Middle Grade Review // Brick Dust and Bones by M.R. Fournet

A twelve-year-old cemetery boy and monster hunter–along with his flesh-eating mermaid friend–has to race against the clock to save the ghost of his dead mother in Brick Dust and Bones, M.R. Fournet's magical middle grade debut.

Nothing’s more dangerous than a monster hunter with a mission.

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?

I've been on a horror middle-grade kick these last couple of months and I never expected to read one so wholesome. Cemetary Boy, Marius Gray is a monster hunter. Every monster he defeats he receives a mystic coin. The higher the level of difficulty of defeating a monster, the more mystic points he receives. He takes drastic measures to gain more coins in order to bring his mother back from the dead. His mother who he hears behind him wherever he goes but can never see. 

He has no family and lives alone except for his best friend who happens to be a flesh-eating mermaid. The description of her eating will assure you that she isn't a Little Mermaid type of mermaid. She's definitely classed as a monster but Marius refuses to turn her in since she's an orphan too. She also doesn't eat any humans thanks to Marius' guidance but always loves eating all the seafood Marius brings her. I love their relationship. It's really where you first see who Marius is as a person. He's the nicest kid ever and deserves a hug. He repeatedly proves that throughout the book. He gave off strong Percy Jackson vibes with his sense of loyalty and justice. 

I don't know why but books set in Louisiana are always so wonderful. I loved the accents of the other characters and the descriptions of food. The monsters were also all so terrifyingly described. I have been looking for more horror books to recommend because K.R. Alexander is popular now with readers and Brick Dust and Bones will be my go-to for a very long time.