UptownOracle in Book Reviews

Uptown Oracle Reads… The Drowned Woods

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones

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Once upon a time, the kingdoms of Wales were rife with magic and conflict, and eighteen-year-old Mererid “Mer” is well-acquainted with both. She is the last living water diviner and has spent years running from the prince who bound her into his service. Under the prince’s orders, she located the wells of his enemies, and he poisoned them without her knowledge, causing hundreds of deaths. After discovering what he had done, Mer went to great lengths to disappear from his reach. Then Mer’s old handler returns with a proposition: use her powers to bring down the very prince that abused them both.

The best way to do that is to destroy the magical well that keeps the prince’s lands safe. With a motley crew of allies, including a fae-cursed young man, the lady of thieves, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy, Mer may finally be able to steal precious freedom and peace for herself. After all, a person with a knife is one thing… but a person with a cause can topple kingdoms.

Thr Drowned Woods is all about a group heist, with characters who become allies by necessity rather than choice for most of them. I found the coming together of the chracters for the heist to be quite slow, and the antagonist (the prince) doesn’t really play into the story as much as expected. There is however a plot twist which makes the heist have much higher risks near the end of the book, which I don’t want to spoil but definitely made me want to not put the book down.

Throughout the story I loved the magic system and how Mer was born with her powers, but Fane got his through a deal with the others. With Mer being a water diviner, I loved how Emily Lloyd-Jones didn’t shy away from the darker uses of this power such as boiling people alive, or removing all water from a body. However, whilst dark the book isn’t gory or explicit around the mentions of these abilities for Mer.

Whilst Mer was our main character, I also loved see Fane’s POV and learn more about his background. Whilst Mer was kidnapped and trained to serve the prince, Fane went out in order to find his power and they have very different backgrounds whilst fitting well together in the present. These backgrounds were also slowly uncovered throughout the book so we were learning as each of them learn about one another too.

I adored the inclusion of Trefor, our lovely corgi companion and potential spy for the otherfolk. I also loved how Fane continued to take care of him, even in high stakes situations which is exactly what most dog owners would be like.

The book also introduces Ifanna, who is the heir to the thieves guild which is run by her two mothers. She’s also Mer’s ex who betrayed her the last time they met, which causes some inter-group tension at first,. Her ego is focused on becoming the best thief, and being famed for it which is why Mer believes her convinced to join the heist. I kind of wish there was a spin off book following either her or her parents.

Renfri, the spy master is also an intriguing and elusive character. Whilst acting like Mer’s kind of family, despite kidnapping her for the Prince as a child… their relationship changes and develops across the book as Mer tries to deal with her childhood issues. He’s also the mastermind of the heist, and one of my main questions throughout was why he’s suddenly against the Prince?

The character concepts are super interesting, but I do wish there was some expansion for some of the characters. I do think this is because we’re mostly reading from Mer’s POV and so we don’t know everything, like understanding Renfri’s reasons more, as well as the two other characters who came on the heist who Mer didn’t interact with as much (and I’m struggling to remember the names for because of this!).

There’s very clear Welsh influence in the names of places especially throughout the story which was a welcome surprise for me. I believe some of the magic/stories within the world are influenced by folktales from Wales too although I don’t have the knowledge to know which ones. I did love the influence though and would love to continue seeing Welsh folklore and language used more in books.

The pacing of the book as mentioned as the start isn’t great, with the middle section of the book being quite slow. However the ending does pick up and in general The Drowned Woods is a quick read. Based on folklore means that the overarching plot is not overly complicated, and is overall an enjoyable read.