Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - All the Murmuring Bones

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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cherie_cheriri's review

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dark emotional mysterious relaxing tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Vibes alone: 5 stars
But if I am honest: 4.75
I really liked this, a lot. Yet, I'll be honest there are some "convenient" ways things came about in the end. The story did a great thing of pacing at the beginning and towards the middle (imo). I had some guesses along the way as to how things would go - like Miren having Mer blood, albeit it is quite thin at this point. I was rooting for her and the green-eyed footman to pair up, and that didn't end well and honestly the very slight romance at the end with Jedidiah was expected, but felt quite rushed - the entire ending felt quite rushed as soon as we entered Blackwater. Jedidiah is a nice man and I loved how he interacted with Miren, I just wish he had seen their relationship grow instead of feeling rushed from showing her dead dad, what has been going on in Blackwater, oh his wife was one of the ones drowned, takes her back to the estate and is sneaked into her room by her and he is gentle with her, and then he is gone - and he would have been a good help against Aiden, but we didn't get that and I am saddened. I got to wonder whos child is Miren carrying? The footman's or Jedidiah's? I guess it doesn't really matter as Miren states he acts like a dad to her "not little sister" and feels he will do the same for the child she has. I'm happy she found someone who loved her, still wish we had more time to see them get together, she had more history with the footman honestly and they had only exchanged a few words and boned!
Finding out about an "uncle", a mean housemaid that I thought for a moment may have been some other mythological creature that had been captured and used, like the O'Malley's had done with the Mer, could have honestly thought a Selkie perhaps as they are mentioned. But we get a conman who got in way over his head, that is 100% not related to Miran as Aiden had confirmed to which, oh my god Aiden. Listen, never liked him, but I really didn't think we'd see him again but we had to shut the door on that part of the plot and reveal to us the Sea-Queen and such. Also the Sea-Queen, I did not expect the twist with her completely on her being captured and used for generations. Although, very quickly was she freed by our Kelpie friend, I expected more of a struggle and perhaps the Queen getting pissed over time as Miren figured out to get her out, or even the Kelpie saying that he would need help to get her out.
I wish we knew more of Delphine the automaton, she seemed like such an important piece to the plot. Like something grander was to be made of her, but instead she somehow captured Miren's voice of her story and that's how Aiden got to track her down. Another slight dislike, but minor.

Also Bethany Lawrence! We saw her once in the theatre and we know she has Aiden's coin purse in the palm of her hand, runs a criminal underground and the entirety of Breakwater. Used Aiden to get silver from the O'Malleys - or that was the plan - and now has Hob's Hallow. But that's it, we really don't feel anything of her presence, we know she exists and minorly know what she has done but doesn't feel like a tangible threat. I guess she was never meant to be one besides to Aiden but, it would have been nice to have her.

Miren's parents. It's disappointing that we never met them. We know Liam thought himself better than everyone else, and was head over heels for his wife alone. Isolde was a witch, took the Sea-Queen from Hob's Hallow, ran and left her only daughter behind and presumably had more children and fed them to the Sea-Queen to get silver mines. To find out such a powerful, scheming, crafty witch was merely taken out by a conman is saddening. Miren and us as readers get no answers as to exactly whey she left Miren behind, sure a last perhaps Hail Mary to have an O'Malley still in the world as back up -perhaps. But we will never know like our main character, and perhaps that's just the point. There are something you will never know.

Now was this a fairytale, yes and no. I loved the different mythical creatures! Mermaids, Selkies, Kelpies, but they were quite sparse and the world building is very unique. By unique I mean we really don't get a lot of info and have to accept it all as fact. Like witches exist, magic exist, anyone can do magic with intent and will but that does not make one a witch.

All in all, I loved this despite its flaws! I couldn't put it down!

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readwithbells's review against another edition

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4.75

I loved this book. It was dark and full of fairytale magic and family curses and mermaids (I am such a sucker for mermaids). The main character was fabulous and I constantly found myself actually fist-bumping when she did cool things. It’s also the first book I’ve read in a single day in a long time! I really enjoyed it.

There is a certain rhythm to this prose, a cadence that really adds to the fairytale quality. Almost like you dug around in an attic and happened upon a fairytale you’ve never heard of before. I loved that the opening chapter had a narrator setting the scene and then the rest of the book was in first-person. I loved the kelpie and Delphine the automaton was so sad.

The one thing that stops this from being a five star book is some of the language really pulled me out of the story. Every time Miren meets a male fairytale creature she goes “he - for he was obviously male” like 🤦🏻‍♀️ . How are we supposed to know what genders look like for fairytale creatures? (Side note: gender dynamics are a huge part of this book so I understand this was in theming). But it did pull me out of the story. Also there was some weird fatphobia throughout; like Miren early on describes a girl who used to be her closest friend and, in her mind, feels like she’s better than her because she’s skinny which was weird and I didn’t like that very much.

As a whole, though, this was a wonderful fairytale romp and I will absolutely be reading the short stories to round out this world.

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ashleynewman's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Felt like a fever dream. Dark gothic fantasy. Witches, mermaids, curses, twisted fairytales, abandoned mansions, sea creatures, horror, mystery. Definitely something different for me.

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powellki's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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aliyyah's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

4.0

“They cannot burn every single woman, tempting though it might be.”

This was such an interesting read!

All the Murmuring Bones is about a girl named Miren, who belongs to a family that once prospered because of a deal struck with the Mer. Over the years, however, the family has become unable to keep up their end of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren’s grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of her granddaughter’s freedom but Miren is determined to choose her own path in life.

I loved the plot of this book. It genuinely read like a fairytale and I highly enjoyed the way the story was told. I really liked the little secrets about Miren’s family and their history that were uncovered throughout the story as well, as it added another level of intrigue to the novel.

While we meet many characters in this book, its main focus is on our protagonist, Miren. We follow her journey throughout the novel, watching as she deals with whatever obstacle is thrown her way. I really enjoyed reading about Miren. She’s clever, determined and constantly underestimated by those around her. I love the way she takes control of her life and does whatever is necessary in order to be free. I also liked that, despite growing up starved for love and affection, she still ensures to be kind to everyone around her.

The writing, unfortunately, fell a little flat to me. One thing that I loved, however was the creatures that are scattered throughout this book. We meet Mer, Kelpies and ghosts and witches and spell craft are also constantly mentioned. This created such a magical setting and I wish we had seen more of this element. The world building fell short to me, especially as I could never even pinpoint what exact time period we were in so certain things kept pulling me out of the story. It just felt extremely surface level. In addition, as much as I loved Mirren, I still felt unable to truly connect with her and there were times in the book where I had to really push through.

Overall though, I really liked the vibes of this one and I’d certainly recommend it to fans of fairytales.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Titan Books, for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review!

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