when a local girl is brutally killed and the police are struggling to solve the case, witch sisters leona and jewel deduce that supernatural causes are involved, taking it upon themselves to uncover the mystery.

leona, the central witch, is much more cautious and calculated than her sister jewel, as she aims to only have good intentions with her magic even though a dangerous voice calls out to her. jewel matches her elder sister perfectly, acting moreso on impulse than consideration, and these complementing personalities aid the sister’s in properly solving the crimes. although the characterisation in this book is fairly surface level, with these contrasting personalities alongside the differences of good versus evil in leona’s mind, raney is still able to explore the complexities of the human psyche.

the story featured a very quick pace, but the supernatural themes were still incredibly well developed. alongside this there was a wide range of occult types that made for such an interesting read and aided the fantasy in differentiating itself from anything i have ever read before. however, i did feel as though the anticipated battle seemed anticlimactic and rushed, as all of the previous build up of tension, characterisation, and fantasy, didn’t create an intense conflict and resolution. as well as this i do wish that some elements of the story had been developed; the dark voice that repeatedly attempts to destroy leona’s self control could have been given more information, especially towards the end of the book, as throughout the narrative it is recurring theme that leona has intrusive thoughts about harming others, and i wish that there could have been some physical repercussions from this. moreover, another aspect that was repeatedly referenced and then ignored is leona’s daughter; i was expecting peggy to have some place in the fantastical, religious murders, but then towards the end of the book she disappears and then returns for the final few pages.

3.5 STARS. I loved the witchy, retro vibes to this book. It was well written and had a good plot. There is a lot of world building but this is needed as the book is a standalone.

I have some questions about Cale…the age gap thing and him being a boy. But ghosts don’t age. I don’t know I’m just confused on that whole thing. Besides that the plot was enjoyable. The friendship between the two witchy main fmcs was great. This was a paranormal mystery which I’m not used to but did kind of enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing and Jessica Raney for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review:

Roughly around the mid-20th century, a small Appalachian town suffers a gruesome, ritualistic murder of a local female. While the police struggle for answers, the Spencer sisters, Leona and Jewel, quickly sense that there's something supernatural afoot. With unique magical abilities and the stubborn persistence of each sister, supernatural beings are confronted to find out more about the ensuing wickedness.

This book was a very quick read for me. It really kept my interest peaked as we saw the sisters tap into their powers and collude, if reluctantly, with other paranormal entities in order to face the darkness. I really appreciated the contrasting personalities of Leona and Jewel as well. While both strong-willed, their distinctive powers and personalities made for some comical stuff.

Though Leona, Jewell, and the other magical creatures were interesting, I was left wanting more from the characters (esp their grandma!). This could be intentional, considering this is only the first in a series. Other factors felt off as well. Leona would get herself into sticky situations but get out of them too easily? Hopefully as the series continues the magic is better flushed out with a little more root and bone and a little less Leona's inner conflict with her magic. I also had some issues with the men in the book. I couldn't understand the sister's relationships with their spouses especially since they had magic that they could use to get out of the abusive situations....

Overall, this was a 3 out of 5 for me. If you are looking for an easy read with a general cozy vibe and an intriguing supernatural murder mystery, I would give this a try. As for me, I wouldn't mind picking up the next in the series or read something else from Jessica Raney.

TW: domestic abuse, sexual exploitation/trafficking, murder, mutilation

I had a tough time with this one. I think there is potential here for a great read. It was just very dialogue heavy. There wasn't enough background given to the town, the characters, or even the time frame in which it was set. We are told in the first chapter that the only people that can solve the mystery of a missing/murdered girl is our MC Leona and her sister. Which sets the tone for us being told what's going to happen through out the whole book. The hope for a mystery gets lost when the mc's dialogue tells us what we need to know before it happens naturally in the story.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. Our two sisters' main characters, Leona and Jewels in Ames, have magic and are on an adventure to solve a murder. It was great. They're asked to help solve the murder of a young girl and, during that time, find out secrets from those around them. I recommend it.

I was actually surprised for the story and how interesting it was, seeing magic on a woman who's a mom and powerful but hiding to not being pursuit, basically magical creatures and mean priests.. I loved the concept and the story was actually interesting. I was a bit sad for Leona and Cale but we can't everything we want even if a love is powerful enough to transcend the physical from the non physical

Great plot. You meet the two Spencer sisters and quickly learn about their abilities and the big differences between the two.

They live in a small town where not much happens but when a woman is brutally murdered, Leona can't help but get involved, dragging her sister Jewel into it with her.

Granny Kay is a great addition to the story and want to read more about her!

The interactions between the sisters felt real but I hated their husbands! Bob is a vile human being and you passionately want him to get his comeuppance.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review on NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A great story with a whole host of magical creatures such as witches, ghosts, vampires and werewolves. I liked the exploration of how Leona had to resist the darkness inside her tempting to her to use dark magic while trying to save her family.
I will say it's not that I didn't like it but I do wish I had enjoyed this more. I didn't like the age gap between Leona and Cale it was a bit creepy and I don't usually mind age gaps, the characters weren't all that likable honestly I didn't really connect with them and I think overall the story just needed to be more fleshed out. I did really like the sister relationship though and the magic and the mystery aspect so I actually will be continuing if there are more books.
I would say this is a good, quick read for autumn

Characters in this book lacked development. They felt flat to me and I wish the author had taken more time to dive into each character a bit more! I would have loved to see the sister’s relationship grow with each other a bit more.

Root and Bone is a story about two sisters in Appalachia who are “Granny Women” (witches/magic wielders). They have a hilarious relationship with each other and a unique relationship with the town folk. Root and Bone has family ties, domestic strife, some action and suspense, and even a little romance. Jessica Raney blended memory flashbacks into a story that had me rooting for the Spencer sisters and hoping for a sequel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Jessica Raney for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

This book is available now!!!

Welcome to Ames, a sleepy Appalachian town and home to sisters, Leona and Jewel Spencer. It’s a witchy crime story with a paranormal twist that just didn’t appeal to me. I wasn’t engaged with the characters. The plot plodded along and I felt like DNF’ing so many times.

A book about witches, yes, please. I adored Leona and Jewel so much, they kept me wanting to read what would happen next. This book was so much fun, it was hard to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing for providing me with this eARC in return for an honest review. I had a hard time connecting with Leona and Jewel, but did really enjoy the witchy vibes and the true crime elements in the book.

Root and Bone was an entertaining story that held hints of practical magic and a bit of the diviners. The characters were well developed and you could picture their world easily. Although a few pieces of the story felt a bit predictable, it didn’t make it any less enjoyable. All in all it was a fun story and a good, quick read.

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, struggled to connect to it, the way was concerting with the sister's family and marriage drama, along with the Galen drama. However, did like how it all connected in the end! The ghost romance was new to me, and I'm not quite sure how feel about it! While this wasn't my favorite paranormal book, I am interested in continuing the series in the future!

Welcome to Ames, where the cast of characters are far from the normal in paranormal!

Sisters Leona and Jewel set out to unravel the mystery of what happened to a murdered girl. The sisters use their magic and abilities to help local sheriff solve the heinous crime and allow you a glimpse into their lives.🕵🏻‍♀️

This is the first book I read by Jessica Raney and I really enjoyed it. Very visual descriptions haunt small town Appalachia in the Spenser Sisters book 1. Perfect for fans of spooky, murder mystery and witchy vibes. 🔮

Thank you to the author, Jessica Raney, NetGalley and the publisher, Cursed Dragon Ship LLC, for the opportunity to listen to this book. I received this advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#RootandBone #NetGalley

The Spencer sisters, Leona and Jewel, are witches. Jewel's favorite magic consists of potions and poisons, while Leona's magic allows her to see ghosts on top of the same magic Jewel has. With her powers, Leona helps ghosts pass through to their eternal resting place. However, after girls start being murdered in town, Leona discovers their ghosts are cursed and out of blood--Leona's blood, to be specific. In order to figure out how to help these ghosts, Leona and Jewel must figure out who is murdering these girls. Throughout their investigation, the Spencer sisters uncover a cult run by a warlock and his vampire brother, and also a werewolf pimp who runs a sex ring and illegal gambling.

With the help from Cale, Leona's ghost boyfriend who has been with her for years, Jewel and Leona find the killers and defeat them. Cale ultimately sacrifices himself to save Leona and Jewel, and Leona is able to free to cursed ghosts and rid the town of the darkness.

I wanted to love this book, but I found it incredibly difficult to follow the dialect used by the characters. That is my biggest gripe with this book, I think. I felt that the dialect came and went throughout different parts of the book, and it seemed odd. Secondly, I enjoyed the overall storyline, but there was too much thrown in there. We didn't need warlocks, vampires, AND a werewolf, and we also didn't need a cult, sex ring, AND illegal gambling. It felt overwhelming and unrealistic for me. Lastly, the getting pregnant by a ghost, who was not a ghost on Halloween, storyline felt really forced to me. I would've loved to see Leona let Cale go and focus on herself and move on.

Rated 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

Root and Bone by Jessica Raney was simply charming. Very rarely do I read a book written in a southern voice that actually gets it right. This had the perfect Appalachian Southern Gothic vibe. Between the dialogue overflowing with personality and real-ness to the creepy spooky occult vibes, I absolutely adored everything about this story. T Jessica Raney might be an auto-buy author for me now, because there truly was not a single aspect of this story I didn’t like.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a great read, the cottage/folklore vibes were fantasic!