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On paper, Hallowed Bones contains an impressive number of things I am almost guaranteed to enjoy: Salem, witches, a haunted college, secret societies, cursed families, morally questionable men and a heroine who has no idea why everyone around her is acting so suspicious. Unfortunately, having all the correct ingredients did not automatically turn this into a five-star meal for me. It was more like being served a beautiful appetizer and then discovering the actual entrée is coming in book two.
Haven Wardwell arrives at Ipswich College after receiving an unexpected scholarship connected to her late father. The school is old, isolated and apparently incapable of having a normal hallway that is not haunted by a ghost or hiding some terrible family secret. Once there, Haven meets Ezra, Cameron, Lyall and Reyes—the Sons of Salem, descendants of four families accused of witchcraft alongside her own. As Haven begins uncovering the truth about her family and her connection to the men, it becomes clear that their shared history involves witches, ancient gods, cursed bloodlines and something dangerous waiting beneath the surface.
The setting was easily my favorite part. The Salem history, autumn weather, ancient buildings and supernatural activity created exactly the dark-academia mood the cover promises. Ipswich College feels appropriately unsettling, and there is always the sense that Haven has wandered into a place where everyone else received a handbook explaining the supernatural rules except her.
The central mystery also gave me enough reason to keep reading. Haven does not understand what she is, why she was brought to the school or why the four men seem to know far more about her than they are willing to say. There are deaths, prophecies, family secrets and hints that something much larger is happening. I wanted answers, even when I occasionally forgot which person was withholding which piece of information from whom.
That was also part of my problem. The book introduces a lot at once: five families, four male leads, several points of view, magical history, ancient beings, secret organizations and complicated connections between nearly everyone on campus. Despite all that information, I frequently felt like I understood the mood better than I understood the actual world. The mythology sounds interesting, but much of it remains vague enough that I never felt firmly grounded in how everything worked.
The multiple perspectives should have helped me connect with the characters, but most of them still felt more like assigned roles than fully developed people. We have the brooding one, the softer one, the dangerous one and the quieter intellectual one, but I wanted more time seeing who they were beyond their attraction to Haven and their places within the group. There are glimpses of stronger dynamics between them, yet the book moves on before many of those relationships can gain much depth.
Then there is the romance—or, more accurately, the immediate supernatural group fixation on Haven.
I enjoy a why-choose romance, so the number of men was not the issue. My problem was that the attraction arrived before I had a reason to care about any of the relationships. The magical bond may explain why everyone feels drawn to one another, but it does not automatically create emotional chemistry. Destiny can introduce people; it cannot do all the relationship development for them.
The book repeatedly tells us how powerful the desire between Haven and the Sons is, but I needed more conversations, trust-building and actual shared experiences to believe in anything beyond lust. Everyone seemed ready to rearrange their entire existence around Haven almost immediately, while I was still trying to remember their last names. I am willing to accept magical soul connections, but I would also enjoy seeing these people get to know each other over a coffee.
The pacing was another mixed experience. Individual chapters moved easily enough, but the larger plot felt slow because so much of the book is devoted to placing everyone on the board. There are creepy incidents, suspicious deaths and important revelations, yet the story often circles back to Haven wondering what she is and the men refusing to give her complete answers. After a while, I began to feel like we were all waiting for someone to finally distribute the supernatural orientation packet.
Still, I did not dislike Hallowed Bones. The atmosphere worked, the concept has plenty of potential and the final stretch gave me a better idea of where the series may be heading. The ending was strong enough that I would consider reading the next book, especially now that the introductions are hopefully out of the way and the larger plot can fully begin.
I gave Hallowed Bones three stars. It delivered the dark, witchy aesthetic I wanted, but I needed stronger character development, clearer worldbuilding and relationships built on more than magical attraction. There is an interesting story somewhere inside all these cursed families and haunted hallways; I am just not convinced this first book gave us enough of it yet.