“The dead deserve something,” she said, trying to explain in a way a layman might understand. “A remembrance, a marker, a place to rest. Death should be peaceful—the dead have earned that much. The bone houses—they’re a mockery of death. Burning them . . . it’s a last resort, not a way out.”
If you’re in the market for a beautifully written, atmospheric story to get you in the mood for autumn, look no further: The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones is one you won’t want to miss.
“Do you want to know where Lucy went? She went to play the game. You can play, too. Find a partner. Find a key. Find the road. You have two days.”
What would you do if your entire school received the same ominous text message? I’d probably go home and hide in my room until people stopped talking about it, but the characters in Rules for Vanishing aren’t afraid of much, and decide to play this eerie game.
“I can see the dark things. They’re trying to hide, but I can spot them, hunched behind corners, pressed against walls. Shadows where there is no one to cast shadows. Nobody’s shadow would look like that anyway. Warped. Bony. Bent almost like branches. They are waiting. I can feel them. And they can feel me pushing back.”
“Magic was a mask Finn had slipped over her head so many times, she’d almost forgotten what her own face looked like. But that was just how she liked it.”
