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mrchance 's review for:
The Bones of You
by Debbie Howells
I didn't finish this book, which was chosen by my book club. I read about 10%, according to the e-book I checked out from the library.
The marketing doesn't do this book any favors. "A stunning, wonderfully assured psychological thriller that evokes Gillian Flynn and Alice Sebold, The Bones of You revolves around a young girl’s murder and one woman’s obsession with uncovering the secrets in an idyllic English village." In the thirty-or-so pages I read, I fail to see anything that isn't completely derivative.
Here's what I read: a teen girl is killed. The mother of the girl's friend rides horses and thinks about it. The horse might be psychic? I have no idea.
In between the horse-riding adult's chapters, we read chapters from the dead girl's perspective, starting as a child and working up until she gets older. The first two of these sections are written as if it's from the girl looking back with an older perspective. Here's what I mean, from the chapter where the dead girl is four years old: "Jeez, I had forgotten Mrs. Bell. At the time, I liked how she smiled and was kind. Now I see a weary, middle-aged lady..." That reads like someone looking back at a teacher with the knowledge she has gained since growing older.
But the other chapters I read are written as if the character is the age in which she is presented. For example, "I have ice cream and Mummy drinks coffee. We go shopping, but then Mummy says we have to go somewhere. Meet someone. A good friend." Why is she acting like she's five all of a sudden, when she's an older girl looking back? Why doesn't she know who this good friend is? Easy: because that would spoil what the author must think is a big mystery. Her inconsistent POV makes her writing feel gimmicky and manipulative. I don't have time for that.
The marketing doesn't do this book any favors. "A stunning, wonderfully assured psychological thriller that evokes Gillian Flynn and Alice Sebold, The Bones of You revolves around a young girl’s murder and one woman’s obsession with uncovering the secrets in an idyllic English village." In the thirty-or-so pages I read, I fail to see anything that isn't completely derivative.
Here's what I read: a teen girl is killed. The mother of the girl's friend rides horses and thinks about it. The horse might be psychic? I have no idea.
In between the horse-riding adult's chapters, we read chapters from the dead girl's perspective, starting as a child and working up until she gets older. The first two of these sections are written as if it's from the girl looking back with an older perspective. Here's what I mean, from the chapter where the dead girl is four years old: "Jeez, I had forgotten Mrs. Bell. At the time, I liked how she smiled and was kind. Now I see a weary, middle-aged lady..." That reads like someone looking back at a teacher with the knowledge she has gained since growing older.
But the other chapters I read are written as if the character is the age in which she is presented. For example, "I have ice cream and Mummy drinks coffee. We go shopping, but then Mummy says we have to go somewhere. Meet someone. A good friend." Why is she acting like she's five all of a sudden, when she's an older girl looking back? Why doesn't she know who this good friend is? Easy: because that would spoil what the author must think is a big mystery. Her inconsistent POV makes her writing feel gimmicky and manipulative. I don't have time for that.