The Bone Witch

The Lovegrove Legacy #3

by Alyxandra Harvey

The gripping conclusion to the spellbinding YA trilogy, which “will appeal to . . . fans of . . . the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer” (VOYA).

In Regency London, young cousins Penelope, Gretchen, and Emma have come into their own as the latest generation of Lovegrove witches. They have faced dangers from both this world and the world beyond and they’ve survived it all together.
 
But now they are no longer together.
 
Penelope has been kidnapped by a murderous madwoman, trapped in an ancient cellar full of bones, and forced to use her talent for reading objects to locate the remains of long-dead evil witches. Her captor plans to use the bones to reanimate their dark spirits in living bodies and unleash them on an unsuspecting world.
 
And the only hope to stop such a nightmare rests with Gretchen, Emma, and every witch in London as they struggle to reach Penelope before darkness falls forever . . .
 
The Bone Witch is the 3rd book in the Witches of London Trilogy, which also includes The Secret Witch and The Whisper Witch.
 

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Witches, Historical Fiction, Romance, Historical

63 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 13, 2016

About the author

www.alyxandraharvey.com

Alyxandra Harvey is the author of The Cinderella Society, The Dainty Devils, The Drake Chronicles, The Witches of London, Haunting Violet and more!
She likes chai lattes, tattoos, and books.
Sometimes fueled by literary rage.

Reviews

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so thankful to the author for wrapping up the Lovegrove Legacy. Since the publisher dropped the series, this novella resolves the cliffhanger at the end of book 2 very nicely. It really reads like an extended ending for that one, the action and intensity continuing without pause. I'm mostly satisfied, but I wish there were more!

I find myself wondering what we're missing since we didn't get a full length novel. What was Penelope's story going to be? There are a couple of characters that have slightly loose ends, too, even though the main story is all there.

I do also wish there were at least one more chapter in the aftermath of the battle. I needed to see everyone dealing with what happened and finding each other. In the turn of a page, it went from intense and desperate end of the world to the distance of an epilogue showing years in the future. My emotions are still trying to find their way back down!

I'm really bummed that the publisher didn't give us a chance to get a full book 3, but since the main story is wrapped up in this novella, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the series to anyone who enjoys Regency-era novels tossed with Fantasy. This Fantasy is full of strange magic of salt, earth and metal, and is centered on three fierce cousins, debutantes who - you guessed it - defy convention, but with a unique set of talents that made it seem fresh. I wish I could read more.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really disappointed that the publisher dropped the Lovegrove Legacy series before it was finished, especially after the cliffhanger ending of Whisper the Dead, so I really appreciate that Alyxandra Harvey self published this novella to wrap things up.

Of course if I'd had a choice in the matter I'd have preferred a full length novel so we could get to know Penelope better, her story wasn't as fleshed out as it could have been because of the length of this story and that is a little disappointing. However, I'd rather have a short novella that ties up all the outstanding plot threads and leads us away from that horrendous cliff we've been clinging to for 2 years now than nothing at all.

In A House Made of Bones and Teeth we get to see the Emma, Gretchen and Penelope fighting to hold back the Greymalkin sisters and stop them taking over the world, we get answers to all of our questions and we also get a very brief epilogue to show how each girl's story ends. This isn't a perfect ending to the series but it's infinitely better than no ending at all and I still really enjoyed the series overall. The novella is currently only being sold through Smashwords but it's only $1 so if you've read the first two books then I'm sure you'll want to know how the series it ends and you're not going to have to pay through the teeth for the conclusion.

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trigger warnings: violence, blood, death.

Oy. I LOVED this series when it was originally published as A Breath of Frost/Whisper the Dead, and I was DEVASTATED when the publisher decided that they weren't going to continue with the series because Penelope was my favourite of the three cousins and I desperately wanted a book with her in the lead and that featured her love story because I ship it like whoa.

So when Alyxandra Harvey said she was going to self publish the final book as a novella, I was both hesitant and excited because YAY PENNY'S BOOK but also, novella. And I was apparently so hesitant that I put off reading it for years.

Honestly? This made me sad. It was so incredibly rushed and frantic that I felt like it didn't do the story or the characters justice. It was, in fact, so frantic and so determined to feature all of the characters we met in the first two books and wrap up ALL their stories that I often felt like I had no idea what was happening at all.

So if it had been even 100 pages long rather than what it was, it might have been a more satisfying ending than this was. Basically? I wanted to love the crap out of this and I'm sad that I didn't.

[Linda Jaejoong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sooo good, but sadly way to short

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely abrupt ending.

I love the premise of these books and enjoyed them, but they are so badly in need of good editing - often I flick back to see if I missed something because something appeared disjointed or referred to something that never happened. Similarly the language is repeatedly anachronistic for the time period. Interesting characters, but too quickly paired off and not distinct enough from each other (all the boys are handsome and devoted, all the girls Rebel Against Societal Expectations for Ladies).

Despite the series not living up to their potential, they were a fun read.

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Instead of the third instalment of the Lovegrove Legacy, we get this novella ... and in trying to tie up all the loose ends it is rushed, frantic even.

[Shanoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hm. If I had bought this, I would have been disappointed that this volume was so short. I expected at least as much as with the last two stories, but it's merely a third. But all in all, it was a fitting ending, I enjoyed the "final battle" and how the different plot strands were woven together.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was both a winner and a disappointment to me. It gave some completion to the horrible cliffhanger at the end of the second book, but it was also only like 56 pages long, so felt rushed and way too short. I'd hoped, when Alyxandra said she was going to release it as an ebook, that she would do the same as the previous two books, and write a full length novel, but she didn't. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that it got an ending, and that all ended well, but it did end rushed and not very cleanly, which was a little disappointing. Needless to say, super disappointed in the publisher. If a book is meant to be a trilogy, don't just buy 2 of the books, they should have to buy all three and publish all three, because then you are left with either a horrible cliffhanger, or a rushed novella from the author who feels bad for leaving everyone in the lurch. This is in no way a reflection of any disappointedness, or anger on Alyxandra, as you could still see her glorious writing style in it, and it still felt like a Lovegrove book, but as I said, because the publisher didn't buy the third book, it was rushed and really too short just to give us closure...but I almost feel like I didn't get the closure I was needing due to the rushed feel of the novella.

However, if you have read the other two books, it is worth your while to read this novella. It's only .99 so not too bad. And if you are thinking about reading this series, please do, it was amazing. I have a hard time with books with magic as a theme, as they never live up to Harry Potter in my mind, but this was one series that was different from Harry Potter, but also really good and drew me right in. It's definitely in my top favorite list. You will have some closure as this novella does end the series and ties off all the lose threads, it's just rushed and short (but because I love the series so much, and care about the author I gave it four stars instead of three). Give the series a go, the first two books are amazing and this last novella does finish it off.

[Hana · Rating 2 out of 5]

It just felt really rushed.

So I'm a big Alyx Harvey fan. I loved the first two in this series, and I was really looking forward to Penelope's book. I don't know why it was cancelled, and I do love Harvey for at least trying to give the story an ending, but it just didn't work for me.

Novellas are great to add extra background to a story, but as a replacement for an actual book? No. It was just too short for proper development. The romance felt forced: Emma and Gretchen's didn't quite match the ending of the last book and it felt like we'd missed a few months in the middle, and I was hoping for Penelope and Cedric to work through the issues of their relationship a bit more rather than just falling into each other's arms and deciding that love is enough to solve every problem .

The epilogue too. I usually like that peek into the characters' lives beyond the story, but again it felt a bit perfunctory - just a few quick sentences each to let us know how they ended up. I see what she was trying to do, but it might have worked better had it been an actual scene - maybe a wedding, or even a family Christmas much later with all their children - to give us a glimpse into where the characters were mentally and emotionally, as opposed to less than a page of 'he did this, she did this'.

I'm glad that the story got a conclusion, especially given how much of a cliffhanger the last book ended on. But while I applaud Harvey and don't blame her at all, I just didn't like how it turned out.

[Claudia Marcela · Rating 3 out of 5]

No puedo creer la injusticia que se hizo con esta trilogía. ¿Por qué se lanzó esta novela ridículamente corta como conclusión de los muchos cabos sueltos del libro anterior? Cada libro está enfocado en una de las primas Lovegrove. Conocimos la historia de Emma y luego la de Gretchen, y ahora tocaba la de Penelope, pero no. Todo se resuelve en un santiámen, salvan Londres, se destierran los fantasmas de las hechiceras, todos tienen su final feliz en dos párrafos y tan tan.

No sé si esto se trató de una cuestión de pocas ventas de los libros anteriores, en cuyo caso agradezco a la autora por darnos una conclusión a la historia de las primas.

Me gustó el bosquejo de lo que pudo haber sido, en lugar de lo que fue. Pero a pesar de lo corto, este libro conserva la frescura, acción y humor de los libros anteriores. Pudo haberse explayado más, claro. Pero bueno, no hay forma de quejarse.

El nivel de inglés para leer este libro es intermedio alto, tiene vocabulario algo antiguo y referencias a cosas muy inglesas.

[T.K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Alyxandra Harvey, but this is yet another book fragment. I really don't understand why books 2 and 3 were separated. Book 2 was cut off in the midst of its action-filled final scenes, and that's all Book 3 is. It begins in the middle of a desperate fight with almost no recap, and it reads more like a first draft with inadequate descriptions, errors, and barely a hard return between jumping scenes and characters. I spent the entire book desperately trying to recall enough information from books 1 and 2 to understand what was going on. Then suddenly, the action is over and there's a quick afterword on the characters. Really hoping Ms. Harvey returns to her usual quality soon.

[Spigot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm upset yo. This series didn't get a proper ending.

[Jenelle Maree · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this series sooooo much. This is the last book in the series and it started out really strong - full throttle - right until the end. I was captivated. Until I wasn’t.

The last chapter was so, so rushed that I think my brain is still trying to process what happened. Then there was this weird very, very short and abrupt epilogue that is literally a few sentences and ends very suddenly.

For this reason only, the book gets just three stars from me . It kind of felt like the author put so much of herself into the series and then got sick of it and just wanted to finish it quickly at the end. I frickin’ hate it when they do that!!!!!! I can’t see the point in creating this beautiful world and building these amazing characters, putting so much thoughtfulness and detail and effort in and then race to the finish line and skip so much. WTAF

[Bright Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella serves to wrap up the story from book two.

I understand now that the publisher dropped the series, so knowing this now I understand why the third book is so short and so many aspects of the story were left unexplored. I have increased rating to a four now, from three, due to the circumstances.

So much could still be written about this world and these characters. Perhaps one day it will be.

[Stacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final confrontation

A running battle of an ending to the Witches of London trilogy. You really need to have read the first two books to understand who all of the characters are, but I think it would still be enjoyable, if you are the kind of reader comfortable just letting the story wash over you.

[Lauren - SERIESous Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so sad when I found out this series had been dropped but the publisher before the final book could be released. And while this novella is a great way to wrap up a series that was just reaching its peak, I can't help but feel like we were robbed of an epic finale.

[H.M. Gooden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book ties up the two before it in a nice bow, but was very short and could have either been part of book 2, or a little longer. The trilogy together was a great read, but this book alone was not an entire story, as it picked up mid-battle from book 2

[Larissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a hard time putting this down to see what was going on. I loved how things ended up and they were able to work together to get things taken care of.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am glad to have some kind of resolution to this trilogy, but man there could have been so much more. This ending seemed so rushed.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the weakest of the books in this series, but finishes us the story nicely. I felt the ending was a bit rushed, but enjoyed the finale.

[Jade Drapeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

The end!!! The end is so fustrating. Like I want to know a bit more about their lifes and the reaction of Gretchen's mother when she found out about Godric. And the weddings of all the cousins! F*ck the end for that. But the rest is really good.

[v.v · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just looked at the excerpt so this review is going to be REALLY short!

The excerpt itself is incredibly short and that's saying something because the book itself is a novel, therefore very short. The excerpt was cute. There was tons of action for such a small section but we are left on a cliffhanger so that's bad. I'm sad that Godric is dead! I have a knack for finding a favorite character that ends up dying. It was really nice to revisit these old characters, and honestly it's been so long since Whisper the Dead so I kind of forgot some of the characters. Thankfully, this was a great way to recap on what has happened.

I'm kinda angry that Harvey didn't get to finish her series because it is really good and deserved to be finished. On the other hand, I understand that this is a competitive business, I just wish she got to finish her story first. Anyways, really great book, five star rating, and I hope to finish the rest of the book soon!

Told ya this was going to be short :)

Full Review at Wintereading

[Autumn (Triquetra Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still very torn on the amount of stars I'm giving this. I want to rate it a 5, but I feel like so much was packed into such a small story (56 pages) that it made for reading that was sometimes awkward and rushed.

I ADORE the Lovegrove Legacy and I am so, so, so upset that there won't be a third book. Penelope is my favorite character and the fact that she didn't get a full-length novel with Cedric kills me. They deserve so much more, in my humble opinion.

I'm also upset that the covers don't match, but that's my own OCD talking instead of a real issue with the writing at all.

Once again Alyxandra Harvey astonishes me with her writing. I adore the style of her writing and I LOVE the themes of magic and folk magic being entwined with High Society when propriety was ruler of all.

Emma, Gretchen and Penelope are great characters, and great heroines especially for characters who are in the time of "simpering misses who can't fend for themselves."

Again, I'm so upset that there isn't a third book. Bloomsbury if you're reading and that was your fault, please note you've made for a very upset reader and reviewer! I even wrote to them to tell them how amazing the books series is! To Miss Harvey, thank you for finishing the series, it's immensely appreciated!

[Angela ReadingCave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally the Lovegrove Legacy was a three book deal. It was supposed to be Penelope’s HEA. Unfortunately, as has been known to happen after the publication of the first two books it was decided that the third book would not be published. So what does the amazingly talented Ms. Harvey do? Why she self-publishes a novella to help with all of those pesky questions that her readers have.

The novella starts off about two hours after Whisper the Dead ends. Gretchen, Tobias and Moira are fighting off the sisters and the Greybreads. Penelope and Cedric are trapped in the sisters’ house with evil Sophie and Lucius. The Greymalkin sisters using Penelope as a beacon for finding their bones. Emma and Cormac are fighting their way back from the Underworld. Will they be able to get together in time to stop the Greymalkin sisters from causing chaos even from the grave?

In a House Made of Bone and Teeth offered closure when there was none before. It was a nice treat that Ms. Harvey gave her readers who were left hanging when the third book fell through. It is short, a novella usually is. Due to its size it is action-packed and fast paced. In the end though, we know what happen to the Lovegrove cousins and really that is all that matters.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the second book ends smack in the middle of what I thought would be the climax of that book (or the series), the author apparently created this novella to wrap things up. This is the first time I have read a series where that happens, and I'm slightly puzzled as to why. I expected a full-length third book with Penelope as the protagonist, and I'm not sure why we didn't get that.

The novella felt a little rushed - not only was it much shorter than the other books, it was also full of typos and missing words. Sometimes the action was hard to follow (at least for me), and the epilogue was literally only one page. Did the author get bored and quit? Such a shame, I really liked the characters and wanted to read more about them.

[Nyssa Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, LOVE, this book series so much. The characters, the era even how Harvey worte it. I was so angry when I found out there would be no third book, only to scream (at 2 am to my parents displeasure) when I learned that Alyxandra Harvey would self publish the third book. My only complaint, like many others was that it was too damn short, and despite reading it and loving it, I am still and will always be pissed that this series didn't get the third book (because technically this is a self published novella) it deserved. However I am very happy with how it ended.

[Amy (I'd Rather Be Sleeping) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I am glad to finally get the wrap up of The Lovegrove Legacy, but this was…kind of disappointing. It wasn't bad, and I'm glad to see how things turned out, it just felt really un-polished and like it needed a good read-through by an editor or something because there's a lot of typo's here. I will say though, because she wasn't going to publish the final book in the trilogy through the publisher of the first two, I am beyond grateful to the author for writing this short story for the fans!

[Jaclyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe its over already. stupid publishers should have let her write a longer book

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Harvey self-published an ending when the last book ended on a cliff-hanger and the publisher didn't option the final book.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kinda sad that this series didn't get the ending it deserved, but appreciate that the author did wrap it up for her readers. Took me too long to finish this series off, but I'm so glad I did.