans twenty years earlier. Liza, a teenage girl, tries to survive in a small community in the Midwestern United States that has been savaged by the remnants of the war. The corn fights back against the humans harvesting it, and the blackberry vines seek flesh. Everyone who survived the war knows that magic is dangerous and cannot be tolerated, so when Liza’s sister
...more

War between Faerie and the humans devastated both realms. A generation later, teenaged Liza and her town are barely surviving among the wreckage. Liza's father has kept the town alive though ruthless destruction of anything touched by magic, so when Liza starts having visions she knows she has to leave immediately--or be killed by her own father.
I was fascinated by the post-apocalyptic world Liza lives in, where "good" plastic is prized and even a single dandelion is dangerous. The magic seems ...more
I was fascinated by the post-apocalyptic world Liza lives in, where "good" plastic is prized and even a single dandelion is dangerous. The magic seems ...more

Lyrical, as sharp as the thorns in the dandelions, and shattered shards of broken trust that get carefully gathered together. The first two pages set the whole tone and followed through in spades. It's a beautifully written book, the first I've really enjoyed reading in the last year.
The hardships are really hard, and I loved the implicit rules behind the magic... and how consistent it was across the board. And all the reasons for the protagonist to not trust magic were hard and real, so it was ...more
The hardships are really hard, and I loved the implicit rules behind the magic... and how consistent it was across the board. And all the reasons for the protagonist to not trust magic were hard and real, so it was ...more

Feb 18, 2009
Barry
added it
This is simple: post-apocalyptic faerie novel. Buy it. Read it. Love it. Then beg Janni to write more. Now, Janni, I want it NOW!!!!

I found the setting to be very interesting in a world devastated by a post-apocalyptic Faerie/human war. A much different take on the Faerie theme than anything else I’ve read. However, I would have loved to know more about the world of Faerie and why the war occurred in the first place. Seemed like the author just kind of brushed over any background information and hit the main points of the story. Overall a very quick and easy read.

Oct 01, 2021
Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell
marked it as wishlist
Only $1.99 right now! WE STAN A DYSTOPIAN BOOK ABOUT FAERIES

15-year-old Liza lives in a world that recently survived a war between the human world and the world of Faerie. Now the things in the human world have become strange, vines and trees have a taste for blood, corn and potatoes fight back when harvested. Liza's father has kept the entire village safe after the war, stamping out any sign of magic in the people who live there. When Liza's baby sister is born with the clear hair that is a sign of magic, her father takes the baby into the wild and leav
...more

i really enjoyed this book, the idea of plants with such power intent on killing people, is very scary one, and the book shows a dangerous world in which magic resides, where magic is feared, and denied rather than embraced initially, but in the end magic is seen as something good, something to be embraced and nurtured, it was a nice book, and an interesting read =]

I could not finish this book.
It's an interesting plot. But, the author just throws you into the world with nothing. You don't get any background info for the world or the characters.
There is barely any past building in this book at all. Which makes it extremely boring.
Might finish it one day, but probably not. ...more
It's an interesting plot. But, the author just throws you into the world with nothing. You don't get any background info for the world or the characters.
There is barely any past building in this book at all. Which makes it extremely boring.
Might finish it one day, but probably not. ...more

spare, post-apocalyptic faerie story
i didn't particularly like the MCs, though little Allie and the secondary characters were wonderful
pg13 green
a father is physically and emotionally abusive; some peril & injury
...more
i didn't particularly like the MCs, though little Allie and the secondary characters were wonderful
pg13 green
a father is physically and emotionally abusive; some peril & injury
...more

I have reread this book 4 times. I don't know what it is, but I keep going back to it. It's a quick read (although the holidays cut into my reading time). It's a nice stand alone. A good, short read, that's for sure.
...more

This was a good book but a little short I do plan to read the other books eventually, but I think that I am going to reread it before I even get the next book. This is a good book and I enjoyed reading it but I just had a hard time understanding it. I hope when I reread it without having to worry about test scores more so then what I am reading. I enjoyed her writing style and I liked the change of pace as far as the length of the book. I love the way that you are always wondering about somethin
...more

This was a good and easy book, but not really for my age. It's really set for pre-teen to sixteen years of age. Great storyline, I just felt it lacked something, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe depth? I don't know...
I also felt that the author kind of started rushing through the storyline about halfway through but that could just be me.
If you want a book with a good story but not enough details or depth, and something very quick to read, get this book. ...more
I also felt that the author kind of started rushing through the storyline about halfway through but that could just be me.
If you want a book with a good story but not enough details or depth, and something very quick to read, get this book. ...more

Different but good
I was immediately drawn into this story. I couldn’t put it down. But I feel like the author tried to finish quickly. I felt like it jumped from action to action and my brain was twisting and turning to figure out what was going on. I think the plot was interesting and I enjoyed the characters.
I was immediately drawn into this story. I couldn’t put it down. But I feel like the author tried to finish quickly. I felt like it jumped from action to action and my brain was twisting and turning to figure out what was going on. I think the plot was interesting and I enjoyed the characters.
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Janni Lee Simner lives in the Arizona desert, where the plants know how to bite and the dandelions really do have thorns; in spite of these things--or maybe because of them--she's convinced she lives in one of the most stunning places on earth.
Janni has published four novels for young adults, the Bones of Faerie trilogy and Thief Eyes, and she wrote the script for the video game The Huntsman: Win ...more
Janni has published four novels for young adults, the Bones of Faerie trilogy and Thief Eyes, and she wrote the script for the video game The Huntsman: Win ...more
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