Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?

Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go.

As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap—their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, their uncertain futures—acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness—a story about how the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are.

Devoured in a day. Or less!
Bone Gap is a fantasy written as a fairytale that perfectly hits that sweet-spot between reality and magic. Beautiful and ethereal, it fascinated me with the way its characters saw the world and the strong personalities of everyone involved. I loved the characters. I loved Finn with his daydreamy way of talking to animals and I loved Roza and her defiant self-sacrifice in the face of fear. This book was a four star instead of a five due only to the rarity of defining moments or memorable lines, and although that’s a point away from perfect in my book, it can’t be seen as entirely a bad thing: Bone Gap flows as easily as the lives of the people within it, and despite the magic and unexplainable circumstances, this makes it all the more real.
But it is not without its inconsistensies! Although the characters that are spoken of commonly- the ones with names- are all dynamic and unique, none of them fit the so-called personality of the town. Bone Gap- the place- itself is described as a gossipy small-town community, but I got a sense that the undefined speaking roles were all just a part of the scenery, adding to the character of the town whereas none of the people we actually got to know in the book quite fit the bill. This somehow makes the town seem smaller or as if the events happening in the book aren’t happening within the town at all, but in a separate, different location. All of this, however, is pretty nitpicky and doesn’t at all effect the way I feel about Bone Gap- the book, not the place- which is a daydreamy sort of fondness.
Overall, Bone Gap is perfect for a lazy day read- particularly a rainy, lazy day- and good for a little bit of escape from reality.

Four Stars!