Reviews

All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter

imillan09's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

5.0

Honestly was not expecting a lot from this book and it blew me out of the water. The characters, the plot, the premise and world, the writing style were all incredible

huberis's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I didn't dislike this book, but I was definitely expecting more angry merfolk from the premise. The plot took a while to really get going, and didn't really go as far as I wanted it to. I would still read something else from this author, and I really recommend the book on audio. The narration was so beautiful and really helped me power through the slower parts of the book.

cahlacarla's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder and Incest

squirrelsteph's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

I listened to this on audible and found the narrators voice to really paint Miren's character well. I felt I went on a journey with her.
Yes, she is cold but she is also pretty brave. I found I was more invested in the story in the start/middle and my interest dipped a bit in the latter half.
I enjoyed the dark and fantasy aspects of it and enjoyed it as a story! 
I'm going to look into more of the writers books but may stuck to audible as have read a few comments that suggest the writing isn't the best.

lala_tour's review

dark hopeful mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

reading_rainbow_with_chris's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

“All the Murmuring Bones” by A.G. Slatter

Miren O’Malley is the last of the fabled O’Malley’s who control Hob’s Hollow; she will inherit the estate and all of its financial woes. However, when her grandmother arranges her marriage to her cousin Aidan, Miren begins to question the family legacy more than ever before, and stumbles upon the dark secret of the family she must carry or run from. 

I have not always been a Gothic fiction reader, but as I have explored the genre more in the past year I’m finding that I really enjoy it. Neo-Gothic novels have a fascinating blend of haunting, storytelling, and often generational family stories which captures my imagination. A.G. Slatter has crafted an excellent work in all of these regards. I deeply enjoyed the specific fantasy elements she incorporated and the unique family dynamic and history of the O’Malley’s. The mystery of the family had me hooked right to the end, and Slatter avoided making any of the answers to the mystery too obvious or too easily revealed. I did think there were some flaws with the main character, namely her aptitude with skills and logics which, to our knowledge, she has never had to practice before. However, the rest of the book substantially outweighs this for me.

This is a fantastic read and definitely worth considering if you are into Gothic-style novels. I also will definitely be checking out more of Slatter’s work in the future. 

amoresalba's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious

2.0

hooligan_kt's review against another edition

medium-paced

4.0

Great narrator! Really enjoyed all of the folklore elements woven throughout the story. Liked how strong and committed the main character was.

timinbc's review against another edition

3.0

OK, 3.5 stars. But it almost got a 1-star DNF for the slow, slow, slow start and the traditional "it's so unFAIR!" buildup. But suddenly Miren found a spine and away we go with quite a tale.

It's not a twisty tale, alas; it's pretty clear early on that Uncle's a phony, and when Miren goes all harvest goddess we can see how it's all going to roll out. Suddenly she is Plucky and Capable. But since she surprised me several times with "I didn't think she'd do THAT!" it's all good.

mcsperapani's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Over all a well written story, interesting, compelling spooky vibes. Sometimes the main character can move from one emotion to another super fast or be oblivious for the sake of plot, throws you a little. Think the author did the old “right click on a word and replace it with a fancier sounding synonym” cause there were some very odd and at times straight wrong vocab choices. Exciting to read other things by the author and see if her writing takes the final step needed, enjoyed this book a lot.