I have mixed feelings about All These Bodies. Having adored Blake’s Three Dark Crown series, I expected her new tale to contain the same sharp storytelling that made me fall in love with Fennbirn and its vast cast of characters. I was left disappointed, though. All These Bodies has a strong start, but the ending left me with more questions than answers.

My main problem with the ending is the fact that readers are left to draw their own conclusions. Usually, an ambiguous ending wouldn’t bother me, but when one of the main characters could be considered an unreliable narrator, I find myself questioning her version of events. Perhaps this ambiguous ending was Blake’s intention all along, though. Truth is a major theme throughout the novel and as such, readers may just have to determine for themselves how they believe the story ends. Like the story’s characters, readers have to answer the question: “Do you believe Marie Catherine Hale?”

Many thanks to the NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

In the Summer of 1958, a string of unsolved murders dubbed The Bloodless Murders plagued the U.S. Mid-West.

In each case, the bodies are found completely drained of blood. Defying explanation, there is also no blood to be found anywhere on the scene, or any other evidence, for that matter. How is the killer getting away with this?

I quite enjoyed this thriller. Throughout I was hooked and didn't want to put it down.

Overall, I found All These Bodies to be unique, compelling, and fast-paced. I loved how Blake built out the relationship between Michael and Marie Catherine.

I also really loved the pace at which Marie Catherine's story is told. It kept me completely focused and engaged.

i've loved kendare blake in the past (anna dressed in blood) but this was so boring and i could not careless of what was happening. a little too cliche as well

Interesting premise and Blake sets the tone and atmosphere well, but I had a hard time with Marie and Michael’s “insta connection”. I think this is because we are supposed to get to know her through Michael, but we only get a few pages of their conversations. He tells us about the bond he’s developed with her over their almost daily conversations, but without the reader getting to be a part of those conversations her character falls short and I didn’t care much what happened to her. Still a fun and eerie read, but didn’t live up to the hype.

I loved the premise and the writing of this book, but I really wish I could have loved the actual plot of the story. Blake's writing is quick to catch up interest, but Left me with a lot of unanswered questions at the end and I ended up feeling like the plot was incomplete at the last page. Blake did a fantastic job at creating this tension between the narrator and the reader, though I will say that.

I loved this historical fiction/thriller mystery YA! It kept me hooked and I couldn't put it down. Love that we have a male protagonist telling the story. The author did a fantastic job with the flash forward bits without losing the reader (me). Definitely would recommend.

I loved this book. It kept me guessing the whole time trying to figure out what was going to happen in the end. The way the story was written was a little hard to follow but overall it was well done. It you like any of Kendare other books you will enjoy this one.

I read all these bodies more than six weeks ago, and I am still constantly thinking about Michael Jensen and Marie Catherine Hale. This was my absolute favourite spooky season read this year,, and I've been recommending it to people I know all month.

Set in the 1950's in Midwest, a string of murders' ends in a farmhouse in Minnesota where Marie Catherine Hale is found covered in blood with the bodies of the Carlson family surrounding her, all totally bloodless. Marie Catherine is the first real lead to solving any of the murders, but she will only speak to fellow teen, Michael Jensen, who happens to be the Sheriffs son.

Michael, an aspiring journalist, is happy to be the one to hear Marie Catherine's story, and works to document all she says, and bring the truth forward.

I don't want to give anything away but I loved this book. I was not able to put this book down. I connected with Michael's voice from the beginning, he was a great narrator. I loved how spooky and scary this book was.

This book was a quick read, only a day or two for me. I recommend it to anyone looking for a quick spooky read!

I really loved the first 75% this book. It was engaging and I was thoroughly invested in the story. However, the end really took away from it and knocked it down a star for me. Overall, I really did like this book. The characters were likeable, the true crime element was intriguing, and the murders were perfectly creepy. If only I could have skipped the ending!

4.5 stars

This book is for all those true crime lovers out there. Although there's somewhat of a twist when it comes to the murders (I'm being intentionally vague here to avoid spoiler territory).

This novel is a perfect read for Autumn and Winter with the accompanying spookiness of the seasons. It had the perfect amount of mystery, thrill, and horror which had me creeped out but also unable to put this book down.

There were many twists and turns along the way and I absolutely loved the unanswered questions that were left at the conclusion of this novel.

***Thank you to HCC Frenzy for this ARC in exchange for an honest review***

Scheduled to post 10/30/21.

I was pretty disappointed in ALL THESE BODIES. I kept expecting so much more than I got. It was really the driving force keeping me reading. I kept waiting for something more to happen and something more to happen and something more to happen. And it just . . . never happened.

It's not a poorly written story. It's just not engaging. There's no immediacy to any of it and the way it's told, I kept getting reminded that the main character is recounting this event, so you know he's going to make it out fine. And you also know, from the very beginning, what happens to Marie in the end. That kind of style really ruins stories for me because you know from page one how things turn out, thoroughly ruining any possible tension the book could have.

The thing is, there were plenty of tense moments, and even outright creepy moments. But they're told in this bland, blasé way that just made me not care about them. They didn't seem to bother anyone in the story all that much, and none of those particular tense moments amounted to anything anyway, so what was the point, really?

I'm not even looking for something more final than what the ending of the book gave me. I actually don't mind the ending. I'm just looking for . . . something at all. The tense moments with the killer could have been so much more, but that particular plot thread was just left dangling. I like the hints at something supernatural without going full tilt into a supernatural story. I did like how it really played on that line. But ultimately it got a little too standoffish with the supernatural for me and just seemed to outright abandon it in the end.

When I say I liked the ending, I liked how it left everything, how we're really not sure, one way or another, what was real and what wasn't. I'm a big fan of that particular brand of psychological horror. And with the things that did happen throughout the story, you can, as the reader, lean one way or another on what was or wasn't real. But there was still that doubt that the story leaves you with, and I liked that.

But the voice of Michael, whose name was said so much throughout the story that I'm over here like:

<iframe title="vimeo-player" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/18732878?h=0221395c15" width="640" height="352" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Could. Not. Stop. Thinking. About. It. It was literally this much. No, it wasn't. Michael's name was only said 90 times in ALL THESE BODIES. <a href="https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3404570/the-lost-boys-ever-notice-many-times-say-michael/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lost Boys has it beat by 24</a>. Still.

Michael's voice was just bland. It was a recitation of events as opposed to actually telling a story. I was only engaged insofar as I thought a shoe was going to drop. It never did.

I liked the small town horror aspect of ALL THESE BODIES, and I think the murders in and of themselves are creepy, along with the interactions with the killer. But the voice was just a wet blanket. It was not engaging or interesting, there was very little tension, and ultimately I struggled through the book.

2

I think there were elements of a good book in here, the characters are believable and the historical elements feel true as well. I think it gets bogged down in trying to be mysterious, and instead, is just confusing.

The prologue on this one was AMAZING!! I could not put it down. But after the story really got going the writing became choppy and I felt like I was reading a news report vs a story. I kind of wished that the story would have been told by the girls POV. The story felt disconnected and I just didn't care about the characters.

While I love a good vampire/supernatural thriller - I had a hard time enjoying some sections of All These Bodies. I read a review where they said it felt more like an "academic paper" at some points, and I have to agree. It was hard to connect to the characters, but the plot was interesting enough to keep me invested. All-in-all, All These Bodies is a solid three stars - I liked it, but it definitely had its issues.

Wonderfully written and well developed characters from Ms. Blake. Taut, suspenseful and it held my attention. Even though it was set in the 1950, the topics were still relevant to today. I will definitely recommend this title to my patrons.

It is difficult for me to explain how I loved this book without giving away more than I wish to. The writing and story are strong, drawing you in and keeping you engaged from start to finish. I picked it up as a spooky read given the season---and it is creepy as I had goosebumps forming yet it is so much more. It explores small town dynamics, the justice system, the media, and family workings. It will be a book that I know I will be thinking of long after this particular spooky season is over.

I cannot adaquately express how much I adore this book. Hot damn, what a powerful story! I loved the uncertainty throughout and was so happy Blake left so much to the imagination! Love, love, love!

Kendare Blake is an expert in writing atmosphere. It was nice to read something other than fantasy from her, Really enjoyed this and I think mystery/thriller loving teens will, too.

I liked the sci-fi element that was sprinkled in. I also like that we didn't really know or ever find out who the blood drinker was. Was he real or was Michael just enamored with Marie to the point of believing in something so impossible?
The ending was left open to make the reader decide what happens or does not happen next, depending on the view chosen in the previous questions.

3.5/5 Stars

In 1958, a string of murders leaves police baffled when the bodies are drained of blood, but none is left behind on the crime scenes. Then, there is a breakthrough when 15 year old Marie Catherine Hale is found in the farmhouse of the Carlson's, drenched head to toe in their blood. Michael Jensen, the son of the local sheriff dreams of being a journalist, so when Marie Catherine will only retell her story to him, he jumps on the chance to hear her confession. As Michael hears her story, he must report back to the district attorney, or risk sentencing Marie Catherine to the death penalty.

I am a huge fan of true crime, so I was excited to pick this up. The setting of the small town made the story feel all the more eerie. This is definitely a more slow-paced thriller, so don't go in expecting something fast-paced... but I loved how morally gray Marie Catherine is, and how we get more of the story slowly. It was difficult at times to distinguish between what is real and what may be made up in her story. You never truly know if Marie Catherine is a murderer or a victim, and I had so much fun trying to figure it out. I do think the ending was a bit lacking, resulting in my lower rating.