The Drowning Woods follows eighteen-year-old, Water Diviner Mererid "Mer" who has been running from the ruthless prince for years. One day, the prince's spymaster turns up with a proposition to take down the prince and get the vengeance she deserves. I will 100% be reading more of Lloyd-Jones' work now (especially The Bone Houses); her writing style is so beautiful, and the 'fairy tale' description you've no doubt seen alongside this book is right on the money. I really hope ELJ writes more books set in this world, because I adored the worldbuilding and magic system, and would absolutely love to see more of it.

Once upon a time, the kingdoms of Wales were rife with magic and conflict – and eighteen-year-old Mererid ‘Mer’ is well-acquainted with both. As the last living water diviner, she can manipulate water with magic – a unique elemental power many would kill to possess. Mer’s diviner power was so fun to read. Every obstacle she encountered forced her to use her magic in a new and exciting way. The magic system as a whole makes perfect sense and is versatile enough to be different depending on each time it is used and whoever is using it.I really love this story, friends. It contains some of my favorite characters: the last living water diviner, a fae-cursed young man, the chaotic-good heir to a thieves guild, and a corgi that may or may not be a spy. It’s one part dark fairytale and one part heist. The tale of Cantre'r Gwaelod has many variations - but at the center of several was a young woman, a keeper of a magical well. It was her fault, many of the myths said, that the kingdom was sunk. And I found myself wondering about her. Who was this girl? What would the story be like if told from her perspective?

The Gaelic was beautifully interwoven, and even though some of the names were very foreign to me, I was able to read this effortlessly. I liked how the mythology was explored, at times humorous, but very informative. This is such a solid fantasy heist and I loved the characters and the betrayals they committed and the sacrifices they made. What makes it even better is that the setting isn’t very common in fantasy. Whilst fantasy certainly favors the British isles, Wales is unfortunately often forgotten about. This however, was unmistakably Welsh and while welsh names are a bit of a tongue twister for me, I absolutely loved them, especially since it’s a retelling of a Welsh legend. I have noticed a trend of retelling a myth, legend or fairytale from a certain culture and then erasing that culture from the story and sometimes even giving the characters more English names, so the fact that this book didn’t do that made me incredibly happy.The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life. The greater good" is a central theme of this novel, and I loved how the author makes us question: at what point do we draw the line? At what point does justice become vengeance, and how can we, as mere individuals, choose which lives should be sacrificed, when all life is innocent and sacred? In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world. She's made to do terrible things, such as finding the wells of Garanhir's enemies so that he can poison them. This results in the deaths of many, many innocent people. Words cannot express how much I loved this book. I honestly wasn't expecting to love this book as much as I did so it's safe to say that it exceeded my expectations. I was instantly hooked from the prologue and was drawn into the world and the characters.