This story was uniquely dark. It starts off with the groundwork for who the O'Malley's are from the perspective of the town they reside in. This already starts the tale off in the vein of fairy tales. As things continue, we follow Miren's perspective as her grandparent's die, and she is set to marry an abusive man named Aidan. What follows is an amazingly written adventure as she tries to find her freedom, and her own family history. Within this story, are more stories. These stories play as tales to put Miren at ease, but also to give us an idea of the history she comes from. I found this unique, and it broke up some of the story telling in a good way.

 Our main character is strong willed, and incredibly smart. She is a main character demanding of respect, and sometimes, that is a wonderful thing to see. The additional characters that make up this horror are also well written and interesting. You want to know a little bit about everyone’s story, and you do get those pieces of history. I always appreciate side characters that are written with their background in mind, and stay true to those storylines.

 The lore of this book is what genuinely held me the most. The legend, and family history, of the O’Malley’s is genuinely so interesting. The way Slatter writes these classic tales into the family’s story, and the deals they must inherently make, held true to fairy tales of Grimm. They are dark, with lessons to be taught. They are fascinating and magical. At the end of the day, they are the scary tales about how life can work for others. I think this is what makes this book a five-star read, and I will be purchasing it as soon as it is out.

Miren O'Malley is the last of her family line, an uncanny family that once had the kind of wealth that made them untouchable. Their wealth was bought with a dark bargain with the mer: sacrifice a child each generation, and in exchange, their ships would always return safely. Now their fortunes have run dry and their manor house crumbles around them, even as the junior branches of the family, cousins who share some O'Malley blood and family secrets but not the O'Malley name and status, prosper. When Miren's grandfather dies, her grandmother begins scheming to marry Miren against her will to an unpleasant cousin so that the O'Malley fortunes may be revived.

This is a story about women claiming whatever power and self-determination they can for themselves in a world where women are expected to have little. It's about the cruel legacies families can pass down from generation to generation, which can go unquestioned through the weight of tradition and normalization. It's about the stories we tell and the meaning we find in them.

The novel takes its time weaving the story together into a coherent whole. Miren frequently tells herself stories she learned as a child, fairy tales that are maybe not actually fairy tales at all, but rather snippets of family history where they encountered uncanny creatures. It's a very slow build that relies heavily on its haunting, atmospheric style as the plot develops. The pacing may be a turn-off for some readers, but I think it's well worth it to read to the end, where all of the plot threads finally pay off for a satisfying conclusion.

I loved the way Slatter wove together gothic horror and Irish folklore and fairy tales. Come for the dark family secrets, creepy mermaids, and horrifying fairy tales. Stay for the wonderfully deep exploration of powerful, flawed women and their ambitions.

A family who has dark secrets and pasts they can`t escape from. At first, they are willing to sacrifice all they had to get what they want, Now, they are trying to escape their bad decisions in the past.

It really never ceases to amaze me when a protagonist has a strong attitude and personality moreover if they are a woman. This story has different characters or creatures ranging from witches to magical creatures. A journey consists of these characters would surely give you the wonders and the thrill that is one of a kind. Plus, the thing about forcing to marry someone you don`t even like or the truth about your parents you thought was already dead. It has been quite a while that I had read such great fantasy and having this as a book that welcomes me to the fantasy genre again did definitely had done its job well.

The book is made by wonders. Every chapter made me crave for what more is coming. The story was not rushed. It had taken its time building up its plot. It is like the journey of Miren O`Malley—The protagonist- after all the hardship and trials you will encounter, everything will make sense in the end. I had fun reading this book and my last thought about its story is that I wish it had more.

This book is a real joy. The strong female lead character is amazing. She has passion and strength and won’t be told what to do- ever! Myths/ fables are woven through the whole book beautifully. There are hints of so many things- witches, mer people, magic and curses. There is a really modern slant to this historical story that makes you smile. It celebrates women in a way that historical books often don’t. The journey through the book is pacey and it keeps you gripped. I’d love to read all the stories written in the book referred to throughout the book- there are some cracking tales in it. To sum up- this book is really quite unique and well worth reading.

What a wonderfully bleak yet magical gothic fairy tale this was. I cannot recommend it highly enough, so if you're a fan of grim - and the Brothers Grimm - tales set by the sea, full of mystery and intrigue, murderous women, witches, and all things folklore, this is the book for you.

We join our main character, Miren, as she's burying her grandfather and coming to terms with the fact that she is now responsible for carrying the mantle of the notorious O'Malley family. A big task in and of itself, but her conspiring cousin, the mystery of her mother, and the family name itself only serve to make her job harder. Thus, we follow Miren as she breaks away from the ancestral home and carves her own name and place in the world. And if, along the way, we encounter some magic.... Well, that's not unusual for an O'Malley.

I had strong expectations going into All the Murmuring Bones and let me tell you that it delivered. From the start, the lyrical writing style hooked me. It's descriptive and paints glorious pictures for you as you read, but remains easy to understand straightforward enough that you do understand the plot, even with all the mystery surrounding it. It also blends incredibly well with the fairy tale-esque stories that are weaved into Miren's tale, making for an overall very pleasant reading experience.

Miren, too, I found to be a great main character who I enjoyed reading from the perspective of. She's strong-willed and sure of herself - thanks to how her grandmother raised her - but she's also not immune to the weird and wonderful things going on around her. She's realistic in that she's capable enough to take care of herself and question things that seem too good to be true, but she also retains the imagination and creativity and acceptance of the magical. The rest of the characters in this, however, fall along the 'unlikeable' end of the spectrum. Aoife, Aidan, Edward, and Nelly didn't ever manage to endear themselves to me, but I can appreciate the roles they played in Miren's story and I found myself enjoying guessing how they fit into the puzzle.

I do wish we'd spent more time with Miren at the end of her journey rather than the start. The ending was very well built up, and even if I did manage to guess at a few of the broader twists the details still eluded me. The final chapter left me wanting a little more closure and a little more time to explore the aftermath of things, but in the end I think it wrapped the book up well and I'm pleased. Definitely worth the read and I'm so glad I gave this a chance.

Such a great story with the feeling of an ancient, dark fairytale. It reminds me a lot of The Hazel Wood or The Wicked Deep. I thought the story was interesting, although it took a while for me to understand what was going on. Some things and characters seem obviously not what they seem, but its not easy to guess what coming. Miren doesn’t feel super developed, but I do like ruthlessness and self preservation as it feels like main characters often don’t really end up truly fighting back. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review!

I am absolutely in love with this book! All the Murmuring Bones is just amazing. Miren grew up in Hob’s Hallow, her ancestral home, with her imperious grandparents. Her family was once prosperous from a deal they made with the mer, but the bloodline has dwindled to the point that Miren and her grandparents are the last true O’Malleys, and without a child to give to the sea, their family is almost destitute. This book was haunting and beautifully written. The O’Malley family stories interspersed among the chapters were lyrical and addicting. I highly, highly recommend this book. The writing is beautiful and Miren’s story is definitely one to remember.

Okay, so you all know I am a huge sucker for books that involve the ocean and its mythologies. Especially those books that show ocean mythologies as they were originally told, not the "Disney" versions and this gothic historical fantasy does just that.

Miren, the last "true" descendant of the O'Malley line, was raised by her grandparents. Upon her grandfather's death, she inherits the decrepit castle at Hob's Hallow. Miren is curious, feisty and thinks for herself which apparently is a trait she inherited from her grandmother. This sharp, ambitious, but destitute grandmother has decided that Miren will wed her wealthy cousin, Aidan Fitzpatrick, strengthening the coffers and increasing the O'Malley blood in the line. Grandmother thinks there's much profit to be made from this scheme. Miren can't shake the overwhelming sense of menace that marrying Aidan Fitzpatrick gives her. That, along with her burning desire to find her not-dead mother, Isolde, will see her flee Hob's Hallow and set off on an adventure. Along the way, Miren encounters merfolk, witches, rusalki, corpsewights, and assassins. Once Miren arrives in Blackwater, she will discover the truth about her mother, but she'll need to apply her clever-ness and knowledge of the O'Malley fairytales weaved into the story to untangle all the mysteries at Blackwater.

This fairytale of the last of the true O'Malleys twists and turns and weaves Grimm-like fairytales into a dark tale that gets darker the further you read. The beginning has a bit of an info dump, but the way that Angela Slatter uses her lyrical writing style it makes you wonder what parts of the story are true tales and what parts are long-told O'Malley fables. All the Murmuring Bones will have your brain on overdrive as you try to solve the mysteries along with Miren.

All the Murmuring Bones made a lot of really interesting points about fate and family and gender, among other things. I thought Miren's interactions with her grandmother and servants/surrogate parents to be complex and touching, but throughout the book, I found that the story seemed to get a little lost on the way. The beginning was a bit slow, and there were quite a few supernatural occurrences that I didn't think really fit in with the rest of the story. The latter half of the book was definitely my favorite and I preferred that segment of the story to the majority of the beginning. The ending was not quite as satisfactory as I would have hoped, but it was overall as good of an ending, I think, that Miren was ever going to get. The prose was really beautiful throughout the whole book and it was really easy to get lost in the writing.

Really good and well thought out book. I really enjoyed the concept, characters and execution. Thoroughly recommend it.

All The Murmuring Bones is a wonderful, captivating story that pulls you into the life of Miren O'Malley as she deals with the fallout of her grandfather's death. Miren is the last "true" O'Malley in a long line of a once-strong family dynasty with a dark past of inbreeding and fallen fortunes. But Miren's parents died when she was only 3 and she is the last remaining O'Malley with pure enough blood, raised by her grandparents in an old, crumbling mansion. When her grandfather dies, her grandmother strikes a deal with Miren's cousin to marry them into his vast fortunes, restoring the O'Malley name and fortune to its former glory. Not wanting to marry such a horrible man against her will, we follow Miren as she tries to escape both her complicated grief and her betrothed.

Slatter builds a magical world that feels more like magical realism than a full-on fantasy world--in the best way possible. Magic and magical creatures are revealed bit by bit throughout the novel with frank introductions and descriptions rather than a grand explanation in the beginning of the novel, like some. Personally, I loved the slow build of finding which magical creatures lurk in the world of Breakwater and beyond. Magic has been moved to the furthest shadows in the world because of the Church, and it serves as a rich and beautiful backdrop to Miren's story rather than the sole focus. Miren does not possess any particular powers beyond basic witchcraft, which she explains as most people--particularly women--having the ability to do in this world. She meets magical creatures that feel real and fleshed out rather than caricatures, weaving chance encounters that are quite unforgettable and still serve to move the plot along.

The story peels back mystery after mystery of Miren's life as she searches for truth, reminiscent of novels like Mexican Gothic and Rebecca with its strong women and lives filled with twists and deceit. Slatter is a magnificent storyteller, luring the reader in one direction to a natural conclusion that reveals itself to be anything but. All the Murmuring Bones should be an instant hit and classic among fantasy horror fans, striking a perfect blend of unnerving you while keeping you hooked like a fish on a line. You won't regret picking this one up and curling up by the fire with it. Just make sure to give the sea a wide berth.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was having trouble sleeping the other night and thought I'd start this book, read a few chapters and fall asleep. Well, that did not happen. I couldn't stop; I read through the night and finished the book. This was such a wonderful escape from current events; I was very much living in the book, not in the present. I enjoyed the writing, the strong female characters, the plot, everything about it. I'd give it 10 stars if that were an option. I'll definitely be reading the author's prior books.

All The Murmuring Bones is a dark, gothic, atmospheric story that weaves both folklore and fantasy together to create a sumptuous treat. The stunning prose works wonderfully and brings this story to life. From the first page you’re drawn into a new world and the family secrets that surround Miren. This book has it all, action, danger, intrigue, and a well formed main character that is strong and feisty. Miren having grown up with her grandparents and the myths and tales of her family the O’Malleys.

This story revolves around Miren finding out the truth of her background and uncovering the dark family secrets to which she is bound to. I loved the blend of folklore and the chapters where Miren recounts stories from her grandmother’s book. The darkness interwoven throughout the story is exceptionally well done and it draws the reader deep in making them invested in the outcome.

This story had everything for me and I look forward to reading more for the author. Her command of language and how she is able to engage the reader and have them turning the pages late into the night is exactly what I love in an author and this book is an easy five stars for me.

3.5

All the Murmuring Bones is indeed reminiscent of Katherine Arden and her Russian folk trilogy. However, I'm one of the few who didn't find Arden's novels gripping - they were meandering and had too many episodic things that didn't add to the wider story. All the Murmuring Bones does sometimes feel a little bit alike in that fact. It too details a lot of stories that don't always become more deeply entwined with the main storyline.

The opening too, while lovely in its descriptions of the house and the family was perhaps slightly too long. Although perhaps this will weed out the readers with the patience and appreciation for beautifully described things and the slowing affect this often has on plot. I find myself somewhere in the middle of these two kinds of readers. I would be sad to lose some of the stories such as the evening when our main character has to test her wits against three angry ghosts.

Overall, this was an atmospheric and uniquely realised story of a young girl coming in to her own power and attempting to throw off a bargain/curse of her family.

Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

“There was salt in her veins just as there is in mine. The sea mourns when we die, we female O’Malleys, for whatever reason. Perhaps because we produce the children, the tithe we feed to the waters. Perhaps that’s why we are a loss. And all the waters in the world are joined.”

Rating: Really Enjoyed, translates to 4 stars

This book was such a fantastic read. I read through it really slowly because I have had an insane week at work, but if I had had the chance to just sit and devour it, I’m sure I could have done it in an evening. It is compulsively readable and deliciously dark and atmospheric.

What is it about?
This is a story following Miren O’Malley. She is the last of her family’s “pure” bloodline, and that is a thing that is to be prized. Her family used to be one that was bountiful and found success above all others, but it has fallen into debt and ruin. She lives with her grandparents on a dilapidated estate, waiting patiently for the time to come when she will be free of her obligations to the family name. However, Miren’s grandmother has other plans for her, and Miren must find a way to remain free.

What I liked:
- There is an element of the fantastical and monstrous woven throughout the base story. The O’Malley family has a book that is filled with accounts from their ancestors about how different events came to happen. These tales are filled with creatures, such as mer, selkies, sea queens, and all a manner of maritime folklore. This was EASILY my favorite part of the book. The LORE was phenomenal. Probably one of, if not the best, book I have read to date that incorporates tales of these creatures. I feel like usually they end up being cheesy romance stories that I despise, but this! No, this was certainly not that. This has all the darkness that a lot of those original tales hold. The lore that makes up Miren’s family history is dark and twisty and intertwines seamlessly with the story as it progresses. It was so perfectly atmospheric and just incredibly well-executed. I LOVED IT.

- I loved seeing Miren’s growth throughout the book as well. She dealt so well with all a manner of fantastical creatures as she makes her way through the story. It was fantastic. There are elements of witches, curses, corpses reanimating, ghosts, and it’s just so fun watching her navigate everything. I wouldn’t say that her character has the depth I normally look for in favorite characters, but the setting of this book more than made up for that.

- I felt like some of the twists I saw coming, but others I did not, and I was left guessing right up to the reveal, which I absolutely love! So that was another element that I really appreciated in this story.

What I didn’t like:
- I felt like at times, there was more of a leaning towards telling rather than showing, but part of that just seems to go along with a first person POV. It wasn’t over the top, and the setting and the lore more than made up for it.

- There was a lot of repetition of certain ideas and phrases. Some of the times, like with the idea that all the waters of the world are joined, it just added to the folktale feel of the story. But other repetitions ended up feeling like an unnecessary reminder in case we didn’t catch it the first several times. This was not a huge complaint, but something that did end up pulling me out of the story from time to time.

- My only other big complaint was that I didn’t connect to the characters very strongly. It didn’t feel like they had enough depth for my tastes. Now normally this is a MAJOR issue for me and I will walk away from a book feeling that it was fun but forgettable or just alright. So this should be an indication of how phenomenal the world building and lore is! I truly loved it.

So. Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys folklore, dark and atmospheric world building, and/or stories to do with the sea. All the Murmuring Bones releases March 9, 2021. Reviews will be posted to my Goodreads page and Instagram account in March, per publisher's request to hold reviews until publication month.

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this eArc in return for an honest review. This did not in any way influence my opinions.

All the Murmuring Bones by A. G. Slatter sounded absolutely right up my street! A dark and gothic original fairy tale? Featuring mythological water creatures, especially merfolk? Exactly my cup of tea! Unfortunately, All the Murmuring Bones was a crushing disappointment.

First of all, the description had me thinking that Miran's grandmother was going to try and sacrifice her to the mer, despite being an adult. This is not the case. Instead, she tries to force her into a marriage with a rich and abusive cousin. This is, of course, terrible, but considering it's a historical fantasy, it's not exactly surprising. It turns out that Miren actually knows of the sacrifice made to the sea of a child each generation. This isn't some dark family secret; while no-one else knows, it's common knowledge in the family. But she definitely doesn't want to be sold against her will to a violent man, so she runs.

And that is pretty much the story for the first three quarters. Once Miren is on the run, she spends chapters and chapters trying to get somewhere called Blackwater, a place no-one seems to have heard of, where the only directions are North, more or less. And very little of any real import happens for so long. That's not to say nothing happens. There are instances of potantial danger along the way, but I failed to see the point. The did not further the story; they were not important to the plot. Take them out, and the story would not be effected. These kinds of things are meant to be removed during editing - if it's not important to the story, it doesn't need to be there. But without these instances - of which there were maybe three - we would literally have just chapters and chapters of Miren travelling with absolutely nothing happening. So while, yes, we have ghosts, and rusalki, and an automaton with maybe a soul trapped inside (the latter of which I was very intrigued by and thought would probably have a point), none of it really matters, except one as a convenient plot device. And each of these moments is so incredibly short, it barely breaks up the monotony of Miren's travelling and being stuck in her head.

Because a lot of the story is Miren thinking, and she is so very annoying. And I personally feel she wasn't written very well. She is melodramatic and desperate, but in a way that had me constatly rolling my eyes. The situation she finds herself in is terrible, and I should care; her reactions, her emotions should have me feeling for her. I should feel sympathy, concern, worry, but she is written in such a way, that I just wanted her to give ti a rest. She is thinking, all the time, constantly asking herself questions. But it's literally question after questions; there's no, "I consider..." or "I wonder..." or even "I think about..." It's just an excessive amount of questions. The same questions are repeated, as are other thoughts and ideas. Over and over. It's just monotonous. Honestly, the only reason I kept reading is because the story was quite a quick read, so I got through good chunks of it in short spaces of time.

The story finally picks up around the last quarter. Things finally get moving, and the real mystery of the story is discovered. My interest was piqued. But while things started to get interesting, Miren ends up figuring things out with the barest evidence. She's back to thinking again, asking herself questions, and deciding what she believed to be the truth - and being right - with nothing pointing in that direction. It was just ridiculous.

I did like the various fairy tales that Miren tells herself, memorised from a family book, of various water creatures. They were quite short, though, and I would have preferred them to be longer. But again, for the most part, they weren't really necessary to the story. Most of them could have been removed. It's through the stories she tells herself that we find most of the mythological water creatures in this book. It's not really about them; not even the mer play a huge part of the story. The story is Miren escaping and finding out a family secret. The mer are there because of a pact made long ago. That's it. It was reading the author's note though, that finally made things fall into place. All the stories told, plus other aspects of the story that didn't really amount to anything, plot-wise, are stories Slatter has had published in short story collections. All the Murmuring Bones is a novel set in the world of two of her short story collections. These elements weren't needed, but were included anyway, because All the Murmuring Bones is a vanity project. This monotonous story where nothing really happens for a lot of the time was written to give Slatter's short stories more meaning. I personally think it failed.

All the Murmuring Bones just didn't really work for me at all. I really didn't enjoy it. But just because I didn't, doesn't mean you won't. Do read other reviews before deciding whether or not you'll read it yourself.

Thank you to Titan Books via NetGalley for the eProof.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features violence against women, murder by burning alive, and mentions of forced marriage and incest.

Because English isn't my mothertongue it was hard to really get into the story. It is written in an older version of the English language and thus a little bit harder to read. But that use of the english language kinda set the mood for the book wich I really liked. I liked the combination of history and fantasy elements. I really loved Miren as a character and her development. Suprising and fun book.

I started to read this on a cold, snowy, Colorado day. It was perfect.
I’ve said this probably a million times lately, but books that take place on ships are really giving me life lately. Add in mermaids, and you have me set.
Problem was, there really wasn’t a lot of ships on the high seas or mermaids.
The premise for this sounded so intriguing and I went in thinking I would love this.
I did like the story, but I think I was expecting something a little different.
It starts off kind of lackluster, so I couldn’t get into it for awhile.
Then the pacing felt a little off. Some chapters were quick and fascinating, and then the next would be dense.
I definitely thought there would be more fantastical elements throughout this.
It’s certainly written beautifully, but I do kind of wish we focused more on the fairy tale aspects.

ALL THE MURMURING BONES is a gothic fairytale about the last daughter of a family line, and her escape from a family history she never knew or wanted. I picked this up due to the comps to Novik and Arden; I'm not sure the comparison fully holds, but it is a mesmerising tale that I overall enjoyed.

Orphan Miren O'Malley lives a sheltered life with her grandparents in a crumbling home. When she discovers her grandmother's plans to sell her into marriage to restore the family's glory, she escapes to find her own place in the world.

The worldbuilding is the strongest part of this novel, haunting and atmospheric, featuring creatures like bloodthirsty mermaids, kelpies, animated dolls, and ghosts. Many are only touched upon lightly, and I am left wanting to explore more.

The plot is solid, but the pacing is hit and miss: some long scenes feel superfluous and others not described in enough depth. The characterisation also only goes so far, with Miren unfazed by most of her adventures despite having a sheltered upbringing, meaning that I struggle to form an emotional connection to her. However, there's something compelling that keeps me reading, and the story wraps up well.

CW: Murder of children and adults, physical abuse, incest, and sex.

Thanks for the review copy! As requested I'll hold posting my review on Goodreads/Instagram until March.

Book Review for All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!