Reviews tagging 'Incest'

All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter

25 reviews

effingunicorns's review against another edition

4.0

Whoever wrote the summary for this book needs to get off of BookTok, because the expectations I went in with were wildly misinformed. What you might think this book is about, based on the summary, cover, and available digital sample text: a young woman caught between the twin points of family drama and some manner of entanglement with mermaids, probably inherently connected, and all centered around the family's ancestral coastal home. Maybe like What Big Teeth, except with more marriage plots and fewer werewolves. What the book is actually about: the main character dodges all of that stuff early on to go traipsing into the countryside through a series of fairy tales and folklore, gets entangled in a whole other set of family drama, and finally addresses the issues she entered the story on almost as an afterthought.

It's not by any means a bad book--I love fairy tale bullshit, so I would've gone for it either way--but it's very much a different beast from what the available information would indicate, and I think people should be aware of that.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual content, Incest, and Domestic abuse

flyingwuzzle's review

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Gore, Death of parent, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Slavery, Alcohol, Sexual content, Incest, Child death, Abandonment, Blood, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I think this was pretty good- an atmospheric gothic tale about the remaining heiress to a mysterious family and their lost fortune. It’s about finding out who you are by looking for your past - how it shaped you but how you shape yourself. It’s also about merfolk and folk creatures and bargains. 

It had some great prose and wonderful world building. Either done via descriptions or done via thru the family book of tales. The vaguely Irish/Scottish influences here were great to pull from n

I would rate it higher if it had stuck a bit more to its feminist ideals. The main character is strong, but all the women in the book stand opposite her save one. It also has some elements of world building that ended up nowhere that I had wanted to see explored. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment and Incest

Minor: Child death

Biggest thing to know going in is that the family used to marry off first cousins to each other to “keep the blood pure”. It’s not explicitly ever shown on screen, it’s only just a terrible fact of the history of her family that’s discussed. It’s appropriately frowned on by her and everyone else save for the family itself.

imds's review

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Body horror, Murder, Violence, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Sexual violence, Self harm, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny

lindsayflor_95's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Incest, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Incest, and Child death

purplesapphire's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

se deaI have to say, I almost DNFed this one once it was a third of the way in and nothing had seemed to happen for me. Then, one point made me stick around and the last quarter was a WILD ride. Definitely dark and sticks to the gothic genre well. Give it a longer chance than you might usually and you won't regret it. There are some good twists in there too.

I also have to say I appreciated this version of a strong female MC and women in general. They were strong, vindictive, greedy, sly, soft, smart, kind, and feminine all in one without it being forced or badly written. They were just written as real people. Then you add the witch parts, and the ghouls parts and it makes for a great tale. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, and Incest

Moderate: Misogyny, Gaslighting, Murder, Blood, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Sexual assault and Toxic relationship

yvonne_does's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Sexism, Suicide, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death and Incest

Minor: Animal death

chainsiren's review

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, and Incest

imaginaryalchemist's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This is a dark, haunting fantasy story about family secrets and forging your own path.

I loved the stories within the story that helped unravel the mystery of Miren's family. (They're apparently all in a collection AG Slatter wrote, and I'd love to read it if I can get my hands on a copy.)

I love stories with magical and supernatural elements, so I enjoyed the inclusion of mythical and folkloric creatures. Mer feature very heavily in the story, and it also has creatures such as selkies and kelpies.

I also enjoyed the way the story's many mysteries unravelled. It kept me engaged. I wanted to see Miren solve them and learn all her family's secrets.

Slatter's prose drew me in immediately. It helped paint the picture of the world Miren lives in.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this book! I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in dark, gothic fantasy and folklore.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Murder, and Child death

Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual content

There are a couple scenes with sexual content but it doesn't get graphic. There are also mentions of the abuse Miren experiences at the hands of her cousin Aidan. There are, however, a lot of mentions of incest, child sacrifice, child death, and murder.

skrulls's review

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Confinement, Incest, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol, Stalking, and Alcoholism