Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Skeleton Key

This absolutely drew me in straight away. My lovely in-laws had the Masquerade book that influenced The Skeleton Key, and I love the concept that a treasure hunt book could cause an entire generation of damage, obsession and trauma.

The Golden Bones is a creepy concept for a picture book, with its basis in folk songs from the early 20th century. The folksy side of things and the almost commune feel to the Churcher-Lally houses gave me The Family Upstairs vibes. Both books have huge mysteries surrounding these houses, with random clues all over the place.

As I got nearer the end I was even more reluctant to put the book down. It's tense and mysterious, but more than that it gets so twisty that I was desperate to keep unraveling. And in that the story definitely doesn't disappoint; there are so many reveals at various points that it was impossible to guess how things would end up. The dual timeline is great for fleshing out the story, and gradually adding connections throughout.

By the end I can't say that any of the characters were painted in the best light, but I understood their motivations; for most, protecting their families was at the heart of everything. There's one character with absolutely no redeeming qualities, but the rest are so complicated and morally grey, it's a lot to get your teeth into.

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fairymoo83's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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sandysmith's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

I enjoyed this book, so I loved that it had a book within it, a book crafted with puzzles and clues to find bones scattered about the country. Added to this, it's a story of dysfunctional families, the Lallys, and the Churchers. Nell is the main character, but it does switch between characters and timelines. At times Nell is likeable, at others she is very annoying but a product if her own upbringing when followers of the book took clues to far and tried to cut her pelvis out believing thats where the final bone is hidden. There are lots of twists and different themes, so I am sure different readers will get different things from the book. It's part mystery, part psychological thriller, it is long book, but engaging so I found myself finding time for it throughout the day. Good stuff

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nialiversuch's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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hopeadinfinitum's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

Superbly intricate and unexpected, the plot just kept unravelling. I listened to the audiobook in one sitting whilst doing a jigsaw and I did have to rewind a few bits as it was a little convoluted at times, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and stayed up late to finish it!

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