Book Review: All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter

 

Goodreads Summary: Long ago, Miren O'Malley's family prospered due to a deal struck with the Mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren's grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren's freedom.

A spellbinding tale of dark family secrets, magic and witches, and creatures of myth and the sea; of strong women and the men who seek to control them. 

Goodreads Ratings: 4.03 stars with over 3,700 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Horror, Gothic, Mythology, Mermaids, Historical Fiction, Fairy Tales

Goodreads Challenge: 13/48

2022 Reading Challenge: #7 Read a book about a mythical creature (see the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well and reading lots of exciting things. I'm just going to jump right into the review since I posted life update nonsense the other day. This pick was a random thing for me as I've been trying to stay more towards Kindle Unlimited or what I already have on my kindle. All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter really stood out to me. When I picked out All the Murmuring Bones, I needed something dark and witchy. This book absolutely fulfilled that need.

The story tells about a family who becomes powerful due to an agreement with the Merfolk. It then gets into the tale of Miren, who's the last of the O'Malley's. The beginning was a little hard for me to get into. There is a lot of scenery description before it gets into Merin's portion of the story. Once she is introduced, however, it's a lot easier to follow. 

All the Murmuring Bones reads like a gothic fairy tale, which I enjoyed. The story definitely discusses mermaids, and it shows the mermaids through old family lore passed on from one generation to the next. However, at the heart of it is what all that amounts to for Merin when she's the last of the true O'Malley's. It's a fascinating explanation of generational expectations and the pressures of them. The story builds and ultimately allows Merin to grow and decide who she wants to be regardless of the family's expectations.

The family secrets that Merin is trying to escape from are really dark. Part of me feels like there could have been more detail surrounding how Merin felt about these secrets. She's definitely appalled by them, but I feel like the way she's on the run, and the reasons behind it overshadow having to grow up with this knowledge. I expected more emotion regarding all the big reveals, but it felt a little glazed over? I hope that makes sense. 

There is part of the story where Merin comes to find a long-lost uncle (spoilers, sorry.) This section of the story seems so incredibly familiar to me, and I can not place why. I don't know if this stems from a fairy tale or if another book had something similar, but it felt incredibly familiar. This may bother me until I figure it out. The rest of the story seemed entirely new to me; it's just this one setting in the story that feels like deja vu. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the story. I liked Merin as the main character. When she started figuring out who she was, I thought she was pretty badass. Her decisions and the way she acted about those decisions seemed a little out of character if you compare it to the beginning of her story, but I liked it. I would definitely recommend it if you want gothic fairy tales, paranormal creatures, and main characters who just don't give a shit about other people's expectations. There's also some magic and maybe some murder.