Review: Gingerbread Bones by Lindsay Lovise

Gingerbread Bones

by Lindsay Lovise

Release Date: August 4, 2026

2026 Entangled: Mayhem Books

Ebook ARC; 368 Pages

ISBN: 978-1649378774

ASIN: B0FJZ9R3NL

Audiobook: B0GV1GFB3X

Genre: Fiction / YA / Horror

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

4 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

When sixteen-year-old Georgie and her troublemaking brother are shipped off to the wilderness for their stepmother’s newest reality show, Georgie is convinced it’ll be the worst experience of her life. Two weeks. No phones. Hiking. Camping. Cameras catching every humiliating second.

One night, the counselors are chanting affirmations around the fire. By morning, they’re gone. But the kids are not alone. Georgie can feel it, stalking them from the shadows―watching, waiting, picking them off one by one. Whatever it is, it isn’t just hunting. It’s playing.

And in this game, there seems to be only one ending: no one gets out alive.

 

My Thoughts

Gingerbread Bones is one of those books I wanted to read because I am a huge wilderness hiker and I love books that feature people who are trapped in the wood with nowhere to go, with someone hunting them, and have to rely on their skills/luck to get out. What particularly interested me in this one though, was the fact all of these kids were labeled as 'troublesome', kids who have had difficulties in their lives and have been cast thinking they will create drama on this show conceived by none other than Georgie's awful stepmother. Personally, one of the strengths of this book for me was the interactions between the characters and slowly learning about their backgrounds.

 

I really liked Georgie as a main character as she was tough, but vulnerable at the same time.  She has had to endure her stepmother's criticisms for many years as well as the consequences of getting too much attention or liking something as her stepmom is somewhat narcissistic. I liked her relationship with her brother, how she looks out for him, but worries for his future as well as hers.  I wasn't too keen on the 'romance', but honestly, it wasn't a huge part of the book and didn't overshadow the character development of the secondary characters in this book.  The teens were distinctly unhappy to be in the woods and unprepared for what happened, not one of them having experience with hiking or surviving in the bush.  As they learned to work together, you learned more about them and about their pasts and while some of them do some things that aren't particularly well thought of, the author manages to allow them to grow and deal with their mistakes in a way that makes you want to root for them.  

 

Loosely based on Hansel and Gretel, the story moves quite rapidly from one thing to another with lots of twists and turns. It actually took me a while to figure out who the 'witch' of the woods was, but there was one thing that happened that made it suddenly click for me.  The supernatural element was only a small part of the story and actually, a part of the story that interested me the least as I was more interested in how these teens were going to survive the elements without fire and food.  

 

Verdict

Gingerbread Bones was an interesting story, but I especially liked it for the interesting characters and the way they interacted with each other.  I don't usually find horror books 'scary', but I do find they can be creepy and for me, the strength was the way the author allowed the characters to shine, faults and all. For whatever reason, this book worked. The stakes were high as they were being hunted right from the beginning; they were also fighting the elements as well as trying to work together to survive in an unfamiliar environment.  I think the only thing that didn't make sense to me was the setup of the tv show itself and how much influence Georgie's stepmom had with regards to everything, including rescue efforts, something I couldn't overlook. However, everything else kept me turning the pages and I am looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.