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.

Book Review: The Haunting of Leigh Harker by Darcy Coates

 

Goodreads Summary: Sometimes, the dead reach back...
Leigh Harker’s quiet suburban home was her sanctuary for more than a decade until things abruptly changed. Curtains open by themselves. Radios turn off and on. And a dark figure looms in the shadows of her bedroom door at night, watching her, waiting for her to finally let down her guard enough to fall asleep.

Pushed to her limits but unwilling to abandon her home, Leigh struggles to find answers. But each step forces her towards something more terrifying than she ever imagined.

A poisonous shadow seeps from the locked door beneath the stairs. The handle rattles through the night, and fingernails scratch at the wood. Her home harbors dangerous secrets, and now that Leigh is trapped within its walls, she fears she may never escape.

Do you think you’re safe?

You’re wrong.

Goodreads Rating: 4.06 stars with about 200 ratings

Genre Listing: Horror, Fantasy, Paranormal, Adult, Mystery, Fiction, Ghosts, Thriller, Gothic, Supernatural

Goodreads Challenge: 35/50 

2021 Reading Challenge: #41 Read a book where the main character is elderly (find the complete challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello readers! I hope everyone is doing well. I'm off for the next few days while we deal with our move. Yay! I'm super ready both to be done packing and to be in the new house. I'm also super excited to not have to work for two days.

I've wanted to read more horror for a while, and I recently discovered Darcy Coates on Kindle Unlimited. The Haunting of Leigh Harker seemed pretty interesting, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I managed to pry it out of my hands the first night, and then the following night, I was up until 4 am reading it because "I've only got eighty more pages left." Man, that was stupid. I was so tired the next day! It was definitely worth the read, though. 

I really liked how this book started out creepy. There wasn't a slow build to gain suspense. From the first page, I was curious as to what was happening to Leigh, who she was, and why she was in the situation, she was in. Given that I stayed up until 4am reading it, I think it's safe to say that I never lost interest either. 

I cheated a little bit on where I put this on the challenge. Leigh is very much the main character, and she's not elderly. However, an elderly woman in the story is very much a pivotal character in the book. This story very much couldn't happen without her, and thus this book landed on #41. Plus, I didn't want to burn one of my last two free spaces. 

I really enjoyed the story, and I liked figuring out with Leigh what was going on and more about her. If you need all of the character's backstory upfront, this is not a book for you. Most of Leigh's story isn't fully explained until the end of the book. It is, however, under 300 pages, so it's not that long of a wait. I'm actually really impressed that this story was able to be told in so few pages. 

I felt like a lot of the ending was pretty predictable, but I still felt engaged with the story. If it had been anything else, it just wouldn't have made sense with how the book played out. There were some surprises mixed in, but the overall went how I expected. Sorry for being so vague. I'm trying really hard not to spoil everything. Many of the themes within this book were reminiscent of a very famous thriller movie from the late 90s.  I still think it's worth the read and would recommend it to someone who likes Horror and wants to be a little creeped out but not outright terrified. It's also good if you don't want to dedicate a lot of time to a book but still get a good story. 

Book Review: The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates

 

Goodreads Summary: There's something wrong with Ashburn House...The ancient building has been the subject of rumors for close to a century. Its owner, Edith, refused to let guests inside and rarely visited the nearby town.

Following Edith's death, her sole surviving relative, Adrienne, inherits the property. Adrienne's only possessions are a suitcase of luggage, twenty dollars, and her pet cat. Ashburn House is a lifeline she can't afford to refuse.

Adrienne doesn't believe in ghosts, but it's hard to ignore the unease that grows as she explores her new home. Strange messages have been etched into the wallpaper, an old grave is hidden in the forest behind the house, and eerie portraits in the upstairs hall seem to watch her every movement.

As she uncovers more of the house's secrets, Adrienne begins to believe the whispered rumors about Ashburn may hold more truth than she ever suspected. The building has a bleak and grisly past, and as she chases the threads of a decades-old mystery, Adrienne realizes she's become the prey to something deeply unnatural and intensely resentful.

Only one thing is certain: Ashburn's dead are not at rest.

Goodreads Ratings: 4.02 stars with over 8,600 ratings

Genre Listing: Horror, Paranormal, Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Gothic, Ghosts, Supernatural

Goodreads Challenge: 36/60 (Still really behind, because of who I am as a person)

2020 Reading Challenge: #17 Read a Suspense or Horror book (Find the full challenge here)

Book Review:

I have no idea what day it is, and I blame The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates. I've been up very late reading this book since I started. It's totally a good idea to read a horror book beginning at 2 am, just FYI.

It may have just been the haunted house and potential for ghosts, but I was instantly drawn into Adrienne's world. I thought she was a likable character. Her story was a little bit of a sad one, but it was short, so the introduction to her wasn't bogged down with all these details of her life before the book starts. I dig that she named her cat Wolfgang.

At first, I wasn't sure if The Haunting of Ashburn House was actually going to be scary. It didn't seem like it at first, but I was enjoying the story, so I didn't mind too much. Some things were a little bit creepy at first, but I wasn't turning on the lights to make sure the ghosts weren't in my apartment. That all changed around chapters 29 and 30. 

I'll try to be vague because I don't want to ruin the surprise in the book, but I wasn't expecting the haunting thing to be what it was. Hopefully, that makes sense. The clues were to what was going on were kind of there, but I was so engrossed in the story that I didn't really try to figure it out. I just wanted to be in the moment reading. 

I really liked how the story concluded (again, trying to be vague because I don't want to give spoilers). I thought it was kind of a sweet ending, which was surprising for a ghost story. The one knock I really have is the friends that Adrienne made. The sweetness kind of seemed a little fake to me, but I could just be jaded and expect there to be ulterior motives behind nice gestures. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't even halfway through, and I was telling friends to read it. I also went through and added a bunch of Darcy Coates' books to my want to read list. It was one of those books that just caught my attention early on and never let go. There were a couple of spots that I thought were kind of funny as well, so it was a nice balance. A lot of Darcy's books are on Kindle Unlimited, so after I finish an author requested review, I'll probably go on a book binge.