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A review by gardens_and_dragons
All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I think this was pretty good- an atmospheric gothic tale about the remaining heiress to a mysterious family and their lost fortune. It’s about finding out who you are by looking for your past - how it shaped you but how you shape yourself. It’s also about merfolk and folk creatures and bargains.
It had some great prose and wonderful world building. Either done via descriptions or done via thru the family book of tales. The vaguely Irish/Scottish influences here were great to pull from n
I would rate it higher if it had stuck a bit more to its feminist ideals. The main character is strong, but all the women in the book stand opposite her save one. It also has some elements of world building that ended up nowhere that I had wanted to see explored.
It had some great prose and wonderful world building. Either done via descriptions or done via thru the family book of tales. The vaguely Irish/Scottish influences here were great to pull from n
I would rate it higher if it had stuck a bit more to its feminist ideals. The main character is strong, but all the women in the book stand opposite her save one. It also has some elements of world building that ended up nowhere that I had wanted to see explored.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Incest and Abandonment
Minor: Child death
Biggest thing to know going in is that the family used to marry off first cousins to each other to “keep the blood pure”. It’s not explicitly ever shown on screen, it’s only just a terrible fact of the history of her family that’s discussed. It’s appropriately frowned on by her and everyone else save for the family itself.