Beneath A Thousand Skies

Summary:

Armed with her well-worn Field Guide to Cryptids of North America and a macabre sense of enthusiasm, Ana’s mission to visit and capture evidence of every known cryptid in the United States puts her on the trail of the elusive Covey Devil. Not many people are willing to spend their winter break looking for monsters, but Ana’s trio of friends seem up for whatever the adventure entails.

Forest of Bones absolutely nails the atmosphere, and slow build of tension – with some spectcular imagery, and it was so easy to imagine being amongst snow-laden trees, and crunching across the floor.

It did require a slight suspension of belief, and not so much with the cryptid side of things – which were actually some of my favourite parts, from the build up of Ana’s interest in the subject and history of hunting them, to how that guided the storyline to this forest and Lady Covey living in its shadows. No, where I struggled a little was with the idea of these four girls just heading off into the forest in the depth of winter, partly on a lark – not for all of them – without much in the way of equipment, some reluctance and with at least one very anxious about what could happen. Especially, after the author establishes the threat of this cold time of year very early on when the car slides on ice. On the other hand, there is the folly of youth and the drive of Ana’s passion (and later reveals), but it did make me question what they were doing.

Thomas does a good job of establishing the four girls (I will say I was never entirely certain on their ages) as four very distinct personalities and voices in a short space of time. We certainly get to know Ana a lot better than the others, or at least it feels like we do. The length of the story meant that it was hard to be completely invested in each character and their fate, but what I found was that the interactions, the shift as events unfolded and the final reveal, actually added greater impact to each character. Lady Covey was interesting from the beginning, a blend of the ‘old lady’ in the woods, almost grandmotherly and just a little off from the beginning – and she was a character that for me at least misled my thoughts on where this story would go, in the best of ways.

The misdirection really worked for me, and there was a twist at the end that I hadn’t been expecting and even in retrospect with little hints, the twist was beautifully woven into the story. Thomas does a fantastic job of building up Ana’s history of cryptid hunting in a short space of time, so that everything that followed, felt like it fit into that trajectory.

What I really want is a longer version of this story, with more time to dive into the characters, but also more time to dive into the lore and traditions. However, as a story in its own right it was a fantastic read, and I will be checking out more of the author’s work.