Joel A. SutherlandBesprekingen

I had high hopes for this book but in the end it just didn't appeal to me.

Josephine and her family are going to stay for a few days at a house they inherited from a great-aunt that none of them knew. The house is gigantic and isolated and just happens to be filled with all the things the people in the family love the best, books, musical instruments, art supplies, etc. (Just an aside here but the Mom seems to only love her family and have nothing for herself).
However, Josephine has a psychic gift that the others don't know about and is able to see the evil presence in the house. Can she save her family before it is too late?

The pacing was really slow with this novel until the last 50 or so pages. The majority of the sisters felt superfluous. Some of the plot points really didn't make sense. Overall pretty uneven.

This was a perfect book to read on a dark and stormy night. When Josephine and her family inherit a beautiful house in the woods of Vermont no one realizes it’s too good to be true except Josephine. Can she save them before it’s too late? Although I am no where near a young adult I enjoyed this and would recommend it to 7th-9th graders who love a scary story.½

A little on the cheesy side, but definitely dark. This read like a middle grade horror novel but with plenty of foul language. When Josephine and their family find out they have inherited a big old house in Canaan; the news couldn't have come at a better time. There family is in dire financial straights and this could be just the thing they need to get back on track. The house is big and creepy and better than they expected - there are five big bedrooms, one for each daughter and the rooms seem perfectly suited to each of them. So why does Josephine feel ill at ease? Soon her memory starts to go foggy and soon she starts to suspect that they aren't the only ones living in the house. Genuinely creepy at moments, but there was somehow both a lot and not a lot going on at the same time. Just an ok novel with a meh ending.

When a deceased unknown relative leaves Josephine's family a house, they go to check it out. Her family's memories seem to be mossy as soon as they arrive. Each room is perfect just for the sisters. The food, dropped off by the lawyer is the tastiest thing ever. Josephine has long has powers over other people that she carefully controls. And she alone seems to be immune to whatever is happening to her family. Although, she soon becomes aware of Dorcas, some kind of evil haunting the house that wants to trap her family there and feed off of them. There are some good twists and turns. It took me awhile to get through the book which probably led to a more disjointed reading experience for me.

I received a review copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

To say this book was a real surprise is quite the understatement. I genuinely was not expecting it to be as spooky and dark as it was!

House of Ash and Bone starts with Josephine Jagger in a van with her four sisters and her parents, travelling for a week's vacation between Christmas and New Year's at an old house in Vermont that has been left to them by their heretofore unknown great-great aunt Mercy.

The spookiness starts right away, with the stately old home having not only enough bedrooms for each girl to have her own but each room has a closet containing something they are deeply interested in - musical instruments, paints and accessories, jewellery and vintage clothes, and for Josephine a library of her favourite books. Josie starts to notice that she and her family are forgetting things almost as soon as they happen and she soon sees a terrifying eyeless woman. I really enjoyed how Sutherland worked in the real history of witch trials and a real 4 year old child accused of witchcraft.

The horror is actually much more sophisticated than I expected, to Sutherland's credit, while still retaining the mindset of a 17 year old girl not only unsure of what is happening but of all aspects of herself. As well as hitting some classics of the ghost/haunted house genre, there's some aspects of The Dionaea House, a truly creepy viral online horror story about a house that is more than it seems and that devours its inhabitants, in the book that I absolutely love. The way the family kept forgetting everything that happened was very well done, adding a level of tension.

PS: I really liked that there were small parts of Josie questioning her sexuality. Just enough to make Josie feel more real.

Excellent young adult novel. Both the writing and the plot provided ample spookiness. For those in the younger crowd who are fans of ghosts, witches, and tales of horror, this is definitely recommended for a spooky-season read.

Tension builds from page to page in this fast-paced thriller, where ghosts can do more than scare. They mess with the mind.

Josephine's family declares a sudden week vacation the day after Christmas and heads off to Vermont and a house some dead aunt left them. The troubles begin when her earbuds brake. Josephine hears others' thoughts and can't protect her mind...or that of others...when she sleeps. But that soon becomes the least of her concerns as everything about the house takes an odd twist. Sure, the pantry is stocked full of the most delicious foods and each bedroom seems made for each person. Even the corresponding closet holds a vast array of each individuals desires. Yet, there's something in the shadows. Something cruel and hungry, and it's playing with their minds.

During the first pages, I became convinced that this is a twist on Hansel and Gretel, and a clever one at that. The family is lead to the house only to find everything they desire. There are rumors about past residents, which flow in the Hansel/Gretel direction, and even an evil ghost/witch. There are many wonderful twists and turns in this read as the plot thickens, and the tension builds. It flows nicely and is chucked full of surprises with just the right amount of chills. The quick-pace keeps boredom away and the pages turning, while the dialogue draws in.

While I enjoyed reading this, I'm not sure which audience it fits with age wise. The story line, vocabulary, and details do make this a solid young adult read, since it's definitely not meant for middle graders. And yet, Josephine comes across as a 11/12-year-old in her thoughts, actions, speech, and concerns. The weaker character depth of the side characters as well as the pure acceptance of odd events (even with the mind-play) also slides this more toward the younger age category. Yet, this isn't a middle grade read by any stretch of the imagination.

I did enjoy this story quite a bit. It's original, well-woven, and grippingly written. Those who enjoy thrillers, which may seem lighter at times while still packing punch, should take a peek at this one. I won a copy through Library Thing and found it to be an engaging read.

A family moves to a creepy old house in the rural part of New England and must deal with a spectral menace. This could have easily tread old ground and been a banal read. But Joel Sutherland deftly navigated those pitfalls and crafted a plot that was original and well paced. The plot unfolded well, and the narration reliability, crucial to the story, was well done. He did a very good job with keeping you confused as to all the characters motivations and even their existence. The atmosphere was suitably murky and even his flashbacks to the main characters past was handled well. He kept you guessing and that is a crucial element to this type of story.

House of Bone and Ash by Joel A. Sutherland is the perfect book for tweens who enjoy the supernatural with a dash of horror. The mystery that surrounds the house that Josephine and her family inherited from an aunt they never met, is slowly revealed over the course of the book. Along the way, the reader and Josephine, encounters various ghosts, and is continually trying to figure out if what they are seeing/reading is real or all in Josephine’s imagination.

Since there are so many sisters, only a couple get a lot of character development. Most of the development is shown in Josephine, Dorca, and a couple of the kids that seem to roam the woods all the time. Where this book really shines is with Josephine learning to believe in herself. It shows that even with horrors going on around you, if you educate yourself and believe in your abilities, you can accomplish great things.

As with most horror though, there is a fun twist at the end that will leave you wondering if there is more to come…

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. #readtundra
A good young adult horror book. This story follows Josephine and her family—mom, dad and sisters—when they unexpectedly inherit a house and make a trip to go check it out. Things seem suspicious right at the beginning, but Josephine is the only one who takes notice, with the two main reasons being that she has special powers and that the other members of her family have begun experiencing collective memory loss. As the story unfolds Josephine discovers the long and sinister history of the house and how her family has been lured there to serve as an evil entity’s way of becoming immortal. While having a good premise and a plot that I could easily picture being a movie, I feel like some of the descriptions of the every day things that Josephine did were a bit of an overkill. The story moved at a moderate pace, but I still found myself needing to take breaks from reading because I would get a bit bored. Not to say that the story was boring, but there were some parts that could have been omitted or at least shortened. Also, some elements in Josephine discovering a solution weren’t entirely believable to me. I do think it was an interesting story and a unique take on the haunted house trope so I would recommend reading this book.

I could not get into this story even though I thought some elements had potential. The plot was pretty predictable and kind of cheesy. The characters were undeveloped and uninteresting. The idea that the characters' memories are being erased and rewritten constantly had a lot of potential for unsettling, creeping horror, but it didn't get there for me. There wasn't enough tension caused by it and it got a bit boring.

House of Ash and Bone has everything a horror novel needs. Creepy house, check, ghosts, witches, and minor gore... check, check, and check! The suspense was perfectly paced and kept me turning the pages.

With everyone's memories being messed with, there was not a lot of character development, but the plot and small character developments were enough to propel the story along. Josephine hearing the thoughts of others could have easily been abused, giving her more information than her character should have, but I never felt like it was overused. I was glad to see her ability tied into the story and wasn't just a plot crutch.

Overall, this was an incredible spooky season read that every horror fan should add to their list. Don't let its Young Adult classification scare you away!

Thank you, Tundra Books, Penguin Random House, and LibraryThing, for my copy of this excellent novel!

I won this through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program; it arrived on 23 October 2023. I am also an adult who enjoys YA fiction, and tries to review it with the intended audience in mind.

HOUSE OF ASH AND BONE has a fantastic cover and an interesting premise, but it never really clicked for me. Some bits were foreshadowed so far in advance it was hard not to get frustrated with the delayed culmination, and the characterization was definitely thin. I'm struggling to think of any defining feature of Josephine's mother aside from "she loves her kids"; at least the father shows some personality. Josephine is supposed to be 16/17, but doesn't come across that way. There were just too many cliches at play that weren't given new life. A house inherited from a mysterious relative. (Seriously, in this economy, don't we ALL want a mysterious great-aunt to leave us some property?) Young family going to a remote location hoping it will solve their problems. A spirit only one person can see. None of the weaknesses are deal-breakers, but they certainly didn't bolster the story. Sutherland's writing is solid and I know this is first YA novel, so maybe he just needs to find his footing. He certainly has good ideas; I just thought they needed a better foundation.

I was totally drawn into this novel, the dangerous and insistant elements wouldn't let go. Its hard to believe this is a debut novel......such great characters, atmosphere and timing..........I'd recommend to anyone, esp horror fans.

The tone of the stories in HAUNTED CANADA 4 is spot-on — creepy, atmospheric, and dramatic — and the ick factor is fairly high. Sutherland provides enough detail to make each story plausible, and every story ends with a wry comment about the location, the personalities, or the gruesome, ghastly action. The book offers a solid seasonal go-to for a classroom library and would make an accessible choice for readers exploring fantasy, history, tall tales, and folk stories.

Read my complete review in RESOURCE LINKS 20.2 (December 2014).

Jake's Review: This book is really long and it doesn't have a story (Mom's note: Yes I did explain to him non-fiction afterward s) I still liked it though, but I didn't want to read it all at once. There were lots of great ideas on how to write and also some fun games. I really, really liked all the illustrations (Jake learned a new word, used to call them pictures). I wish it was a bit shorter but with some more fun activities. I would like to keep it though, to help me with writing in school. I have a question though if the person who wrote this book is a boy, why are there girls on the cover. (Mom's note -- hmm I think a conversation on sexism is in order). I liked the silly questions with the authors. You can tell this guy is a Librarian because he has the same weird sense of humour as you.

Jake's Rating: 8/10

Mom's Review: Ok, I would like to start out this review with the fact that I now have a crush on this author. Don't worry Joel, I am not going to hit on you if I ever meet you for two main reasons. Reason 1, I am a married women with two boys -- I have enough testosterone in my life thank you very much (not to mention huge repertoire of fart and pee jokes already). Reason #2 you are a Librarian and I am only a mere Library Technician (hmm, any of my readers know the difference) and I have enough psychological issues due to my experience working in this library field. OK., OK. now that I have got that confession off my chest, YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK. I wish I had this when I was young, it would have made writing so much easier and fun and who knows it might have helped me get into University where I could have become an ACRUAL Librarian (hee Hee). Seriously though, this is a great book on helping kids to write and encourage them to read more. It is done in such a way that the little heathens (sorry rough week with my kids) won't even know they are learning. The advice he gives is easy to understand and the writing games are lots of fun. The writing is quirky and fun and kids will feel like he is actually talking to them. The Silly interviews with the author are fun and informative and include some of my fav Canadian Authors (Robert Munsch, Melanie Watt, and Helaine Becker). The author also has an interview with Sean Cullen who I saw many times in my college days in Corky and the Juice Pigs. This is a MUST HAVE resource for all School, Class and Public Libraries.
Mom's Rating: 25/10 (He is a Librarian -- and a cute one at that -- I have to give it a high rating, it's part of my contract as a slave to the all mighty Librarians I work for)

We received this book from Scholastic in exchange for an honest review. Thank Nicole - I owe you HUGE for this one