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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
I had to scroll through GR reviews to make sure I wasn't the only one who didn't like this book. I couldn't attach to the writing, the characters or the supposed magical realism, which is just mean the author thought "if I don't want to explain things that happen, I can just say a magical horse appeared because why not and nobody blinks an eye".
What I'm trying to say is both magical realism and this book were not for me.
What I'm trying to say is both magical realism and this book were not for me.
This one was good! I'd give it four stars until about halfway through, but it got really good towards the second half of the book. Once things started coming together, it got really good.
I was a bit bored at the beginning. I really liked Roza, and I always liked her chapters, but for the first half it kind of just felt like "Finn being sad" and then "Finn getting a girlfriend" and it just wasn't that interesting. The beginning reminded me a bit of Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley, which was one of my favorite books in high school- it's not magical realism, like Bone Gap is, but it's similar in that "boy in small town has a loved one go missing and is grieving and then he gets a girlfriend because I guess that helps somehow", but I liked the voice/narration style of Where Things Come Back more than I liked Finn's narration style. One thing I did like about Finn's narration style, though, was how metaphorical and poetic he was, if that makes any sense. Instead of describing how things look, he compares them to other things- Petey looks like a bee, the man who took Roza twitched like a cornstalk.
Like I said, things got really good once they started making a little more sense and things started fitting together. I got answers to questions I didn't even know I had. I obviously can't give details without spoiling, but I will say: I knew this book was magical realism, so I was expecting all the weird things to be magic-related reasons. Many of them were. Some of them weren't. I really loved finding out what was what. I loved the reveals, because I wasn't expecting them when they happened, and I wasn't expecting what they were, and they all made perfect, total sense. They weren't bombshell reveals, they were lightbulb reveals- of course, that makes so much sense rather than oh my god I totally didn't see that coming. The ending/reveals were really fun, and they're most of the reason this book gets five stars. The second half really flew by.
Characters! There are a lot of good ones. Sean was ok; I kind of wish we had gotten more from his perspective, just because I didn't feel like I understood his point of view as well as I wanted to. I couldn't really articulate how he felt or why he was acting the way he was until Finn explained it to Roza at the end, and I wish I'd gotten to understand it a little better before that. Finn was, like I said, somewhat less interesting at first, but I got to like him better as the book went on. I also liked Petey; I was very worried she would be Manic Pixie Dreamgirl-ed at first, but fortunately she was actually a really good, interesting character with a lot of stuff going on. She made mistakes and hurt Finn, but was able to acknowledge them and apologize. She was extremely cool and badass and refused to tolerate bullshit, but also had her own insecurities and issues. Their relationship actually progressed in a really good and compelling way, and they were good at communication which we love to see. Roza was definitely my favorite; I liked that she was a really interesting and feminist character without demonizing or eliminating all aspects of her femininity. She cooked dinner for Sean and Finn every night, not because she's the girl, but because she really liked cooking and was by far the best at it. She gets kidnapped and needs rescuing, but she is also able to take action herself and assert control over herself in whatever was she can while she waits for help. She's funny, and she's kind, and she's been hurt a lot by a lot of people, and she's just a really complex and interesting character and I really really love her.
*Also shoutout to Petey's mom, for teaching her daughter healthy and LGBTQ+ friendly sex ed, and shoutout to Derek for what must have been a shit ton of character growth that happened completely offscreen.
There are a couple trigger/content warnings: There is a LOT of sexual harassment, and there is a decent amount of blood and injury- Finn gets beat up a lot, Sean is an EMT, people get cuts sometimes and need stitches. There is one (one and a half?) brief references to disordered eating and some references to rape/abuse, although it isn't discussed at length and nothing too graphic or violent happens on screen or to any of the characters. Roza obviously gets kidnapped, but I wouldn't describe it as graphic- it's horrifying, but not in a violent way, more in a creepy, disturbing way. It's extremely icky, though.
Anyway, TLDR: It gets much better about halfway through, once things start coming together, but it's pretty good most of the time anyway. The reveals are very good. The characters and their relationships to one another are very good. It's got a good mix of "things are weird because magic" and "things are weird because grief" and "things are weird because of actually perfectly normal and explicable reasons". Would recommend if you read a book about an Average Teenage Boy and liked it but think it would have been better if it was more feminist and magical. Would also probably recommend even if you haven't had that very specific experience.
I was a bit bored at the beginning. I really liked Roza, and I always liked her chapters, but for the first half it kind of just felt like "Finn being sad" and then "Finn getting a girlfriend" and it just wasn't that interesting. The beginning reminded me a bit of Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley, which was one of my favorite books in high school- it's not magical realism, like Bone Gap is, but it's similar in that "boy in small town has a loved one go missing and is grieving and then he gets a girlfriend because I guess that helps somehow", but I liked the voice/narration style of Where Things Come Back more than I liked Finn's narration style. One thing I did like about Finn's narration style, though, was how metaphorical and poetic he was, if that makes any sense. Instead of describing how things look, he compares them to other things- Petey looks like a bee, the man who took Roza twitched like a cornstalk.
Like I said, things got really good once they started making a little more sense and things started fitting together. I got answers to questions I didn't even know I had. I obviously can't give details without spoiling, but I will say: I knew this book was magical realism, so I was expecting all the weird things to be magic-related reasons. Many of them were. Some of them weren't. I really loved finding out what was what. I loved the reveals, because I wasn't expecting them when they happened, and I wasn't expecting what they were, and they all made perfect, total sense. They weren't bombshell reveals, they were lightbulb reveals- of course, that makes so much sense rather than oh my god I totally didn't see that coming. The ending/reveals were really fun, and they're most of the reason this book gets five stars. The second half really flew by.
Characters! There are a lot of good ones. Sean was ok; I kind of wish we had gotten more from his perspective, just because I didn't feel like I understood his point of view as well as I wanted to. I couldn't really articulate how he felt or why he was acting the way he was until Finn explained it to Roza at the end, and I wish I'd gotten to understand it a little better before that. Finn was, like I said, somewhat less interesting at first, but I got to like him better as the book went on. I also liked Petey; I was very worried she would be Manic Pixie Dreamgirl-ed at first, but fortunately she was actually a really good, interesting character with a lot of stuff going on. She made mistakes and hurt Finn, but was able to acknowledge them and apologize. She was extremely cool and badass and refused to tolerate bullshit, but also had her own insecurities and issues. Their relationship actually progressed in a really good and compelling way, and they were good at communication which we love to see. Roza was definitely my favorite; I liked that she was a really interesting and feminist character without demonizing or eliminating all aspects of her femininity. She cooked dinner for Sean and Finn every night, not because she's the girl, but because she really liked cooking and was by far the best at it. She gets kidnapped and needs rescuing, but she is also able to take action herself and assert control over herself in whatever was she can while she waits for help. She's funny, and she's kind, and she's been hurt a lot by a lot of people, and she's just a really complex and interesting character and I really really love her.
*Also shoutout to Petey's mom, for teaching her daughter healthy and LGBTQ+ friendly sex ed, and shoutout to Derek for what must have been a shit ton of character growth that happened completely offscreen.
There are a couple trigger/content warnings: There is a LOT of sexual harassment, and there is a decent amount of blood and injury- Finn gets beat up a lot, Sean is an EMT, people get cuts sometimes and need stitches. There is one (one and a half?) brief references to disordered eating and some references to rape/abuse, although it isn't discussed at length and nothing too graphic or violent happens on screen or to any of the characters. Roza obviously gets kidnapped, but I wouldn't describe it as graphic- it's horrifying, but not in a violent way, more in a creepy, disturbing way. It's extremely icky, though.
Anyway, TLDR: It gets much better about halfway through, once things start coming together, but it's pretty good most of the time anyway. The reveals are very good. The characters and their relationships to one another are very good. It's got a good mix of "things are weird because magic" and "things are weird because grief" and "things are weird because of actually perfectly normal and explicable reasons". Would recommend if you read a book about an Average Teenage Boy and liked it but think it would have been better if it was more feminist and magical. Would also probably recommend even if you haven't had that very specific experience.
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this story so much. It was weird in the best possible AU way, and the story was paced perfectly for YA. Some of the Roza POV parts were weird and super confusing, but I loved all the Finn parts. The magical realism is a little too heavy handed to be perfect, but this was a fun read
(Reviewing this book a year after I read it)
(Reviewing this book a year after I read it)
This book was SO. GOOD. It's so hard to review this book because it's just so different and surreal, yet so amazing at the same time. I'm not one to really enjoy reading any magical realism (not that this book is that heavy in it) but it worked so well. Quite possibly my favorite book of the year.
Not sure what genre this is with the magic realism elements. It reads a bit like a gritty fairy tale.
This book dealt quite a bit with female objectification. There's also a mysterious disappearance/kidnapping of one of the main characters and an interesting cast of characters just going through normal life in Bone Gap, a small town in Illinois. The magical realism was interesting but strange at times, and the ending seemed to be too quick and easy, but overall an enjoyable read.
This review was going to be a three until I read the end....which is great and worth it.