Bone GapAuthor: Laura Ruby
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: March 3, 2015
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Review:
Bone Gap is a weird book that is not easy to sum up. This novel has kidnapping, a maybe-magical horse, first love, brotherly bonds, and bees. The fact that this book was so unapologetically weird though is what made me love it. I enjoy books that are not easy to sum up; books that ask, and answer, questions about the world in different ways. Bone Gap is one of those books.
The setting in the small town of Bone Gap reminded me of John Corey Whaley’s town in Where Things Come Back. It is the kind of small town that both traps and nurtures you. It is a place that shapes who you are. Bone Gap also has the interesting distinction of having gaps, real or imaginary, that can make an entire person disappear.
That is what happened to Roza. She entered in to Finn and his brother’s life and then one day she disappeared. Roza was abducted from a fair and the only one who witnessed the abduction was Finn. He wasn’t able to describe the man so no one in town believed him. They all assumed that Roza had just left the brothers, like everyone else in their lives had. Many of the chapters in Bone Gap were written from Roza’s perspective, about her life pre-kidnapping and her fantastical incarceration. I found myself really enjoying these chapters but my favorite character was Finn.
Finn was downright interesting. I enjoyed the way he say the world and the people in it. The chapters written from his point of view were my favorite, he was a sort of unreliable narrator but only because he didn’t see things the way everyone else does.
Bone Gap is a story full of magical realism. It read like a contemporary, because of the setting and real life characters, but the end of the story (and looking back there was a magical horse) took a turn for the magical/fantastical. I enjoyed this part of the story but I didn’t feel like the plot needed it. Bone Gap was magical in and of itself there was no need to add extra to that world.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Bone Gap. I love books that have a great sense of place and characters that are interesting and relatable, Bone Gap had all of these and more!
Wow I would have never guessed that there would be some fantastical and magical elements in the book although the book did strike me as odd from the beginning because of the title. I can't wait to read this one, and I'm looking forward to picking it up next since it's already one my shelves. :D
ReplyDeleteGreat review Em!!
Alex @ The Book's Buzz
A lot of people keep saying good things about Bone Gap which makes me even more excited for it. I want an unusual story!!!!!
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