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grendels_mother 's review for:
The Bone People
by Keri Hulme
I picked up this one as part of my Popsugar Reading Challenge 2022: A book with a character on the ACE spectrum.
I realized it fits multiple categories, though:
* A book you know nothing about. The only thing I knew about it when Whitfield picked it up from his library was that it would fit in the ACE spectrum prompt. Nothing else.
* A book by a Pacific Islander. Keri Hulme is Maori according to the biography blurb.
* A book that features two languages. I found out what a hongi is, which is something I had noticed before in videos of Haka but didn’t know anything else about it. There is a dictionary of Maori phrases and words in the back. Beautiful language.
* A book about a found family. This found family is incredibly dysfunctional, but it’s not like blood families aren’t dysfunctional. It still counts.
* A book set in the 1980s. I don’t know if it’s ever overtly stated that it takes place in the ‘80s but it was published in 1983 and the fashion and tech seems to be ‘80s, so I’m thinking it is a fair assumption.
The prose is beautiful. The story is intriguing. The characters are three-dimensional and flawed, while still making them human and likable. The child abuse is heartbreaking, but I do like that Joe is not made into a mustache-twirling villain. Nuanced.
I realized it fits multiple categories, though:
* A book you know nothing about. The only thing I knew about it when Whitfield picked it up from his library was that it would fit in the ACE spectrum prompt. Nothing else.
* A book by a Pacific Islander. Keri Hulme is Maori according to the biography blurb.
* A book that features two languages. I found out what a hongi is, which is something I had noticed before in videos of Haka but didn’t know anything else about it. There is a dictionary of Maori phrases and words in the back. Beautiful language.
* A book about a found family. This found family is incredibly dysfunctional, but it’s not like blood families aren’t dysfunctional. It still counts.
* A book set in the 1980s. I don’t know if it’s ever overtly stated that it takes place in the ‘80s but it was published in 1983 and the fashion and tech seems to be ‘80s, so I’m thinking it is a fair assumption.
The prose is beautiful. The story is intriguing. The characters are three-dimensional and flawed, while still making them human and likable. The child abuse is heartbreaking, but I do like that Joe is not made into a mustache-twirling villain. Nuanced.