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The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker (from a Two Thumbs Up reviewer)

Sunday, Jul 16, 2017 at 4:23pm

$23.99

The Rattled Bones is an atmospheric novel with a hint of mystery buried deep underneath. It follows Rilla Brae whose family lives in Maine, the novel focuses a lot on the sea and the people that make a living out of it. S.M. Parker has some lyrical prose that I thought was captivating. The novel itself was really interesting and refreshing at about 40 pages in, until I hit the mark where it starts to drag, as in nothing new is happening and we're going in circle kind-of-drag. The promise of a possible ghost appearance was what keep me pushing to be honest. Satisfactory wise, I thought the author did a great job in that regard, I literally had chills down my spine at several specific scenes.

Rilla is your typical tough heroine, not that it is a bad thing. She does have that "my father is dead so I must blame everyone" syndrome though, but not as severe. I couldn't stand her romance with the boyfriend, the author is clearly ambitious to make their relationship in to something more but it felt too draggy and angsty for my own liking. Otherwise, Rilla didn't stand out for me as a character but I think most people will grow fond of her. I am grateful that the "mystery", when solved is something valuable I'm taking away from this novel. Racism buries deep in our history and it's because of stories like this one that unearth them back up again, reminding us where we went wrong. All in all, The Rattled Bones is a novel with good intention but its execution falls short. A 3/5 Stars read for me.

- Phuong, a Two Thumbs Up reviewer

The Rattled Bones will be available August 22.

Categories: Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Two Thumbs Up

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The Rattled Bones

- S M Parker

Hardcover $23.99
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"The feminist ghost story you've been waiting for." --Bustle

Unearthing years of buried secrets, Rilla Brae is haunted by ghostly visions tied to the tainted history of a mysterious island in this "electrifying, taut tale of the sea, grief, and memory" (Kathleen Glasgow) from the author of The Girl Who Fell.


Maine-bred, independent Rilla Brae is no stranger to the deep. She knows the rhythms of hard work and harder seas. But when she experiences the sudden death of her father, the veil between the living and the dead blurs and she begins to be haunted by a girl on a nearby, uninhabited island. The girl floats a song over the waves, and it is as beautiful as it is terrifying. Familiar and distant.

Then Rilla meets Sam, a University of Southern Maine archeology student tasked with excavating the very island where the ghostly girl has appeared. Sam sifts the earth looking for the cultural remains of an island people who were forcibly evicted by the state nearly a hundred years ago. Sam tells Rilla the island has a history no locals talk about--if they know about it at all--due to the shame the events brought to the working waterfront community. All Rilla knows for sure is that the island has always been there--an eerie presence anchored in the stormy sea. Now Sam's work and the ghostly girl's song lure Rilla to the island's shores.

As Rilla helps Sam to unearth the island's many secrets, Rilla's visions grow--until the two discover a tragedy kept silent for years. And it's a tragedy that has everything to do with Rilla's past.