I really enjoyed this author's "Anna Dressed in Blood" so maybe I was going into this with too high expectations, but it was still worth reading. I enjoyed the fact that it was based on a real case and I think it would really be enjoyed by a younger audience than myself. Definitely a YA novel that at times (to me) just felt like it was trying a bit too hard. Overall I'd def recommend this book to fans of young adult novels (and more so YA fans of YA novels).
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Kendare Blake can do no wrong! I loved this mystery—the characters were so real and multi-dimensional, and the twists kept me on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

Great cover, fascinating idea but this book did not come together in a way that felt impactful to me.

Corny and overwritten if I'm being honest. As an educator, I think that YA books fall into three fields: strong, dry, and trying too hard. This fell under the latter: it had a good premise and a lot of potential, but it just felt like it was reaching for more than the author was ready to acheive.

This book really surprised me.

We wound up reading it for teen book club after the paperback pub. date for the other book we had chosen got pushed back, and I am so glad we went with this. A coworker warned me it was going to be infuriating because of how open-ended it was, but I ended up really enjoying how vague a lot of Marie's story was left.

Anyway, if you want a vampire story unlike other vampire stories you've read, I definitely recommend this. It was a real treat, and very, very different from a lot of YA out there right now.

Overall, I found this book enjoyable and a good read. It wasn't up to Blake's other books that I'm a fan of. I was first introduced to her through "Anna Dressed in Blood," which was a stronger work for the author. The historical aspect and basing it off of a real case was intriguing, I would recommend it to readers that like this genre.

I have a hard time deciding how I feel about this book. I loved the cover, the characters, and the setting. I thought the world was immersive and well created. I also liked reading a YA thriller with a male protagonist, it made this book stand out from others in my mind.

I couldn't decide how I felt about the yes or no vampires issue. I, like other readers, wanted a more conclusive ending.

This book left me feeling "I know this isn't going to end well, but the middle is going to be awesome." And it truly was. The beginning and the middle of this book were so good. I loved the build up, the way Marie was found (so much blood), but the ending fell so flat. So unsatisfying after the journey this book brought me on.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Thank you NetGalley and author Kendare Blake for giving me a free E-Arc of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
4 stars
This book was a very exciting read. I loved how the author unfurled the story layer by layer. The characters were well written. The ending was definitely a realistic ending. Overall, I would recommend this book to those who love mystery/thrillers.

As a fan of Kendare Blake's ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD duology, I have to say this one let me down. While I enjoyed the time period and how real the crimes felt (both main murders at the beginning and others described), the rest of the plot felt really empty and lacking. Other than the bad guy sneaking around, it didn't feel like much else happened. The lack of plot points, plus the vagaries around what this girl actually "was", left me disappointed.

All These Bodies was not what I expected. The concept of the book was intriguing and haunting. But, I was left a bit underwhelmed with this historical thriller. Honestly, I think I just wanted more action and more edge of my seat anticipation.
This book held my attention but didn't wow me and the narrator, Michael, was someone I really wanted to shake some sense into on more than one occasion.

I love love loved that the place setting for this novel was in the Midwest during the mid century.

It felt entirely unique in the YA genre and Kendare is a powerhouse author I usually enjoy very much.

While I prefer fantasy, the tone and atmosphere of this story was exceptionally well executed.

And I enjoy an unreliable narrator. I normally wouldn't have finished a thriller so this is one I'd highly recommend.

Thoroughly enjoyed the crime and investigation part of the book. Something’s were predictable but when this is your genre that will happen. I think people will enjoy this one.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

I've only read the Three Dark Crowns series by Kendare Blake, so reading something set squarely in our world made me a bit nervous. She's so good at fantasy! Well, turns out she handles realism/horror with equal aplomb. As a Midwestern girl, her descriptions of the small town and its inhabitants felt a bit like going home, and she captured the vibe of the late 1950s extremely well. This is a book that will raise more questions than it answers, which is just the way I like it. I'll recommend this to teens who like thought-provoking mysteries that allow you to draw your own conclusions.

This book is like an amiable walk through spooky woods at night. It paints a picture of an Everytown, USA type of place that deals with a horrifying tragedy. The struggle with what was true was prevalent throughout and I was thoroughly charmed by the story.

I'm a sucker for a serial killer story and the fact that this one was based on a real situation was exciting. I loved the premise and the build up completely. The mysterious circumstances in which Marie is found, completely covered in blood surrounded by a whole family, dead and devoid of blood, was incredibly compelling. The fact that Michael knows the victims and has a connection to the police station is convenient but fantastic for the setup. Marie and Michael forming a bond, the strange romantic tension that builds up between them, and the idea that she will only talk to him were all working for me. Unfortunately, the end fell flat. Perhaps this is because Kendare Blake was trying to stay true to the details of the actual case, but the resolution felt both a little bit vague and overwhelmingly disappointing after all of the build up prior to that point. I still enjoyed the story, and I think the premise will really appeal to teens, even those who don't read much, but I worry that after they've invested their time in the story, they will feel let down by the end. I plan to still purchase the book for my library, but I wonder if it may not be too popular with my students.

I was SO excited about this book! Anna Dressed in Blood is one of my favorite horror books, so I was very happy when I found out that Kendare Blake was diving back into the more spooky side of things with her books! However, the book left much to be desired 😞

Don’t get me wrong, the mystery was VERY intriguing. There have been a string of bloodless murders, guys. Like, what the heck! The bodies were drained of all the blood and the blood was nowhere to be found. The authorities didn’t catch a break until 15-year-old Marie was apprehended at the latest scene of the crime where they found a baby, still alive, and she was covered in blood. How did the blood get on her?! Was she a victim? A killer? WHAT IS HAPPENING?! And then things get more interesting when Marie specifically asks for 17-year-old Michael to handle her interview. Oh and he’s also the son of the sheriff, so there’s that. Lol. My point here is that this is all the making of a great story! It was all very intriguing, but that ending was a huge letdown. And not to mention how little I cared for Marie.

I understand why Michael cared about the girl, having spent as much time with her as he did, but I just didn’t. She almost never gave him straight answers, and when she did, they made no sense. It was frustrating. So yeah, his empathy for the girl was exasperating and I just didn’t get it.

And then that ending? Ugh! SO I went into this telling myself it was going to be more true crime than supernatural because that was the impression all the marketing for the book gave me. But... It was just so confusing. I don’t know whether it was or wasn’t, and the ending didn’t clarify. There was absolutely NO resolution to the story in this aspect and the mystery in general. I get that in real life there are cases that go unsolved, but this is fiction! At least give me a little something! It was left WAY too open! I was expecting more from this, but I was just left feeling underwhelmed by the end. The book had potential, but the ending was not satisfying at all 😞

I liked the idea of this novel, but I found the writing style made it seem dull and tedious. It was rather repetitive: minor details kept being said over and over again. For example, I had it memorized half way through the sheriff's family used to live onsite and their kitchen was renovated into the women's jail cell after they moved it. However, much like the Hunger Games, the mystery and suspense kept me turning pages until late into the night. I did LOVE how we don't really know for sure for sure where the blood went in the bloodless murders and we don't know for sure what happens at the end: it does have a cliffhanger ending. I also loved that this was loosely based on a girlfriend/boyfriend murder spree that took place in 1958.

Synopsis: Michael Jensen is the good hearted, rule abiding son of a small town sheriff. Sure, he sneaks a few drinks with his best friend Percy down by the lake occasionally and smokes once in a blue moon with Nancy, the typist at the jail, but overall, he's squeaky clean. But when a string of bloodless murders cause havoc in the 1950s in the Midwest, Michael is pulled into the investigation in an unexpected way: at the scene of the murders of the Carlsons, a girl is found dripping in their blood and she won't give her confession to anyone EXCEPT to Michael. What follows is Michael's journalistic journey to tell the truth of what happened according to Marie Catherine Hale (Mewes). The tale she weaves is super fanciful, but her role in the murders and her punishment are unavoidable. As much as Michael has come to care for her, the death penalty is looming if she can't name her accomplice and tell the truth of what happened. Sometimes the truth is elusive though...

I found this one to be dark and haunting. It lead me down a rabbit hole of Caril Ann Fugate and Charles Starkweather.