Bones & All

From the opening chapter to the last this book moves swiftly, darkly through a midwestern landscape bleak as the lives of the main characters themselves. The plot-twist ends up being predictable, but one doesn't see it coming, until it's obvious and when it becomes obvious it hits you in the head like a 4 by 4.The unfolding generational saga contains a myriad of potential parables, most of which are never truly explored but are left for the reader to infer.Those wishing this book to offer up depth or moralism will be duly disappointed: this is a horror story about cannibals written at a YA level....what Freudian lessons you wish to be made obvious are only hinted at in the novel, and may in fact be the fabrication of your own need for this book to "mean" something more. The following is a fabrication of own need:The genius of this book is the story, from which the reader can draw many parables: the generational implications of family sins, the consequences of abandonment and lack of nurturing maternal or paternal love, the psychological parallels that can be inferred upon characters whose unresolved obsessions with their own needs ---or lack thereof-- manifest as uncontrollable, glutinous urge.(The author, as referenced in her own statement in the preface, doesn't seem to understand the symbolism of the fairy story she's conceived).The main character's arch seems to be analogous for someone crippled by co-dependency or borderline personality disorder, someone so thirsty for love they consume those unfortunate enough to cross their path and show any inkling of interest.The narrator obviously yearns for her mother and to love and be loved, for friendships, for male companionship, a boyfriend, a father, a family--- in short, all the things she's lacked. So when her mother abandons her at the start of the novel we quickly realize that her cannibalism is a metaphor for the affection she wants but can't have because even if life has dealt her a bad hand of genetics, at the end of the day she is her own worst obstacle at securing the love she so literally craves.Marin feels shame and experiences self-loathing, but neither of those are the same as actual sorrow or remorse. The narrator is more concerned with the fact that she's an outcast than with the reasons —the very valid and substantial reasons— that her mother and other girls her age, keep her at arms length. Had her mother shown her real love, real warmth and affection Marin would have certainly devoured her, too.The other cannibals have a similar arch, though different motives. The grandfather is a sadist, whose destructive appetites devour his family two generations forward and back. Likewise, the protective but ultimately vengeful actions of the love interest, Lee, are induced by a childhood marked by maternal neglect, domestic violence and child abuse. Marin's cannabalistic father, from whom the narrator inherits her urge, was abandoned then adopted, only to be emotionally wounded by his adoptive parents who compared him their deceased child. Perhaps he is the only truly apologetic cannibal of the bunch as he is also the only one among them who experienced love.Every one of the cannibals has a void they are trying, consciously or unconsciously, to fill.While YA stories aren't known for the philosophical diatribes or introspective musings that hallmark “high literature” (after all this book was written for teenagers) good YA novels have a sense of self-reflection, or moments of self-revelation.The characters, who are no strangers to violence, drift through the carnage of their decisions without feeling dully overwhelmed, if not by themselves then by their lifestyles, which are transient, lonely, stressful. The most they hope for is a good mattress on which to spend the night, the car of their victims to heist, lifted jewelry to pawn and above all, to evade the notice of state troopers (who seem to complicity overlook the rampant killings).There are no plans for the future: like their gluttony, the immediacy of the moment drives them forward and the plot with it. Only the most sadistic cannibal among them has any real sense of purpose. And although Marin is well-read she never seeks to understand herself, the mechanisms of why she devours those whom she likes and who like her, and why, in spite of the self-loathing that follows, she longs for intimacy when she knows it will only end in the murder of the ones she so desperately wants to be close to. It's difficult to believe that someone who constantly analogies her situation with books and literary characters would have so little self-reflection, so little self-struggle and such shallow insight into such profoundly heinous actions.And that is where this book falls short. While the narrator, and even some of the other cannibals she meets along the way, feel conflicted about their actions, none of them ever take a moment to pause and ask themselves "why?"Why do I do this? How did I become this way? What need does my cannibalism fulfill? Why do I eat people who get close to me as opposed to those who wrong me? Why does my grandfather's sadism repel me more than my love interest's vengeful gluttony?Without these moments of introspection the characters become just as bland as the flat, wide landscape on which they travel.The horror of this novel is not the cannibalism but that these cannibals could feel a cognitive level of empathy and even guilt for their killings without experiencing any redemptive urge to change. They feel bad, but not bad enough.Marin’s kills are preluded by frustration at the victim’s “unwanted” attentions— attentions she never fully spurns but always accepts. She also suffers from nightmares that portray her gruesome murders, and at times, in a Jungian twist, depict her as the victim. She feels guilt and shame and a host of other conciencious hangups that don’t lend her the ideal psychological profile of a serial killer. Nonetheless she doesn’t seem troubled —in fact she laughs— when Lee murders woman after woman whose slights that don’t match his punishments.The cannibals have a remarkable amount of self-pity for themselves (at one point Marin mournfully realizes she and Lee will never make a happy family of their own) but little real empathy for the many lives they’ve killed (Marin is incapable of fully reflecting on the fact that the boys she murdered will never grow up to lead the fulfilling lives that Marian also yearns for, or that like Marin, their families are now fragmented in the wake of her insatiable destruction).There could only be one diagnosis for such a condition: sociopathic narcissism, or psychopathy. And while all of the characters may be a form narcissistic (they know what they’re doing is wrong but have little ability to actually relate to their victims as autonomous beings). At every turn they justify the deaths of those they murder. They may “feel bad” but they have no serious will or ability to exercise pity and broach self-control. The characters, who run across stateliness, are themselves immobile, incapable, stuck in a hell of their own making….and that is perhaps the most horrifying and heinous conclusion of the novel, whether it was the author’s intent or no.

(FOR NEW BUYERS WHO BOUGHT CUZ OF THE MOVIE) if you loved lee in the movie you will love him in the book!I understand the age gap and why lee would be uncomfortable or wtv, but they obviously had clear connection and attraction. And when we all read up TO that part when we had been waiting and waiting, he just gets eaten??😭 like come on what the hell😭😭. Also during *that* night I felt like there should’ve been more detail, considering it would be their last together? Like no intimate moment? (Maybe just cuz im a wattpad Reader) but then even after that, Maren is trying to display some kind of girl boss-vampire/man eater trope??When I had first watched the movie (I did watch before I read the book) it had a clear vibe to it, in the book, it didn’t make me feel some type of way. I didn’t feel some type of way about the book until Travis entered the picture! But I did enjoy the book. I think it would be great for new readers.

The book came on time and in great condition so I'm giving five stars for the seller. As for the novel itself, I read it in three days which is really fast for me. I loved it up until the last two chapters. Then it all felt rushed. What happened at the end of the second to last chapter was definitely shocking and I'm sure it left people talking about it, however it was unsatisfying and seemed, again, rushed. The author said in the authors note that she pitched the book as "cannibals in love", but there was hardly any romance. They seemed platonic overall. But yeah, I still enjoyed it. Just wish it'd ending differently.

A very good read, it was something new and fresh with it veering off in the opposite direction that you thought it would go. It’s “coming of age” in the saddest ways

I couldn’t put this book down. I highly recommend giving this book a try. Looking forward to watching the movie to see how it turned out.

I was excited to read a book about a cannibal. But the book doesn't even go into detail about Maren the main character eating her victims! She'll smell their neck, then it cuts to afterwards, and apparently the whole body is eaten, which has to be impossible in one sitting, especially the bones.If you're writing a book about cannibalism, don't leave that out! How about have Maren go into a psychotic state and go into gritty detail about it. Use a different font in her altered state, make her mindset like a hungry beast, seeing her victims as prey, then when she comes out of it, she is disturbed.If you're looking for a horror book on cannibalism, this isn't it. Waste of $10 for kindle edition.

This book wasn't good, but it wasn't bad. I wanted to read it before I watched the movie, because the trailer looked pretty dark and grisly. I'm an avid horror fan and was interested because cannibals... This was way more YA than I expected given that the movie had an R rating. I actually forgot at parts the characters were cannibals because of how much it brushes over. I guess if you're not into horror or too squeamish to watch the film you'll be happy because it's pretty tame. I still finished it because I wanted to see where it went but was pretty generic, just replaces kissing boys with eating them. 1/5 as a horror story, 3/5 for a teen novel. Really easy read, anyone in middle school could finish it. Pretty dull read for adults.

pretty good but nothin crazy. A good vacation book for a teen

História interessante, a qual parece que daria um bom livro. Ocorre que há alguns momentos em que o livro se perde, fica um tanto sem sentido e deixa o leitor com sono.Vale a pena ler uma vez, seja por quem viu o filme ou para praticar o inglês, mas não é exatamente um grande livro.Sinopse interessante, mas que poderia ter sido bem melhor desenvolvida.

I love the books plot, it is really engaging and got me out of a readers block. :)However, there has been some damages to this novel, as the books spine has been slightly warped, and a few damages to the front cover. None other to say apart from the damages, the book is *chefs kiss*, although after watching the trailer I can see there are going to be some major changes, between the movie and book. Also I wished the writer developed more of Lee and Marens relationship, simply because of the love dynamic the movie seems to include.But I am excited to see the movie when it goes out cause I am a Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russel enthusiast :D

The premise is great. I was really looking forward into diving into this gruesome coming of age story, however, the story fell flat. It's a short and quick-paced read so I wouldn't say I was bored. But the ending left me feeling like there was so much of the story that needed to be explored that the book failed to deliver on.

Muito bem escrito, li por conta do lançamento do filme. Vi algumas pessoas falando como o livro possui momentos explícitos, achei a leitura bem tranquila, quem achou pesado, provavelmente nunca assistiu the walking dead