A review by graculus
All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter
4.0
One thing to start with - I really liked this book but only give 5 stars to books I liked and can see myself reading again and while this book managed one of these, I can't see myself going back to it in the future.
The basic premise of All the Murmuring Bones is that our protagonist, Miren, is the last of a family who've made long-standing deals with the local merpeople around the safety of their ships in exchange for the life of one child per generation. Miren is an only child, left behind by her parents in the care of a grandmother who's now trying to maintain the last shreds of power and prestige by marrying her off to her cousin (who has money but no class), in the hopes that long-standing deal can be revived for future generations. Miren has A Bad Feeling About This, understandably, and decides to make a run for it and also search for her missing parents, only to walk herself into another set of mysteries at her parents' estate.
There's a lot to like about this book, including a teenage heroine who knows what she wants and a plot that takes things in unexpected directions - for example, when a handsome footman makes an appearance, many authors would have been heavily foreshadowing future romance. Without spoiling things, that's just not what's going on here. If there's one flaw to the book it is that I'd say the people in her new situation take to Miren a little too quickly, considering the problems we discover have caused by her parents, but that's really something minor.
Anyway, I've got the next book by this author on my waitlist from the local library and I hope that's as good as this one!
The basic premise of All the Murmuring Bones is that our protagonist, Miren, is the last of a family who've made long-standing deals with the local merpeople around the safety of their ships in exchange for the life of one child per generation. Miren is an only child, left behind by her parents in the care of a grandmother who's now trying to maintain the last shreds of power and prestige by marrying her off to her cousin (who has money but no class), in the hopes that long-standing deal can be revived for future generations. Miren has A Bad Feeling About This, understandably, and decides to make a run for it and also search for her missing parents, only to walk herself into another set of mysteries at her parents' estate.
There's a lot to like about this book, including a teenage heroine who knows what she wants and a plot that takes things in unexpected directions - for example, when a handsome footman makes an appearance, many authors would have been heavily foreshadowing future romance. Without spoiling things, that's just not what's going on here. If there's one flaw to the book it is that I'd say the people in her new situation take to Miren a little too quickly, considering the problems we discover have caused by her parents, but that's really something minor.
Anyway, I've got the next book by this author on my waitlist from the local library and I hope that's as good as this one!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Violence