Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - All the Bad Apples

I love this writer's work so much. I love how deeply rooted in Irish culture and history her work is, especially this book. It highlights the atrocities that women have been subjected to in modern Irish history since the English occupation in a way that is captivating without being so graphic that it's off putting. The empathy she develops with the ancestors of the main character is so heart grabbing that I ended up staying up way late just to finish the book. This is a definite must read.

I also especially love how this author writes magic into her books. It's this beautiful realism that sometimes has scientific explanations and sometimes is just ephemeral enough to make you wonder if it really happened or the characters just saw it in their own mind. I love it.

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water_violin's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

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lilifane's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Cry. Rage. Speak out. Break the stigma. Break the curse.

This book wasn't at all what I was expecting and I was NOT prepared for it.

After the death of their mother shortly after her birth, Deena is raised by her two older sisters Rachel and Mandy. On her seventeenth birthday she accidently comes out to her family and discovers there is a family curse. Girls that are differend, that deviate from the norm, are considered bad apples, and bad things happen to them. To protect Deena, Mandy leaves to try and break the curse. She doesn't return. Her car is found abandonded at a cliff, her bloody clothes at the shore, no sign of her body. After Mandy's funeral Deena finds a mysterious note at her sister's place that starts a scavanger hunt/road trip through Ireland. Convinced, her sister isn't dead, Deena follows her steps and discovers her family's secret and tragic history along the way.

This book takes so many different things I love and combines them. Queer/diverse characters, a multi generation family history with secrets to uncover, a scavenger hunt/road trip, a wholesome friends group, magic/supernatural, a mystrious atmosphere, beautiful/eerie scenery, abandoned places and ruins. And that's only the first half of the book.

Because what starts as a casual coming of age/coming out story, develops into this meaningful critique on our misogynistic society and the catholic church and results in a women empowring manifesto.

I'm giving this book 5 stars because of all the things I loved in it, because it surprised me (and this doesn't happen often) and because it has an important message. But there were some minor things that were bothering me while reading. The really negative, one dimensional depiction of the catholic church for example. But after reading the Author's Note at the end, everything made sense and I get why it had to be like this (Uff, that author's note is SO important). What bothered me more were the characters, mainly the friends group mentioned earlier. Don't get me wrong, I loved them to pieces. But they felt a little underdeveloped, one dimensional, distant. I wanted to know more about them but there was no time or space for it in the story. Which I get, because there was a bigger focus on the characters from the past (and these were really interesting, unique and fleshed oud) and the overall message. But at the end some of the friend's decisions and interactions felt a little forced and unrealistic and I was disappointed because otherwise this would have been a perfect book for me.

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