Sometimes it is easier to keep secrets than to live with our truth.

The Rattled Bones was a poignant story about grief, family and the way the past can intertwine with our present.

What I loved:

The grandmother-granddaughter relationship. It was just so sweet! I love seeing involved parents and guardians in YA but it is even nicer when those relationships are both central to the story and beautifully written. I loved their special bond over herbal remedies and teas and all their little rituals. They were open and honest with each other, even when it was difficult. I also loved that Eleanor looked out for Rilla. She made sure she never pushed herself too far but also let her have her own breathing room and never dominated her space. It was just really pleasant to read about such a positive guardian-child relationship.

Rilla and Sam’s relationship. I was worried that this story may have a love triangle but Rilla and Sam’s relationship never became romantic. For that, I am so incredibly grateful. It is possible to have an m/f friendship without romantic tension and Parker demonstrated it so well in this. Their budding relationship was sweet and genuine. I liked how supportive of they were of each other and their circumstances. Sam was also just a decent character. He was smart and kind. He had a great sense of humour and worked hard. The things he said were also so poetic and I definitely feel a little bit in love with that.

The commentary. The Rattled Bones deals with a real historical occurrence and it brought up a lot of tasteful commentary about it. Racism - or really any general discussions surrounding discrimination - are always hard topics to write about in a way that is impactful and meaningful and not preachy or one-sided. Parker truly managed to raise important topics without force-feeding a particular viewpoint to the audience, which I appreciated so much. I do not want to go into details about what this story is about because I believe it plays out well in the story itself but it was a fascinating situation. Was it a little difficult to read about? At times, definitely. However, I was very impressed with how it was handled.

The setting. Who would have thought that I would find lobster fishing so interesting! I have never read a book where the protagonist had this profession so I found it really interesting to learn about the industry. I also liked that it highlighted the sexism that is notoriously rampant in these sorts of workplaces and never tried to gloss over that.

What I didn’t love as much:

The lack of thrills. While this book is very much a contemporary about grief and family, it does have a paranormal thriller side to it. I found that subplot to be a little lacking, though. Parker has an undoubtedly atmospheric writing style that I truly enjoyed but it never quite nailed the chill factor. This was definitely my biggest problem with this book as a whole: I was never thrilled. There was just something about it that never pulled me in. The whole paranormal element to this story was lost on me. I wish I had something more concrete or point and declare as the root of my disinterest, but I am not sure where Parker went wrong exactly.

Hattie. Rilla’s best friend felt like such an underdeveloped, throwaway character. I really would have liked to see that play more of an element in the story.

Repetition. I did find it a tad irritating that Parker would repeat certain phrases when describing a particular object/person/thought. There were also times where I felt Rilla’s monologue brought up the same points over and over again. Maybe the author wanted to show her development through this? I’m not entirely sure what it was meant to achieve but I couldn’t help thinking, I already know that every time it came up.

Rilla’s intelligence. This is such a trivial thing to get bothered by but it really irritated me how everyone kept reassuring Rilla she was this incredibly intelligent young woman but... we never really saw that? She never acted or said anything in particular that exemplified it.

The ending. I was a little disheartened by the ending. I would have liked to know what Sam had decided to do with his future and a little bit more closure with Reed.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.