The Family Bones by Elle Marr

 

☠️☠️
Print Length: 317 Pages
Publication Date: March 7th, 2023
By: Thomas & Mercer
Goodreads | Amazon

About The Book:
Psychology student Olivia Eriksen’s family is notorious among true-crime buffs. Faced with a legacy of psychopathy that spans generations, Olivia has spent much of her academic life trying to answer one chilling question: Nature or nurture? Although she’s kept a safe distance from her blood relatives for years, Olivia agrees to attend a weekend reunion. After all, her fiancé is eager to meet his future in-laws, and the gathering may give her a chance to interview her elusive grandfather about the family traits. But nothing is ever peaceful among the Eriksens for long. Olivia’s favorite cousin is found dead in a nearby lake. Then another family member disappears. As a violent storm isolates the group further, Olivia’s fears rise faster than the river. And an uninvited guest is about to join the party. True-crime podcaster Birdie Tan has uncovered a disturbing mystery in her latest investigation—and she’s following it right to the Eriksens’ mountain resort. There’s a deadly twist in the family plot that even Olivia doesn’t see coming.

My Review:
I tried to like this book, I really really did. The book is intelligently written with lots of clinical terms and you can tell the author did a lot of research. I also liked that the premise was so unique, a family reunion of psychopaths where someone goes missing and another turns up dead. Throw a true crime podcaster into the mix and it sounds exciting, right? But this was a slooooow burn of a book and not in a good way. Honestly, I was bored out of my skull. I am getting really tired of thrillers using the  "no phones allowed" as part of their plot. Who would allow that rule if they're on a retreat with a bunch of psychopaths!?

The book is from dual points of view with newspaper clippings and journal entries. I love a good epistolary novel but this one was like three different books smashed together, it was incohesive. I also had a hard time connecting to any of the characters. Maybe that was the author's intent with a family full of psychotics. I couldn't get into the story itself either and I struggled to finish it. There were no real surprises and I was very unsatisfied with the ending and the book in general.

#TheFamilyBones #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

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