BOOK REVIEW: BONE GAP BY LAURA RUBY

I WANNA GIVE THIS BOOK A BIG HUG

(Caution, long preface below)

Here's the thing: I've been reading YA for a while now, and one thing that has been consistently bothering me about the genre—and about other genres too, this is by no means exclusive to YA, it's just particularly prominent/concentrated in YA—has been the number of female characters described as beautiful. Stunning. Gorgeous. Not once, not twice, but over and over and over again. I pretty much enter every book nowadays expecting the default physical appearance of female characters to be "otherworldly beauty." My motto has become all female characters are beautiful unless described as otherwise. It's not so much the beauty that bothers me as much as it is its ubiquity and the amount of times that it's brought up. Everyone has their self-esteem issues, and for me, it's hard to feel close to a character whose beauty feels as if it is transcendent, on another plane of existence or something. Or, if not feel close to them, at least see myself in them. Give me characters with plain faces, give me characters with unusual faces, give me characters who aren't beautiful. Here is where Bone Gap comes into the discussion. When I heard that this book had feminist themes of beauty and physical appearance at its core, I jumped at the chance to read it. And lemme tell you, Bone Gap did not disappoint.

What Bone Gap nailed:

► As aforementioned, this book delves into feminist themes surrounding beauty, and lack thereof. We have Roza, a character who is constantly described as beautiful by everyone she comes across, and Petey, a character who is defined by how ugly she is deemed. By setting up these two seemingly dichotomous characters, Ruby shows how women are forced to navigate milieux where, ultimately, no matter what they do, nothing is ever good enough. When Roza rejects abusive men who force themselves on her, they accuse her of being vain, of thinking she's beneath them because she is beautiful. When Petey begins a loving, caring relationship with Finn, the town assumes that Petey somehow coerced him into it out of desperation, or that Finn simply did it out of pity, all because she is ugly. Ruby does such a fantastic job of setting up these two women, one that possesses and one that lacks, and using the contrast between them to drive home a powerful message. If anything, this book shows you just how defining a gaze can be. But more importantly, it shows you how much more powerful the gazed-at's definition can be.

► The characters in this book are wonderful and sweet and endearing and I love them and I want to give them all big hugs. Finn is a precious soul who must be protected at all costs. Petey is all bravado and snark on the outside, but on the inside she's just as gooey as Finn. Roza, regardless of how many times she is beaten down and tired, never loses that ray of sunshine that makes her such a joy to read about. These characters, particularly Roza and Petey, could've fallen apart so easily—but they didn't. Petey was fragile, unable to believe that anyone would see worth in her. Roza was almost always scared, conditioned to look down and cover up. However, these powerful ladies are never defined by their conflicts, they never drown in self-pity or angst. And having read my fair share of self-pitying, angsty protagonists, I can tell you that that's a pretty hard balance to achieve.

► The writing style in this book is so lovely and whimsical. It kind of reminded me of a toned-down combination of Neil Gaiman and Maggie Stiefvater's writing styles. Ruby describes Bone Gap as a "rural fairy tale," and I have to say that that description is perfectly mirrored in her writing (and her story).

► ANIMALS. I freaking love animals, and there were so many in this book. Glorious, majestic horses. Tiny, cute lil' kittens. Super cool and interesting bees (and Petey is a beekeeper!!! I don't know about you, but beekeeping sounds like a completely badass job to me). Dogs that Sleep in Lanes. It's little things like that that are just the cherry on top of a poignant, engaging story.

I loved it. What more can I say?