Your Blood and Bones
Ratings3
Average rating3.7
Kill the monsters when they’re found. No matter who they used to be. Drain their blood. Butcher their flesh. Grind their bones to dust. Wrap it all and sink it in the sea. Leave nothing, lest some weak soul be tempted by the dark power bestowed upon those desperate enough to break the covenant. Desperate enough to use the remains... The girl with secret feathers in her skin and strange bones jutting out beneath her clothes is resigned to her fate. The stories say monsters must die and what else could the budding transformation mean but that she is a monster? When her family finds out and grows monstrous themselves, ready to tear her to pieces in the street, salvation comes from an unexpected source...
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I received this novella to judge for the SFINCS semi-finals. Opinion is my own, and does not represent that made by the team. I did also happen to purchase this in paperback, as I prefer to read physical, and I liked the cover.
I want to start with what stuck out to me. My main point of contention is that one of the two mains is referred to as ‘girl’ for the entire opening. The boy even saying that they were going to pull a ‘little girl’ out of her house. But then you find out that she’s actually about 19, older than the boy, so it was just confusing wording and stuck out to me as jarring.
With that being said, throughout the story they remain girl and boy. I thought it was a nice decision, because as monsters, their life is basically forfeited the moment they’re found out. Therefore, their true selves, their chances, their mistakes and hopes, cease to be. Their families even do away with them.
The opening of this was incredible. Fast, mysterious, dangerous, daring. There’s a need to escape and the reader can feel it immediately. Such a quick hook into the reader. I was a little surprised at the lack of chapters, but it doesn’t really take anything away. For me, the opening with its sort of mutilation and animal horror, was the perfect blend of horror and fantasy notes.
I believe this was a well done examination on the loss of hope, and what happens when those that have lost it see a spark of it returning. It is quite bleak, but there are glimpses of warmth and happiness that carry the reader through. By the end you really do end up feeling so much for the two of them and what they’ve gone through.
Personally a 4/5*
No Nonsense Review:
- I mostly enjoyed this.
- It's a well written quick read.
- I don't normally read horror but I enjoyed the premise of this and did not mind the descriptions of gore.
- The book does not use character names, which I didn't feel strongly about but some readers might.
I was genuinely lost for words with this novella. I thought I was getting into pure horror and gore, and I got feelings instead.
Don't get me wrong, there are still aspects of horror, and aspects of gore (in the sense of digging into your skin and pulling out bones spurs, and feathers). I loved how detailed the minor things were.
I loved how there are no names mentioned for the main characters. They are simply the boy and the girl. And I love how.. simple that was. It took a couple of pages to get used to.
By the end, I was rooting for them. I hoped there was a happy ending; I guess in a way it was their happy ending.
I would reread this down the road; it's quick and easy to read.
