Thank you for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is so original !! Yes the sisters are witches and do magic, but there are other pieces at play here also. They live mundane lives and both with horrible men. I would use magic to subdue a husband like that also. But there are other characters in here that are rare to find in other books involving magic, such as the ghoul. Introducing him right off the bat and showing the kindness the sisters have for all things "different" is perfect. It sets up for them not only being different, but also being viewed as outcasts by certain people of the town, such as the more religious folk.

I did find it a little difficult to read. It is one of those ones that you have to remind yourself that you are reading as a character based in the 50s-60s. Took a little more concentration, but once you were reading, you were pulled so in depth to the story that it is like you are right there with them. There is also the fact that one sister can see ghosts. Both can speak to Cale, as he has been around for so long, once I realized he was a ghost that part of the story was always interesting. We have all heard the legends of Hallows Eve right? Where the veil is thinnest and the dead walk the earth? Probably my favorite part!

The fact that both sisters have different affinities for different types of spells or magic was another bonus. No two people are the same, so why would witches be. Which is also different from other books where all spells can be learned. I like that this book focused on one sister, but i wonder if it would be beneficial to view the story from the other sister's point of view as well.. Right now the other sister is seen as almost a bully, but yet she also doesn't seem to care what other people think. Could that be a facade?

Overall, the book was great! The fact that it closes off the important/main focus of this book but yet also leaves just enough loose strings for the next book was very well done. I can't wait to see what happens next!

As anyone from the Appalachians knows, magic is still very much alive there. The Spencer sisters—Jewel Spencer and Leona Monroe—know this better than just about anyone in their little town of Ames. Both are trained in healing and witchcraft, and Leona has a special aptitude for seeing and speaking to ghosts. And all of those skills will come in handy when a gruesome murder plagues the tiny town.

The ritualistic killing isn't just gory to look at: it's affected the ghost of its victims and other ghosts in the vicinity. This could potentially extend to Cale, Leona's long-time ghostly confidant and (according to many) ill-advised crush. But things grow more complex as more players enter the field: a charismatic preacher and his ghoulish brother, a band of werewolves to whom Leona's abusive husband is indebted, and a second murder victim. And Halloween is just around the corner, meaning magic and danger will both be in the air.

This intro to the world of the Spencer Sisters is equal parts delightful and terrifying. Folk magic blends with small-town police procedural, and the rules of this supernatural world are laid out in full (with a few variants from the norm). Most intriguing, though, is the lurking threat of magic use, as Leona balances her desire to do good with her understandably turbulent emotions. The ending leaves the door open for more adventures for the sisters... but not everyone makes it out of the first book alive.

This one was a tough one for me to get into and unfortunately I had to DNF around the 30% mark. That doesn't mean it's not good, just wasn't my cup of tea.

I will rate it 3 stars because the author put their time and energy into writing this novel.

The cover is very pretty

Thank you Netaglley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows two witch sisters, Leona and Jewel, who try to figure out the person behind some gruesome murders in a small Appalachian town.
This book has creatures that go bump in the night, spells, werewolves, and sisterly bond.
I loved this book! It was well written and vividly detailed. The style of writing also was immersive enough to distinguish the sisters accents.
The only thing that I wish this book had was a little more back story of the sisters and how they came about their powers.
Thank you NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing for the opportunity to read an ARC of Root and Bone.

This story takes place in a small town known as Ames which is an Appalachian town. If you’re familiar with the Appalachian region then you’re familiar with some of the myths and lores surrounding this area. Two women, Leona and Jewel, are Granny Women - or essentially as we would call them - witches. When a woman is brutally murdered in Ames, the Spencer Sisters must use their insight and magical abilities to find out why a woman was brutally murdered in this small town.

This book is heavy with Appalachian dialect and customs. As someone who has family that lives in a small Appalachian town, I had no issues understanding the Spencer Sisters and the other characters in this book. The things both women go through (i.e. with their husbands) is reflective of the time period in which the story takes place (after WW2 so assuming that this is around the late 50s and early 60s).

Leona is more traditional and Jewel is more eclectic and free spirited. But they work together almost seamlessly when the time calls for it and after they discover a friend has been murdered, they join forces with the friendly spirit named Cale to figure out what is going on.

This book is filled with myths and lores of Appalachia. It’s filled with magic, horror, gore. I enjoyed the writing and it was an enjoyable and easy read overall.

This is a series I believe if not it should be .

Sleepy town with witchcraft only two that process it two sisters both completely different . Elements of the paranormal I loved it 🥰

The dialogue was too much..."ain't" being consistently used and the southern colloquialisms turned me off immediately. But telling a child to "get their own switch" was the final bit for me. It probably would have been a good read, but I found myself annoyed by the characters. Would probably do well with readers familiar with that upbringing. However, this Appalachia born and raised reader felt it was stereotyped, but not in a good way. This, unfortunately was a DNF.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Raney, and Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing for the eARC of Root and Bone.

Set in a 1950s small town, this witchy read follows sisters Leona and Jewel as they uncover supernatural forces behind a series of murders. Practical Magic vibes! While the end feels rushed, the characters are intriguing, namely Cale, Granny Kay and Peggy.
Be sure to check TW!

3.5/5 ⭐️

Well there is a lot to be said about Root and Bone and I can sum it up in one word..LOVE. From the cover to the very last page it was brilliant. It was warm, it was “real” and it embraced a lot of lore and legend. This is very much my reading style as far as developing characters that I care about. I sometimes get nervous when I see a book that isn’t even released yet being part of a series, but in this case, BRING THEM ALL. I cannot wait for the next installment and as of May 15th this is my favorite read of the year.

Root and Bone follows the Spencer Sisters, Leona and Jewel, as their usually quiet town is rocked by a seemingly unsolvable murder that only the Spencers can get to the bottom of. Expect witchcraft, supernatural creatures, a very 1950s setting and punchy dialogue as the two witches try to manage their family lives, conceal the extent of their powers and avoid the gaze of some heavily religious villagers.
I really enjoyed the dialogue in this book, and I found it a very fast paced read as the mystery unravelled. I very much hope we see a bit more from Jewel's perspective in the series- I love how she used her magic to her advantage unapologetically, compared to Leona's more cautious approach. The plot developed very naturally without over- or under- explanation, and the side characters were just as full of personality as the main characters.
One key selling point of this book is definitely the colloquial writing style- overall I think this was definitely a positive, however some of the phrases and words used didn't work for me ('carrot' being one of them). I also think that while the witchcraft and supernatural aspects of the plot were well developed, the family side of things felt a bit like it was pushed to the side for convenience. A lot of the more serious topics were glossed over and some of the fairly central characters were just missing for a good part of the book, perhaps to make it easier for the sisters to do their thing.
Overall I'd rate this a 3.5 stars, it was an enjoyable read, and I will definitely be reading the next in the series.

I DNFed this book. The writing is poor. The magic is underdeveloped. I didn't care about the plot and I actively hated the main characters. It's not cute, or clever, or a girl boss moment to drug your husband. It just makes me think maybe he's not the abuser we're being told he is. It's not cute or clever to wipe someone's memories so you can walk into their house and raid a crime scene for clues. It's just a dick move. I gave up on this relatively early because I wanted nothing to do with the main characters. Spending another couple hundred pages with them sounded hellish. It's not completely unreadable so the final rating is 1.5 ⭐.

Thanks to Netgalley, Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing, and IBPALovesIndies for this copy of "Root and Bone."

Leona and Jewel are sisters in rural Appalachian Ohio who grew up with a family heritage of "root and bone" magic. They learned their skills from Granny Kay, who also taught their mother.

They use their combined talent to help investigate brutal murders in their community that might have been caused by malevolent magic.

In this town with ghosts, ghouls, vampires, and werewolves, will they get the help they need to solve the murders in time?

3 1/2 stars. An interesting book that combines mystery, magic and a 1950s small town. Life isn't easy and Leona and Jewel, sisters, have very different attitudes towards magic and life in general. But if the murder of young women is to be stopped and the evil that just arrived into town is to be defeated they will need each other, and a few friends to make it work.

There is a lot going on in this book, an introduction to a new series, magic creatures and a number of people. Top it all off with the claustrophobia of a small town where too many people know that the sisters have powers which means they are often feared and hated, and a conservative attitude leaves both Leona and Jewel in bad marriages that are abusive. That part was hard to handle and at the same time I didn't really connect to how Leona felt about it most of the time.

Overall, it was an interesting storyline and a more gritty than you find in most cozies. In fact I don't think I would really call this a cozy. Parts felt a bit rough but there is a lot of potential in this series.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Unfortunately for me this was a DNF at the 25% mark. The story was not interesting and there wasn’t any real hook to make me want to continue reading. I did like the distinct dialect they had but for the plot, I just couldn’t get into it. I have read other books with magic themes that I enjoyed, but again, for me I just did not connect with this story at all. Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Raney and Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Cursed Dragon Publishing and Jessica Raney for this ARC!

The sleepy town of Ames is rocked by a gruesome murder of a young girl woman, and Leona, and her sister Jewel are the only ones capable of solving the crime given their proclivity to magic and all things mystical. As the pair work their way through the mysteries of the case, and try to prevent more murders from happening, more magical creatures and problems reveal themselves. Root and Bone delves into independence, sisterhood, domestic abuse, being different, and small town living.

Overall, I love how gritty and dark this story was. I liked how each magical creature was presented, though at times I feel like some could have had some more depth, though maybe we will get that in the next book. It is a bit hard to depict the timeframe of the book, though that didn’t really bother me. At times the heavy use of small town colloquialisms made reading and getting into the story a bit difficult at times, though I understand why the author used them. If you love witches, mystical creatures, and true crime, you will want to check this book out!

While reading this book I loved the witchy aspects within this book as well as the timeline it was around. It took me a moment to get into the book but once I started getting a good understanding of the story and characters, I was invested with what was going on. I wanted a little more to the plot but I really loved the characters and wanted to know more.
The supernatural creatures within this book was what I wanted while reading it! Between the vampires, werewolves, etc. Adding more hints of mystery/horror which I loved. As the book moved a little slow for me and I was trying to grasp everything going on I would still recommend this book to people who are interested in witchy vibes/ supernatural beings.

I really enjoyed all the witchy aspects of this book. The story is set in around 1960s or 1970s, which isn't specifically mentioned, but there is a retro vibe to the entire book. It is a lot of information to take in as the book reads slowly and is a lot of world building.

There is a bunch of supernatural creatures like ghosts, werewolves, vampires, etc and they make a appearance more frequently after the cemetery scene which makes the book a lot more horror. The sisters learnt witchcraft from their Granny Kay and both have their own vows on how to use this magic when growing up which tests their relationship. There is love in the book. VERY unexpected love but it's sweet and filled with drama since it's with a ghost and Leona is actually married with a child but it was a nice add in.

Overall the book was actually a better read than I expected. I can never be disappointed about a book with witches but adding murder mystery and romance made it a lot easier to get passed the length it took me to get through the 300+pages. This is a book about witches, but also about women and their struggles in a world dominated by men. It’s brutal at times and the majority of the men in this story are horrible people!

3.5 stars

This book had some good themes of the strength of a woman, specifically back in the days where women were powerless in society. The sister’s bond was the focal point of this story and it made the book good, especially as more supernatural creatures were introduced throughout the book!

The mystery plot was lacking for me, I struggled to connect to it, the way I was concerting with the sister’s family and marriage drama, along with the Galen drama. However, I did like how it all connected in the end! The ghost romance was new to me, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it!

While this wasn’t my favorite paranormal book, I am interested in continuing the series in the future!

Root and bone was a magical mysterious read, while I enjoyed the story I think I would have gotten greater enjoyment from it had there been a bit more backstory and context of the characters and setting.
It is still an interesting read however with a witchy mystery to it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.
I really enjoyed this book. It has magic, werewolves, vampires and ghosts! I felt like the end half of the book was crammed with a lot of action.