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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
In the small town of Bone Gap, everyone knows everyone. You would think they would care if one of their own goes missing, but when Roza goes missing, no one blinks an eye. Finn and Sean O'Sullivan are again left on their own, left by their mother and now left by their Roza. Finn knows that Roza was kidnapped, but cannot remember the kidnapper. "Bone Gap" follows the story of Finn trying to be a normal teenage while also trying to find Roza when no one believes him.
I enjoyed the book and found it an easy read. Each chapter is told from a different characters perspectives, mainly rotating between Finn and Roza. There were a couple parts in the book that were a tad confusing and just plain weird. Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it was a great book showing the coming of age of a teenage boy. With content warnings, the book was fairly clean. There were maybe two scenes that were leading up to something inappropriate but it never described the actual scene.
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
I enjoyed the book and found it an easy read. Each chapter is told from a different characters perspectives, mainly rotating between Finn and Roza. There were a couple parts in the book that were a tad confusing and just plain weird. Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it was a great book showing the coming of age of a teenage boy. With content warnings, the book was fairly clean. There were maybe two scenes that were leading up to something inappropriate but it never described the actual scene.
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Wow - what a read! Partly weird, sure, but also totally awesome!
Took me awhile to get into it, it's a quiet book about relationships and small towns and expectations, but a beautifully written, magical book.
I need to stay away from YA novels and the magical realism genre. They just don't do anything for me.
Magic realism fairy tales aren't generally my bag, but this book was so much more than that. Beautifully written, full of strong wonderful characters and straight up feminist. Enjoyable. 4.5 stars.
My review from my site: http://lostinstory.weebly.com/home/review-of-bone-gap-and-mini-book-thief-review
Spoiler free plot summary:
Finn lives with his brother Sean after their mother leaves them behind to remarry. One day Roza appears in their barn. She is very talented with plants and she and Sean are clearly in love. However, a professor who has tried to kidnap Roza once before finds her again and she is taken before Finn realizes what is happening. As he is the sole witness and cannot describe the man, the town (Bone Gap, IL) does not believe him, instead believing that she just chose to leave them. Sean is heartbroken and stops speaking to Finn. Finn finds a magical horse in his barn that takes him to Pricilla (a beekeeper's daughter) each night and he starts to piece together what may have happened to Roza and how to get her back.
(I want to throw out there that this summary does not even begin to cover all of the book's intricacies but I can't get too much into the plot without ruining surprises in the book.)
What I liked:
* The book is told from shifting perspectives. Finn is the main narrator with Roza as a fairly common narrator as well. They all fill in gaps in the story and add layers of complexity as the book goes along.
* As I started off with, this book is both very much like Neil Gaiman novels (many times it strongly reminded me of Ocean at the End of the Lane in it's style and tone) and solidly magical realism. I adore both of these elements so this is easily one of my favorite YA novels I've read this year.
* It has a wonderful mythology just behind everything that isn't discussed directly but clearly influences major aspects of the book. Roza is Polish so Polish mythology plays a part in the story. It's largest mythological influence comes from the Greek/Roman myth of Demeter, Hades, and Persephone.
* The author very cleverly uses the magic realism elements to hide a major plot twist. I thought it was so cleverly done and it really made Finn an even more sympathetic and real character.
* Many times I would realize some major plot twist just before the author came out and stated it. This is such a clear sign of good writing to me and really made the book a fast and intense read.
* I think the book's greatest strength is in how it deals so incredibly well with issues of beauty and what it is like to be female. Roza is constantly taken advantage of and pressured and under estimated because of her beauty. Priscilla has an impressive body but an ugly face, so while she is objectified she is also ridiculed and tossed aside. The author also does an amazing job of showing how men often use attraction and this sort of objectification as a way of gaining power over women. Even though Roza is beautiful, it is made very clear that she feels terrified by these men who seek to control her because of her beauty. As a female this was very relatable and rang very true.
* Tying in with this, the ending was very striking and really brought out these themes well. (some spoilers ahead) Finn seeks to save Roza but she saves him and does so by sacrificing some of this surface layer beauty. However she insists that she is more beautiful at this point than she ever has been before. She takes control and power back and insists on her beauty on her own terms. When she returns, the author does not have her and Sean rush into a wedding as if this were the only thing that could ever make Roza complete. She has other things she needs and wants to do first.
What I didn't like:
* I thought the horse was a pretty big loose end that was poorly explained, but it could be I am missing some mythology reference as well.
Overall I adored this book and would highly recommend it! It's a great story that reads very quickly and really captures how we view beauty and use it as a weapon against both those who have it and those who don't.
Spoiler free plot summary:
Finn lives with his brother Sean after their mother leaves them behind to remarry. One day Roza appears in their barn. She is very talented with plants and she and Sean are clearly in love. However, a professor who has tried to kidnap Roza once before finds her again and she is taken before Finn realizes what is happening. As he is the sole witness and cannot describe the man, the town (Bone Gap, IL) does not believe him, instead believing that she just chose to leave them. Sean is heartbroken and stops speaking to Finn. Finn finds a magical horse in his barn that takes him to Pricilla (a beekeeper's daughter) each night and he starts to piece together what may have happened to Roza and how to get her back.
(I want to throw out there that this summary does not even begin to cover all of the book's intricacies but I can't get too much into the plot without ruining surprises in the book.)
What I liked:
* The book is told from shifting perspectives. Finn is the main narrator with Roza as a fairly common narrator as well. They all fill in gaps in the story and add layers of complexity as the book goes along.
* As I started off with, this book is both very much like Neil Gaiman novels (many times it strongly reminded me of Ocean at the End of the Lane in it's style and tone) and solidly magical realism. I adore both of these elements so this is easily one of my favorite YA novels I've read this year.
* It has a wonderful mythology just behind everything that isn't discussed directly but clearly influences major aspects of the book. Roza is Polish so Polish mythology plays a part in the story. It's largest mythological influence comes from the Greek/Roman myth of Demeter, Hades, and Persephone.
* The author very cleverly uses the magic realism elements to hide a major plot twist. I thought it was so cleverly done and it really made Finn an even more sympathetic and real character.
* Many times I would realize some major plot twist just before the author came out and stated it. This is such a clear sign of good writing to me and really made the book a fast and intense read.
* I think the book's greatest strength is in how it deals so incredibly well with issues of beauty and what it is like to be female. Roza is constantly taken advantage of and pressured and under estimated because of her beauty. Priscilla has an impressive body but an ugly face, so while she is objectified she is also ridiculed and tossed aside. The author also does an amazing job of showing how men often use attraction and this sort of objectification as a way of gaining power over women. Even though Roza is beautiful, it is made very clear that she feels terrified by these men who seek to control her because of her beauty. As a female this was very relatable and rang very true.
* Tying in with this, the ending was very striking and really brought out these themes well. (some spoilers ahead) Finn seeks to save Roza but she saves him and does so by sacrificing some of this surface layer beauty. However she insists that she is more beautiful at this point than she ever has been before. She takes control and power back and insists on her beauty on her own terms. When she returns, the author does not have her and Sean rush into a wedding as if this were the only thing that could ever make Roza complete. She has other things she needs and wants to do first.
What I didn't like:
* I thought the horse was a pretty big loose end that was poorly explained, but it could be I am missing some mythology reference as well.
Overall I adored this book and would highly recommend it! It's a great story that reads very quickly and really captures how we view beauty and use it as a weapon against both those who have it and those who don't.
“Because we don't have your typical gaps around here. Not gaps made of rocks or mountains. We have gaps in the world. In the space of things. So many places to lose yourself, if you believe that they're there. You can slip into the gap and never find your way out. Or maybe you don't want to find your way out.”
Bone Gap was a strange novel, good strange though. It was a tale brimming with magical realism, exquisite writing but also wonderful morals to take away with you. I was whisked away from the rickety train of which I read this book and plunged into a world where I wasn’t sure what was real and what was myth. The characters were beautifully written, the romance was icky or cliché and the message behind the magic was so so so important.
I won’t say too much about this story because I feel like that would take away the beauty and the surprise. This is the type of book that you need to go into blind, to not read any blurb or spoilery review. There’s polish myths and food, endless cornfields and a small town where everybody knows everybody. There’s no secrets kept and no privacy but the town was wonderful and peaceful and albeit a little scary! I really don’t have a negative thing to say about this story, only that it ended too soon and I would have loved to see more of the polish folklore/myths woven in but I will do that research on my own.
If you’re looking for a fast read or something with vibes that echo of The Raven Cycle then pick up this book!! Just. Do. It.
Bone Gap was a strange novel, good strange though. It was a tale brimming with magical realism, exquisite writing but also wonderful morals to take away with you. I was whisked away from the rickety train of which I read this book and plunged into a world where I wasn’t sure what was real and what was myth. The characters were beautifully written, the romance was icky or cliché and the message behind the magic was so so so important.
I won’t say too much about this story because I feel like that would take away the beauty and the surprise. This is the type of book that you need to go into blind, to not read any blurb or spoilery review. There’s polish myths and food, endless cornfields and a small town where everybody knows everybody. There’s no secrets kept and no privacy but the town was wonderful and peaceful and albeit a little scary! I really don’t have a negative thing to say about this story, only that it ended too soon and I would have loved to see more of the polish folklore/myths woven in but I will do that research on my own.
If you’re looking for a fast read or something with vibes that echo of The Raven Cycle then pick up this book!! Just. Do. It.
I think I realized the bone gap analogy was supposed to be taken literally until maybe the last 10 or so percent of the book. I was confused for the most part of the book but it was such a peculiar and unusual story that I could not put it down. Usually, when I am confused I get annoyed by the story but this one was so different that I was mostly intrigued. The plot twist in the last 5 percent was a true whiplash. Still recovering from it.
A small town character-driven story with elements of magical realism and fantasy, written for a YA audience. I really enjoyed this book (I listened to the audiobook which was great). It was very dream-like at times, Ruby's writing is wonderful and will appeal to adults as well as teens. Very original, while still reminiscent of old folktales and mythology.
Absolutely beautiful writing. Weirdly odd, while being very lovely at the same time. Talking cornstalks, a magical horse, and a very chilling, psychopathic villain. Finn, Petey, Roza and Sean are such well-drawn characters. Finn and Petey’s story is especially touching.
Reminds me of Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, and Juliet Marillier.
Don’t try to understand this book, absorb it.
Reminds me of Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, and Juliet Marillier.
Don’t try to understand this book, absorb it.