The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. And if the transitions between reality and fantasy are a little rocky and the worldbuilding occasionally a little thin, it can be forgiven due to the sheer ambition of the refreshingly original plot.Ĭleverly conceived and lusciously written. Both Roza and Finn’s love interest, Priscilla, develop over the course of the magically real journey into strong women to be reckoned with, while the secondary characters, including a sassy beekeeper, wise chicken farmer and self-aware horse, are charming and memorable. Finn starts out as a daydreaming cipher, but when he discovers he has a condition called “face blindness,” his vague character comes into sharp focus, and his mission to battle the tall man becomes clear. Told from the viewpoints of multiple Bone Gap citizens, this inventive modern fable whimsically combines elements of folklore, mythology, romance and feminism. But Roza is determined to find her way back to Sean and Finn’s backyard, no matter what the cost.

Meanwhile, a tall man with eyes like ice who demands her love traps Roza in an ever changing netherworld. But when he looks at mug shots, all the faces look frustratingly similar. Ages 14 up.A teenage boy wrestles against forces real and imagined in a small, rural town named Bone Gap.įinn was the only one to witness the kidnapping of brother Sean’s beautiful girlfriend, Roza, at the spring festival. A haunting and inventive work that subverts expectations at every turn. Ruby raises incisive questions about feminine beauty, identity, and power (Finn's new girlfriend, Petey, is marginalized for not being pretty, while Roza is harassed and abused by men who desire her) in a story full of subtle magic that is not compelled to provide concrete explanations. Through a complex interweaving of chapters, mostly told from Finn and Roza's points of view, Ruby (Bad Apple) slowly reveals that what actually happened to the beautiful Polish immigrant is more complicated than Finn even knew, and that his own disability, which only becomes clear to readers late in the novel, will make it difficult for him to find her.

However, his vague description of the man who took her leaves just about everyone in the small town of Bone Gap including his older brother, Sean, who is in love with Roza without much faith in his story. In a story that blends realism with dreamlike imagery and echoes of myth, Finn is the only witness to the kidnapping of 19-year-old Roza.

Bone gap by laura ruby