Note: I have seen this book tagged 'LGBT' on goodreads. There's 1-2 lines about a very minor character coming out in the last chapter of the book.

I finished this book yesterday and I'm still not sure how to write a review for it. Bone Gap was as lovely and strange to read as the town it's set in.

The book is told in alternating perspective chapters, mostly featuring Finn, a dreamy native of Bone Gap, and Roza, a Polish exchange student. It quickly becomes clear that Roza's disappearance was a kidnapping, and that she is being held by a man who covets her beauty. Finn's dreaminess is more than simple distraction; he thinks he can hear the corn talking to him and he struggles with identifying faces.

I found the romance between Finn and Petey sweet and unique as far as heterosexual small-town romances go. The way subtle magic was interwoven in their nighttime horseback rides was a nice contrast to the way the relationship between Roza and her kidnapper unfolds.

There are ways that Bone Gap reminded me of the novels of Barbara Kingsolver and Alice Hoffman in that it was felt magically surreal, like a dream on a hot summer night. 7.8/10


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Young Adult. 2.5 stars or so. Where this book is on the realism side of magical realism, it wasn't bad. Turns out, magical realism isn't really the genre for me. ( )

So creepy and so good! The characters really get in your head, even the sinister ones that you wish would leave your head alone. ( )

Wow. That was some of the loveliest writing I've read all year. What a strange, beautiful book. If it hadn't been this month's pick for Teen Book Club, it would have escaped my notice. Instead, it's a surprise favorite. Finn, Petey, Roza and Sean will be on my mind for a long time. ( )

*Review to Come* ( )