Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Book Review: Bone Gap, by Laura Ruby

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby book cover
I was surprised by the weird paranormal aspect of Bone Gap. I was enjoying an engaging contemporary story with what I thought was an unreliable narrator. Maybe that's what it is? I have mixed feelings.

Bone Gap is narrated mostly by Finn, who is unusual. Bone Gap is a very small town in Illinois and everyone knows everybody. Finn and his older brother were abandoned by their mother, and now live alone and take care of each other.

Roza is another main narrator. She lived with Finn and his brother for a while in a small apartment in their house. They found her in their barn one morning, beaten and abused. Roza never explained where she came from. They nursed her back to health, and she cooked for them and took care of their garden. Finn's brother was smitten.

Roza disappears, and Finn tries to tell everyone that he saw a man take her away -- that she was kidnapped, but Finn can't describe the man, and everyone thinks Roza left of her own free will.

Finn is feeling guilty because no one will look for Roza. There are many other aspects of the story. Someone leaves a beautiful horse in Finn's barn. Finn becomes romantically involved with a local teen girl, who is also somewhat of a misfit. The next door neighbor is also unusual and keeps his chickens in his house.

At first I thought that maybe Finn has Aspergers, because he never looks people in the eye, but that's not what it is. I thought both Roza and/or Finn may be unreliable narrators, because as Roza talks about where she is being held, it doesn't really make sense. Or else she was drugged. Turns out there is a paranormal aspect, along with a bizarre medical condition that explains those things....or does it? I'm just not sure how I feel about the resolution.

I had difficulty with all the flash backs and flash forwards. It was hard to tell what time we were in -- Roza goes way back into her past, and jumps around to the present, and then to a more recent past. Somewhat randomly, without warning. Finn does the same thing. I needed better transitions, or indicators of a change in time.

The writing was great. The story swept me along and I became involved with these characters. I just felt a bit jarred by the whole premise of the unexpected ending. Bone Gap is easy to read and may be a good book for book clubs to discuss. I'm just unsettled.

Published by Balzer + Bray, March 3, 2015
eARC obtained from Edelweiss
368 pages

Rating: 3/5





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5 comments:

  1. Very interesting review. This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2015 so I appreciate your review! Such a tease! Can't wait til it comes out. Your review has given me some things to think about and I look forward to comparing my own thoughts when I read it!

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  2. Kudos to you for finishing this one. I gave up on it, it was so strange.

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  3. Ooo, love the uniqueness of the name though. Thank you for sharing your review, it seemed to be more of a leisure read I supposed. Will keep a lookout for this one :D

    By the way, I have nominated you for the versatile Blogger Award! Check it out here :) Have a nice day!

    Natasha @ Dreamland Teenage Fantasy: Versatile Blogger Award

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  4. hmmm wonder if this is a serie and the second book will explain more. I have been really interested in this one and have in on my audio tbr I am a bit nervous now. Sometimes these types of books where it may be magical but may not be really confuses me. Will stil need to check it out. great review.

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  5. BONE GAP is definitely a bit strange, but I LOVED it! The ending through me, too, but I really enjoyed the surprise. And the reason for Finn's actions was something I've never encountered before in fiction, so I loved that, too. The uniqueness of this one, as well as the fantastic writing, made this one of my favorite reads of last year (I got an e-ARC from Edelweiss). Sorry you didn't like it as much!

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