Rebecca Schaeffer

Not Even Bones

kelsey

“you’re talking to someone who grew up in the mafia. i can teach you how to throw a punch.”

i don't know why i love kovit as much as i do.

i mostly enjoyed this book except for the slightly immature writing and i lowkey couldn't stand nita but im giving it a 4 anyway?

This was a good book, i really enjoyed it. The character were memorable, the world felt real, and i enjoyed it a lot. 

however, one thing that really bothered me, was that it threw us into the world without any exposition and it was difficult to get into because of it. 

Marleigh Toenyes

This was a good book, i really enjoyed it. The character were memorable, the world felt real, and i enjoyed it a lot. 

however, one thing that really bothered me, was that it threw us into the world without any exposition and it was difficult to get into because of it. 

The premise of the book seemed interesting to me especially because I’ve been wanting to read something a little gory. That being said, the story itself isn’t bad. I like the whole idea of the MC being sold into the black market and having to find a way to escape; however, I felt like a lot of it kinda just went in circles.

 Like she escapes and then doesn’t leave and gets recaptured because she needs money which I guess is kinda realistic because you can’t get anywhere without money but still. I feel like maybe there were better options there to drive the story rather than just having her be in a cage for most of the book. 

Another thing that kinda got me was the fact that unnaturals are supposed to basically be non-human beings with supernatural abilities that are considered dangerous, but most of them originate in certain parts of the world such as Latin/South America/asia. There’s just something about calling them unnaturals and them mostly being POC that just doesn’t sit right especially since the author is white presenting. Just a thought. 

Overall it was an interesting story that lacked execution and I don’t think I’ll be continuing this series. 

Nataly

The premise of the book seemed interesting to me especially because I’ve been wanting to read something a little gory. That being said, the story itself isn’t bad. I like the whole idea of the MC being sold into the black market and having to find a way to escape; however, I felt like a lot of it kinda just went in circles.

spoilers ahead 

 Like she escapes and then doesn’t leave and gets recaptured because she needs money which I guess is kinda realistic because you can’t get anywhere without money but still. I feel like maybe there were better options there to drive the story rather than just having her be in a cage for most of the book. 

Another thing that kinda got me was the fact that unnaturals are supposed to basically be non-human beings with supernatural abilities that are considered dangerous, but most of them originate in certain parts of the world such as Latin/South America/asia. There’s just something about calling them unnaturals and them mostly being POC that just doesn’t sit right especially since the author is white presenting. Just a thought. 

Overall it was an interesting story that lacked execution and I don’t think I’ll be continuing this series. 

Elisa Bieg

I had really been looking forward to reading this book, and it was a big disappointment.

I was expecting something dark, exciting, with inventive world building and lots of tension. 
What I got was something dark, yes, and with a moderate amount of tension towards the end, but mostly morose and slow, and with minimal, somewhat unoriginal world building.

The MC is not unlikable as much as uninspiring and mostly unrelatable. She is pretty one-dimensional throughout the book and so profoundly dull, even with her supposedly crazy lifestyle, that even her inner dialogue feels like it’s happening underwater. 

All villains except one are completely generic and nearly faceless cardboard cutouts of average bad guys. Absolutely unremarkable. 

The dialogue is... what can I say? A bit of a snooze fest. This makes me so sad. Nita has the potential of being a crazy-awesome MC — not a good guy for sure, but definitely someone interesting, peculiar, someone we can’t get enough of. And she definitely should have much better lines. We see the potential of what she could have been as an MC and it just grates that she is reduced to this pale, boring, vague shadow of it. 

The world building REALLY would have benefitted from being high fantasy, rather than urban fantasy. I see what the author was trying to do, and it might have worked, had this been a lot shaper, with far better characterization, and with clear-cut... something. Everything just feels so vague and washed out, and setting it in our world just... doesn’t help. It probably was meant to be something in the vein of a dark Man in Black, or X-Files (from the creature’s POV) but it just ends up feeling... well, a little lazy and uninventive. 

In fact, as I am writing this I realize that I need to rate this lower than 2 stars, which is a bit shocking as it so rarely happens; but this was a real drag to get through and I find that I really do not recommend it 
  at all
.

So, 1 1/2 star it is. I recommend you give this a pass and go straight onto the next thing on your TBR.


TW: extreme violence, lots of blood, kidnapping, imprisonment, emotional abuse, parental abuse, death, murder, torture.

(I know. Even with all that, it was dull. 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Sarah Gerton

Oh, this was fun. "Fun" might be a weird adjective to apply to a book that's relentlessly dark and violent, but it's true--the action never let up and main character was a clever, cool-headed guide through her horrific and fascinating world. NOT EVEN BONES feels fresh and different in a lot of ways: the South American jungle setting isn't one I've encountered in YA before, and while I guess this is technically contemporary fantasy, it reads more like a thriller. Highly recommended (for those who can handle body horror)!

Tânia Borges

I. LOVED. IT.
Wow. Like seriously, wow. Where do I even start? Nita was brilliant, like absolutely, terrifyingly brilliant. More brilliant that she is - if that is even possible - is Kovit. He reminded me of Kaz Brekker - which, by the way, is just one of my favorite characters of all time, thank you very much -, definitely not a "big shoes to fill" situation. No. Not at all. 
That being said, the plot was satisfying and interesting enough. Dark and unique, for sure. Touches a few sensitive topics, masked as being stuff related to magic, monsters and fairytales. I enjoyed myself reading a good book - which hadn't happened in a while, to be honest. It was the perfect book to read for Halloween, which I would've done had I not been buried in schoolwork. I read it a few days later, sue me.
Was it a 100% percent perfect? No, because there's no such thing - except Six of Crows, that is. Did I love it anyway and would marry it if I could? Yes. YES.
I can't wait for the sequel.

Nita doesn t murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they ve been  acquired.  Until her mom brings home a live specimen and Nita decides she wants out; dissecting a scared teenage boy is a step too far.

Not even bones

sydney 

Alice

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I bought this book because my friend @chaelcodes recommended it to me. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Not Even Bones

Author: Rebecca Schaeffer

Book Series: Market of Monsters Book 1

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Main character is at least half Latina

Recommended For…: those who want monsters and autopsies

Publication Date: September 4, 2018

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 17+ (animal abuse and death TW, parental abuse tw, human trafficking tw, child brothels mention tw, violence, gore, mutilation, cutting up dead bodies)

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Pages: 368

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Dexter meets This Savage Song in this dark fantasy about a girl who sells magical body parts on the black market — until she’s betrayed.

Nita doesn’t murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet—her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they’ve been “acquired.” But when her mom brings home a live specimen, Nita decides she wants out — dissecting living people is a step too far.

But when she tries to save her mother’s victim, she ends up sold on the black market in his place — because Nita herself is a supernatural being. Now Nita is on the other side of the bars, and there is no line she won’t cross to escape and make sure no one can ever capture her again.

Nita did a good deed, and it cost her everything. Now she’s going to do a lot of bad deeds to get it all back.

Review: This book was a wild ride! I loved the dark and gritty take on monsters and human…. Err Monster trafficking. The book was well written and the plot did not disappoint me at any turn. The book had great character development and world building as well. While the book topics were very dark and sometimes very sad, the book did well to balance the book with humor at times and to be sensitive to sensitive topics, such as trafficking, genocide, and “racism” in the context of monsters versus humans.

The only down part I had about the book is that the author did tend to reuse the same scenery and I wished she expanded on the world a bit more. I wished to see more of the world and to see a more fair look at the South American countries as well.

Verdict: A well done book!

If you want antihero, villainish, morally (dark) grey characters definitely read this. (be sure to check trigger warnings, it's quite gory) 

I've seen this being recommended as asexual representation. Is it canon?

Megan Leprich

This book was so beyond anything I've ever read before and I'm so happy I read it. As soon as I saw it being compared to Dexter, I knew I would enjoy it.

This was a very messed up book but honestly, for me, it was in a good way. There are some dark Fantasy books that I read that I wish would have gone a bit darker and Not Even Bones went there. I loved all of the characters, especially Nita, as she's thrown outside of her comfortable world and has to do some dark things to survive. 

I loved this book and now can't wait to read the next one!

Southern Today Gone Tomorrow

Written by Rebecca Schaeffer, this is the story of Nita, a girl who was raised by people who hunt unnaturals and then she cuts them up into parts to sell on the black market. Until she becomes an item on the black market.

Da da duuuuuuun

But seriously, this gem was recommend to me by my local YA librarian, and it was a good read and I really am ready to have the next novel in my hands. (Which is already out, by the way.)

Before I get into anything else, this is not a novel for the faint of heart. She cuts parts off of dead bodies. And these bodies are very human in shape.

Now, she is a very interesting character. I don’t think she is quite a psychopath, but I am not a professional to diagnose such things. And Kovit is wonderful.

With that, they are very odd people. And not normal humans. Unhumans range from Vampires to Unicorns (humans that feed off of souls) to creatures that are able to so precisely control their body’s chemistry that they can heal almost anything.

The phrasing that this is like Dexter is really misleading… particularly since the mention the book/show in the novel. She isn’t like Dexter. She tries to justify what she does through that, and it… just doesn’t work. It is an interesting story without that, but going into this novel thinking it will be like Dexter is not the correct approach.

If you like dark stories, really dark, and bloody, I’d give this a try.

Kate

This was a wild ride from start to finish and one I enjoyed every minute of. 

I'll be honest, this book didn't turn out to be at all what I'd expected from a book pitched as 'Dexter meets This Savage Song'. It was definitely less serial killer and more dark, urban fantasy but honestly? I didn't mind one bit. This book was dark, grim and deeply gory in all the best ways. Schaeffer didn't hold back whatsoever when it came to the gory details and I kinda loved that? I mean, did I squirm? 100% but did I love that this book made me squirm? 100%. 

Nita, the MC, is such a compelling character. She's truly the epitome of morally grey. She's smart, complex, cunning and unafraid to be selfish, put herself first and do whatever evil needs to be done. She's a villain who know's she's a villain but also doesn't fully want to accept it, which made for a fascinating inner dialogue. Nita is the kind of character you know you should hate but totally love. I mean, the girl DISSECTS BODIES TO DISNEY PLAYLISTS, what kind of evil does that but also how could you not love her for it?

The worldbuilding was superb and I can't help but admire the way in which the author explained the supernatural elements and how they fit into the world as we know it in a way that was easy to follow and without ever falling into the trap of being info-dumpy. I also thought the way in which conversations surrounding topics such as privilege, colonisation and coloniser entitlement were brilliant. They perfectly timed and placed throughout in a way that boosted the story but also Nita as a character.

All in all, this unashamedly grim story, with its gripping, fast paced plot and cast of truly evil and morally grey characters, had me totally hooked from the first page until the last. (And yes, I ordered book two not even five minutes after finishing book one.)

TW: body horror, emotionally abusive mother, suicidal ideation, mention of child brothels.

Lisa

Nita doesn't murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet--her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they've been "acquired." Until her mom brings home a live specimen and Nita decides she wants out; dissecting

Not Even Bones

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