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Book Review of All These Bodies by Kendare Blake 2.5/5

No one likes to write a bad review but if you’re going to.. better to go all in.

I want to begin by saying that this was one of my top five most anticipated reads of 2021.
I was excited. I had expectations. And I should have known better.

Judging by all the glowing reviews for this book.. I’m in the minority of disappointed and disgruntled readers,
In fact, this is less of a review than it is me venting so.. You should be warned that I will not be censoring my thoughts.
There will be spoilers.

Good luck!

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All These Bodies by Kendare Blake

Publication date: September 21, 2021
Pages: 300
Genre: Teen and Young Adult, Horror, Crime Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Standalone

First line: IN THE SUMMER of 1958, the murders that would come to be known as the “Bloodless Murders” or the “Dracula Murders” swept through the Midwest, beginning in Nebraska and sawing through Iowa and Wisconsin before turning back to my hometown of Black Deer Falls, Minnesota.

It’s 1958 and a small town becomes the latest casualty in the Bloodless Murders.
Sixteen people are dead, victims of a serial killer who leaves the bodies and crime scenes completely spotless. The victims are found with their wrists or throats cut, with not a drop of blood to be found.

Their only suspect is a girl, Marie Catherine Hale, who was found surrounded by the bodies of the Carlson family,, covered in blood.

Did she kill them?
Is she an accomplice or a victim?

This is her story.

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Two and a Half Stars

Characters: Curious. Young. Bland.
Storyline: Frustrating. Vague. Disappointing.
Pace: Slow
Writing: Interesting enough but not mind blowing.
Cover: 3/5

POVs
Michael

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Marie, a young girl found at the latest scene of what the media is calling the Bloodless Murders, is found covered from head to toe in blood.
She will confess everything, she says, but only to Michael.
Michael, the sheriff’s son and a budding journalist, is fascinated by this girl. Beautiful, mysterious, and evasive as all get out. Marie tells him her story.. but she does so in bits and pieces, stops and starts. She spins an impossible tale about a man with no name, not one that matters, anyway. A man cloaked in darkness and death.

You never know the truth from a lie.
You’re not ready to, not yet.

“When we found her that night, in the middle of all those bodies, I didn’t know who she was. I thought she was a victim. Then I thought she was a monster. I thought her innocent. I thought her guilty. By the time she was finished, what she told me would change the way I thought, not just about her but about the truth.”

It sounds intriguing, yes?

Then why, you ask, does it have such a low rating?
Because it pissed me off, that’s why.

I invested my time, my interest, and my expectations in this book.. and I feel cheated.
It had so.much.potential.. but what was the point of it all?
Was there a point?
If there was a point, I sure hell missed it.

“Tell the truth and shame the devil. I always thought that would be easy. But what do you do when the truth that you’re faced with also happens to be impossible?”

Michael is mesmerized from the very beginning. With the story. With Marie. She’s a puzzle and a mystery.
This young, not yet fifteen year old girl, who may or may not have been involved in these horrifying murders.
She’s just a girl, isn’t she?

He doesn’t understand why she would be protecting the killer.
But Marie swears that she’s not, that he wouldn’t believe the truth yet, that he’s not ready to.
But he knows.. the things she claims about this man can’t be true.

“Do you believe in monsters, Michael?”
“Monsters? Not since I was seven.”
“Seven. That’s pretty old to, I guess. But it’s not right either. Deep down we all believe in monsters.”

I won’t go on about how District Attorney Pilson, the man sent to retrieve Marie and return her to Nebraska to be tried as an adult, is an emotionally bankrupt douchebag. You’ll see. But I will say that.. no man with any kind of power should be allowed to do half of the crap he pulled with Marie. Even after attempting to remind myself that this book was set in the 50’s, and that much more was allowed at the time, it did little to temper my contempt for his character.

“She said from the moment she met him she could tell that all he wanted was to find a way to strap her into Nebraska’s electric chair. But the joke was on him. Because she requested hanging.”

But my biggest issues did not lay with the characters, no, it was with the complete lack of forward momentum in the storyline.

A third of the way through the book and the confession/interview hadn’t even begun and, even after it did, it had almost no depth or substance.
(Ouch, I know, and I feel terrible saying it) I was so sure that once Marie began to confess all the gory details of the murders that the pace would pick up.. I had my fingers crossed and everything.

“I know everyone thinks I thought she was completely innocent. A victim. A hostage. But Marie was never as simple as that.”

It didn’t help.
We’re led around by the nose, given crumbs of a story that makes empty promises of suspense and horror, entangled in the author’s fantastic writing.. and what comes of it? Nothing I’d write home about, that’s what.

Including the books I have DNFed.. I can count on one hand the number of books that I feel have wasted my time (and if you’re a reader you will understand the severity of that statement) and yet.. here we are.
The writing? Spot on. The author can obviously draw you into her work but seriously.. What the actual hell?

Was it all a lie? Was this just a tragic love story? Is it the first in a series and I just don’t know it? Or is it, in fact, just a cruel joke?
But I, like Jon Snow, know nothing.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely.
The majority of other readers have loved it and I can see why.. it has a way of sinking its claws into you.
But personally? I wasn’t impressed.
I do look forward to reading more by this author, I hear great things, besides.. one unfortunate experience should never scare you away from giving something a second chance.

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Well.. That was both painful and cathartic.
It’s likely that I’ve been a little too blunt and should have taken more care with my words but, honestly, I’m still a little ticked about it all.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Thank you for taking the time to read this regretfully unpleasant post/therapy session..
Stay safe, be well, and happy reading!

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