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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Oh my gosh. I adored this book.
It seems it was written just for me , but really , it's written for anyone who has a heart beating inside their chest.
I loved Rosa , who was funny and lovely and heartbreaking. When she got free from scarecrow's clutches , I cheered.
I loved Petey , who was snarky and vulnerable and endearing. Her character was perfect.
I loved Sean , even if I sometimes wished I could slap him in the face.
I loved Charlie Valentine ,though that's not his name. Miguel , the rude boys , Mrs. Lonogan , Jonas , and Darla. Basically the whole gossipy town of Bone Gap , Illinois.
But my favorite character has to be Finn.
Omigosh. I'd advise anyone to read this novel just for him. Seriously.
Finn , one of the most swoon worthy book characters ever. I don't think I've ever used the term swoon worthy before , but it's the truth.
Everything he did in this book made me love him even more.
He doesn't even have to be doing something heroic. When he makes a cup of tea I'm like , OMIGOSH I LOVE YOU. MARRY ME . ( faints)
The writing was lovely too. Laura Ruby has this way of describing things that reminds me of Beth Kephart's writing , which is one of the biggest compliments I can pay an author.
The magical realism was confusing , but incredible. The magical horse and Rus the monster Dog were especially wonderful.
As the cover implies , there is a lot of beekeeping in this book. It was so interesting to learn about.
I absolutely recommend this.
Content : There is brief strong language and one sex scene , but it is very short and easy to skip.
It seems it was written just for me , but really , it's written for anyone who has a heart beating inside their chest.
I loved Rosa , who was funny and lovely and heartbreaking. When she got free from scarecrow's clutches , I cheered.
I loved Petey , who was snarky and vulnerable and endearing. Her character was perfect.
I loved Sean , even if I sometimes wished I could slap him in the face.
I loved Charlie Valentine ,though that's not his name. Miguel , the rude boys , Mrs. Lonogan , Jonas , and Darla. Basically the whole gossipy town of Bone Gap , Illinois.
But my favorite character has to be Finn.
Omigosh. I'd advise anyone to read this novel just for him. Seriously.
Finn , one of the most swoon worthy book characters ever. I don't think I've ever used the term swoon worthy before , but it's the truth.
Everything he did in this book made me love him even more.
He doesn't even have to be doing something heroic. When he makes a cup of tea I'm like , OMIGOSH I LOVE YOU. MARRY ME . ( faints)
The writing was lovely too. Laura Ruby has this way of describing things that reminds me of Beth Kephart's writing , which is one of the biggest compliments I can pay an author.
The magical realism was confusing , but incredible. The magical horse and Rus the monster Dog were especially wonderful.
As the cover implies , there is a lot of beekeeping in this book. It was so interesting to learn about.
I absolutely recommend this.
Content : There is brief strong language and one sex scene , but it is very short and easy to skip.
4.5 I am so shocked, and so pleased at the twists that were thrown my way. I wasn't expecting very much from Bone Gap–and I think that was a good thing, because I really got to be WOWed.
As I mentioned in a previous update, there's so many layers to the story! I think my fascination with this book has something to do with the fact that it's YA, and also the fact that the main character is a white boy. I mean, I've read a lot of books that have a white, male protagonist and I just am not really interested in that narrative anymore.... But as long as stories about white males go, Laura Ruby does a good job making the main characters interesting: Also, I can't get over Petey!! Or her mom!! Loved them.
Ruby also does a good job incorporating diversity within her minor characters. I don't know if it's sad that I'm praising something minimal, but I was surprised that Finn's best friend was a Latino teen. I was even more surprised when he—Miguel—and his family weren't tokens or stereotypes. [She didn't have to give this character a personality or make his dad have a normal job (teacher!!), and she did! (Also god bless her for not making their surname Garcia... why's that the only Latinx surname people know?)] This might seem a little silly, especially to those that can't relate, but I rarely see good Latino representation—however minimal it might be... I notice these things.
I knocked off 1/2 star because I didn't fully understand the fantastical aspects, and the reason I didn't knock off a whole star was because the rest of the book made up for it.
As I mentioned in a previous update, there's so many layers to the story! I think my fascination with this book has something to do with the fact that it's YA, and also the fact that the main character is a white boy. I mean, I've read a lot of books that have a white, male protagonist and I just am not really interested in that narrative anymore.... But as long as stories about white males go, Laura Ruby does a good job making the main characters interesting:
Spoiler
mysterious Polish woman, insecure but fierce love interest, protagonist with a cognitive disorder.Ruby also does a good job incorporating diversity within her minor characters. I don't know if it's sad that I'm praising something minimal, but I was surprised that Finn's best friend was a Latino teen. I was even more surprised when he—Miguel—and his family weren't tokens or stereotypes. [She didn't have to give this character a personality or make his dad have a normal job (teacher!!), and she did! (Also god bless her for not making their surname Garcia... why's that the only Latinx surname people know?)] This might seem a little silly, especially to those that can't relate, but I rarely see good Latino representation—however minimal it might be... I notice these things.
I knocked off 1/2 star because I didn't fully understand the fantastical aspects, and the reason I didn't knock off a whole star was because the rest of the book made up for it.
This book is suspenseful and romantic, a great combination for a young adult novel! The main characters, Finn and Petey, are endearingly unique. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of past vs. present and real vs. fantasy (or when fantasy is real). Struggling readers may need extra support to stick with the plot. There are some sexual elements.
AR: 3.5
My first(?) foray into magical realism and this book had A. Lot. going on. I half loved the unexpectedness of everything, half found it a bit too much all over the place. There was talking corn, prosopagnosia, a magical horse that turns out to be p much irrelevant to the plot, bees, cats, goats, exchange students, TV, two separate romances, and in the final third a heavy Greek myth influence.
I was, however, unable to stop reading, had no idea as to how they were going to get to the conclusion, and found the final confrontation very well done in the way that it pulled together a lot of the threads.
All in all, very enjoyable in all its twists, but probably won't pick up again now that I know them.
Warnings: a non-graphic sex scene, and implied fears of sexual assault.
My first(?) foray into magical realism and this book had A. Lot. going on. I half loved the unexpectedness of everything, half found it a bit too much all over the place. There was talking corn, prosopagnosia, a magical horse that turns out to be p much irrelevant to the plot, bees, cats, goats, exchange students, TV, two separate romances, and in the final third a heavy Greek myth influence.
I was, however, unable to stop reading, had no idea as to how they were going to get to the conclusion, and found the final confrontation very well done in the way that it pulled together a lot of the threads.
All in all, very enjoyable in all its twists, but probably won't pick up again now that I know them.
Warnings: a non-graphic sex scene, and implied fears of sexual assault.
For a more complete review at the Bickering Book Reviews youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGFtKKiyQfQ
Finn, Rosa, and Sean are the main players in this novel. Rosa has recently disappeared and Finn saw her being taken. No matter how many times Finn describes the person who took her to the police, but no one can make sense of what he is saying. Rosa is gone and no one knows where to look or who to look for. Finn and Sean go about their life, except both are generally more angry than normal. The reader is also given insight into what Rosa is going through.
Finn meets a girl, who he finds beautiful, but others think is ugly. He soon begins to think more about his new girl than Rosa.
Parallels with the Persephone myth are drawn by the author. I was totally not a fan of the mixing of fantasy and reality in this story. It didn’t work for me and I certainly did not like the characters. I found that after concentrating and reading this book that I could still not comprehend it (in a bad way). Not a fan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGFtKKiyQfQ
Finn, Rosa, and Sean are the main players in this novel. Rosa has recently disappeared and Finn saw her being taken. No matter how many times Finn describes the person who took her to the police, but no one can make sense of what he is saying. Rosa is gone and no one knows where to look or who to look for. Finn and Sean go about their life, except both are generally more angry than normal. The reader is also given insight into what Rosa is going through.
Finn meets a girl, who he finds beautiful, but others think is ugly. He soon begins to think more about his new girl than Rosa.
Parallels with the Persephone myth are drawn by the author. I was totally not a fan of the mixing of fantasy and reality in this story. It didn’t work for me and I certainly did not like the characters. I found that after concentrating and reading this book that I could still not comprehend it (in a bad way). Not a fan.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced