Book review - Brick Dust and Bones

 

Title: Brick Dust and Bones

Author: M.R. Fournet

Genre: fantasy/horror

Similar books: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

                     Jackaby by William Ritter*

Rating:

 

solid world building and spooky atmosphere

Summary (provided by publisher): Marius Grey hunts Monsters. He's not supposed to. He's only twelve and his job as a Cemetery Boy is to look after the ghosts in his family's graveyard. He should be tending these ghosts and–of course–going to school to learn how to live between worlds without getting into trouble.
But, Marius has an expensive goal. He wants to bring his mother back from the dead, and that takes a LOT of mystic coins, which means a LOT of Monster Hunting, and his mother’s window to return is closing.
If he wants her back, Marius is going to have to go after bigger and meaner monsters, decide if a certain flesh-eating mermaid is a friend or foe, and avoid meddling Demons and teachers along the way. Can Marius navigate New Orleans’s gritty monster bounty-hunting market, or will he have to say goodbye to his mother forever?

My opinion: The world building here is pretty ingenious. It's a sort of magical realism. The setting is our own world just with magical elements. A sort of magical shadow culture that the uninitiated can't perceive. So there is no need to waste time with huge amounts of culture and history, just a little bit of lore. The main thing that needs explaining is Monster Hunting and that is naturally integrated into the plot. While we don't understand everything Marius does in the moment we get explanation soon enough. It's action oriented and his time constraints drive the plot forward. The characters aren't especially deep but that's not uncommon for a middle grade novel. Especially in a book that, as with this one, feels primed for a sequel. The Louisiana setting is strong and the monsters are used to full effect. Especially impressive is the use of lesser known monsters - things like boo hags and rougarous. It has scary moments but isn't a total fright fest so it shouldn't be too much for young readers.

*Jackaby is probably appropriate for an older audience than this one, but the child who enjoys this one will grow into the other series.