A VERY STRANGE BOY IN A VERY STRANGE TOWN
Bone Gap, by Laura Ruby, was definitely a surprise. I read it on the beach and didn’t expect to fall into it completely, but I did. From the strange vivid characters to the unusual town itself to the mystery surrounding Roza’s disappearance, I was hooked from start to finish. While I do love character-driven books and getting to know each character better, I think this particular story was bolstered by the mystery of Roza’s disappearance.
Basically, we follow Finn, the main character, who is the town weirdo. He witnesses the disappearance of Roza, his brother Sean’s girlfriend, and he feels guilty because he can’t describe the man to the police. There’s something wrong with the man, something unusual, and so nobody believes Finn’s story. Finn grows restless because he is convinced that Roza didn’t just up and disappear, but was taken. He only finds one other person in the whole town who might believe him, and that’s the girl who keeps bees. She also happens to be a weirdo.
I truly loved getting to know each character in this story – from Finn’s neighbor to Priscilla, the bee girl, to Roza who is mysterious not only in her disappearance but also much before that, Sean, Finn’s brother, and so on. The author enveloped me in real stories of real people, and I couldn’t be happier. The whole book was written in this mysterious way too, like a fairytale, but not quite. I could feel the mystery thrumming through each page, each sentence, each word, and I was completely gone for the story.
My favorite parts of the book are towards the end – when we find out why Finn is unlike other people and when Roza does something incredibly courageous to free herself from that which has been plaguing her her whole life. Not to mention, the romance that developed between two of the main characters, that I did not expect, but loved anyway.
This book is categorized as teen supernatural mystery, but I am an adult and I absolutely loved reading it.
It’s poignant, beautifully written, and very insightful. I cannot give it less than 5 stars.
Reviewed by Violeta Nedkova
