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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.
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.
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
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
graculus's review
4.0
One thing to start with - I really liked this book but only give 5 stars to books I liked and can see myself reading again and while this book managed one of these, I can't see myself going back to it in the future.
The basic premise of All the Murmuring Bones is that our protagonist, Miren, is the last of a family who've made long-standing deals with the local merpeople around the safety of their ships in exchange for the life of one child per generation. Miren is an only child, left behind by her parents in the care of a grandmother who's now trying to maintain the last shreds of power and prestige by marrying her off to her cousin (who has money but no class), in the hopes that long-standing deal can be revived for future generations. Miren has A Bad Feeling About This, understandably, and decides to make a run for it and also search for her missing parents, only to walk herself into another set of mysteries at her parents' estate.
There's a lot to like about this book, including a teenage heroine who knows what she wants and a plot that takes things in unexpected directions - for example, when a handsome footman makes an appearance, many authors would have been heavily foreshadowing future romance. Without spoiling things, that's just not what's going on here. If there's one flaw to the book it is that I'd say the people in her new situation take to Miren a little too quickly, considering the problems we discover have caused by her parents, but that's really something minor.
Anyway, I've got the next book by this author on my waitlist from the local library and I hope that's as good as this one!
The basic premise of All the Murmuring Bones is that our protagonist, Miren, is the last of a family who've made long-standing deals with the local merpeople around the safety of their ships in exchange for the life of one child per generation. Miren is an only child, left behind by her parents in the care of a grandmother who's now trying to maintain the last shreds of power and prestige by marrying her off to her cousin (who has money but no class), in the hopes that long-standing deal can be revived for future generations. Miren has A Bad Feeling About This, understandably, and decides to make a run for it and also search for her missing parents, only to walk herself into another set of mysteries at her parents' estate.
There's a lot to like about this book, including a teenage heroine who knows what she wants and a plot that takes things in unexpected directions - for example, when a handsome footman makes an appearance, many authors would have been heavily foreshadowing future romance. Without spoiling things, that's just not what's going on here. If there's one flaw to the book it is that I'd say the people in her new situation take to Miren a little too quickly, considering the problems we discover have caused by her parents, but that's really something minor.
Anyway, I've got the next book by this author on my waitlist from the local library and I hope that's as good as this one!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Violence
story_goblin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was fascinating and helped me articulate something I wasn't able to before- I would love Gothic literature a lot more if the characters were more interesting. This book is exactly that/what the blurbs promised. It's a sweeping gothic fantasy with mer-people and other "monstrosities". Although nothing like myself, I found the main character to be well-constructed and engaging, so I was very invested in her journey. I was not able to fully guess all the secrets, which is always a plus for me, though the seeds were sown in the story. It reminded me just a little bit of What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo and Gallant by VE Schwab.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Alcohol, Child death, Murder, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Alcoholism, and Confinement
bethsiekierawalker's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Violence, and Confinement
Moderate: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and Pregnancy
lilbury's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, and Death of parent
powellki's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Torture
bookforthought's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
All the Murmuring Bones was an instant favourite. This is a truly spellbinding book that kept me up way too late into the night. The author's rich prose slowly drew me in until I was so immersed into the story that I completely lost all sense of time and space. It had been a long while since I was so absolutely and utterly sucked into a book!
I was definitely reminded of Naomi Novik's and Katherine Arden's books, two authors who wrote some of my favourite fantasy novels - and a rare instance of a blurb actually making a connection I agreed with. This book takes its time, so might not appeal to people looking for a fast-paced read, but it just worked for me. I really connected with the author's style and I ended up enjoying even the detours. I loved how the O'Malley's traditional stories were woven in throughout the book: while for the most part they weren't fully adding to the plot, they gave extra depth and insight into the family's history and traditions.
The gothic atmosphere and folkloristic elements (such as mer-folk, selkies, ghosts, and so many more) worked beautifully together to create a dark and intricate world. The world-building does take a bit of a back seat in favour of character development, but I didn't mind too much since I usually prefer the latter anyway. I do love a good family secret, and this book was chock-full of them! I was kept being surprised, and even though I had suspected where a few of the plot lines would end up, the way they were developed was still incredibly satisfying.
Character-wise, the book mostly relies on Miren to carry the whole thing. And she's entirely up to the task! I didn't immediately love Miren and found her too passive and bland for my liking, but her top-notch development quickly made her one of my new favourites. By the end, I fully admired Miren's strength of character and spirit, unbroken despite all the pain she suffered in life, and her quick wit. She was constantly undermined and underestimated by all those around her, and yet despite that she persevered in forging her own path.
Overall, this was an extremely pleasant surprise, completely exceeding my expectations, and a book I can see myself gushing about for a long time yet! Might be particularly appreciated by lovers of dark folklore and fairy tales, strong character development and just enough magic.
CW: this book contains mentions of abuse, violence (including against children), murder and incest.
I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
I was definitely reminded of Naomi Novik's and Katherine Arden's books, two authors who wrote some of my favourite fantasy novels - and a rare instance of a blurb actually making a connection I agreed with. This book takes its time, so might not appeal to people looking for a fast-paced read, but it just worked for me. I really connected with the author's style and I ended up enjoying even the detours. I loved how the O'Malley's traditional stories were woven in throughout the book: while for the most part they weren't fully adding to the plot, they gave extra depth and insight into the family's history and traditions.
The gothic atmosphere and folkloristic elements (such as mer-folk, selkies, ghosts, and so many more) worked beautifully together to create a dark and intricate world. The world-building does take a bit of a back seat in favour of character development, but I didn't mind too much since I usually prefer the latter anyway. I do love a good family secret, and this book was chock-full of them! I was kept being surprised, and even though I had suspected where a few of the plot lines would end up, the way they were developed was still incredibly satisfying.
Character-wise, the book mostly relies on Miren to carry the whole thing. And she's entirely up to the task! I didn't immediately love Miren and found her too passive and bland for my liking, but her top-notch development quickly made her one of my new favourites. By the end, I fully admired Miren's strength of character and spirit, unbroken despite all the pain she suffered in life, and her quick wit. She was constantly undermined and underestimated by all those around her, and yet despite that she persevered in forging her own path.
Overall, this was an extremely pleasant surprise, completely exceeding my expectations, and a book I can see myself gushing about for a long time yet! Might be particularly appreciated by lovers of dark folklore and fairy tales, strong character development and just enough magic.
CW: this book contains mentions of abuse, violence (including against children), murder and incest.
I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Incest
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