Blog Tour: All The Murmuring Bones – A.G. Slatter

And one last blog tour for this week! In typical me-fashion I ended up bingeing the whole book today instead of actually sticking to my TBR and reading in time… All The Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter is a charming and compelling folk-tale inspired story, with a wonderful heroine. Check out the posts of the other stops on the tour too!

Massive thanks to Titan and Sarah Mather for providing me with an eARC and letting me be part of the blog tour!

STAR RATING: 4/5 ✶

RELEASE DATE: 08/04/21

SUMMARY: Long ago Miren O’Malley’s family prospered due to a deal struck with the mer: safety for their ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and have fallen into decline. Miren’s grandmother is determined to restore their glory, even at the price of Miren’s freedom.

A spellbinding tale of dark family secrets, magic and witches, and creatures of myth and the sea; of strong women and the men who seek to control them. (from Titan Books)

OPINIONS: Um, so I love fairy tales and this has the exact feel of those kinds of stories. It is not a perfect book but one I very much enjoyed and fell for. I struggled a bit to get into it, but once I got sucked into the story at not quite a third in, I couldn’t put it down. Miren is such a fantastic leading character, stubborn, fierce, but also young and clueless in a lot of ways. She is not your average chosen heroine, although she does hint at elements of the trope. Having been left by her parents and sold into a marriage she doesn’t want by her grandmother, she sets out to find out who she is after she finds out that her parents are not dead as she was told for her whole life. And once she gets to her destination, she finds a situation much different to her expectations.

There are elements that are utterly predictable, and issues that get solved a little too easily, but it doesn’t distract from the enjoyment of the story. This is a book that embraces its flaws, and doesn’t pretend to be anything but what it is: an compelling tale inspired by traditional folk tales. It is set in a world where stories Slatter has published before exist as stories passed down the O’Malley family. Creating a universe in which these stories can shine.

If you enjoy twisted stories with compelling characters, that nevertheless feel comforting and familiar, this might be a book for you. Add All The Murmuring Bones to your Goodreads here, and order a copy from Bookshop here (affiliate link).