*My review is from the perspective of having read the Emma Griffin series in its entirety and is primarily focused on characters versus content.
In The Girl and the Secret Society (book 9), Rivers introduced us to Xavier Renton, a neuro-diverse character who both Emma and Dean form a close bond to. The Field of Bones takes us further into these relationships and I’m all for it. Xavier has to be the most complex character I have read within a fiction series and I want so much more of him. As if his personality alone isn’t enough, you add on the way that Emma, Dean, and Sam care for him and he for them and well….. you have yourself one big beautiful intentional family that never should have been but I pray always will be.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this book is my favorite of the series, thus far. Maybe it’s my love for Xavier and the light-heartedness he brings out in so many people, but I feel that it is much more than that. Emma continues to lean into her love and need for Sam instead of pushing away the idea that she is capable of a happily ever after. Sam remains the knight in shining armor. Dean’s protectiveness, and his brotherly-like teasing, of Emma makes me feel like he has been here from the very beginning. Dare I put out into the A.J. Rivers universe that a spin-off series with Dean as the lead would be amazing………
Ok, so character infatuation aside, the story line in The Girl and the Field of Bones was phenomenal. There were enough twists to keep me at the sweet spot of “Oh I get what she’s doing - oh wait, what the heck?” yet the overall flow of the story was smooth and consistent. A couple of the earlier books in this series really took my brain for a ride, so much so that I’d have to regroup, reread and then find my way forward. It’s not that I don’t like to get all turned around, that’s why I read psychological thrillers after all, but there’s just nothing better than a book that can scramble your brain and keep you riveted at the same time. This particular read lives in my happy place.
As I form an emotional attachment (dramatic - yup) to my series, I may need to take a breather before starting on what is for now the last book in the Emma Griffin line, The Girl and the Black Christmas. Of course I say that and I will undoubtedly be nose-first in it by the end of the day. What can I say, I know who I am but I sure like to try and tell myself I can be different.