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A review by thedragonqueen
To the Bone by Alena Bruzas
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Thank you to Penguin Teen and PRH Audio for advanced copies.
To The Bone is an intense, thought-provoking look into early colonial settlements in the United States. Ellis, a young indentured servant arrives to James Fort with hopes and dreams. She falls in love with a fellow settler, Jane and must navigate not only the new world, but also her sinful feelings. As the seasons change, the relationships with the Indigenous people of the land becomes more and more tense. Ellis must surve not only the abusive man she is in service too, but the hunger forced on to the settlement. This riveting book forces you to not only contemplate the truth behind the colonization of a land that was not ours, and the horror of survival as a sapphic woman in the world of the 1600s.
This historical fiction does use the word “savages” to describe the Indigenous people, from the persepctive of colonizers. While I am not a fan of the use of this word, the author explains at the end of the book the use of the historical accurate term.
Content warnings: Cannibalism, murder, domestic abuse, racial slurs, racism, voilence related to colonialism, pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage, child death, body horror, blood, gore, starvation, food-witholding.
To The Bone is an intense, thought-provoking look into early colonial settlements in the United States. Ellis, a young indentured servant arrives to James Fort with hopes and dreams. She falls in love with a fellow settler, Jane and must navigate not only the new world, but also her sinful feelings. As the seasons change, the relationships with the Indigenous people of the land becomes more and more tense. Ellis must surve not only the abusive man she is in service too, but the hunger forced on to the settlement. This riveting book forces you to not only contemplate the truth behind the colonization of a land that was not ours, and the horror of survival as a sapphic woman in the world of the 1600s.
This historical fiction does use the word “savages” to describe the Indigenous people, from the persepctive of colonizers. While I am not a fan of the use of this word, the author explains at the end of the book the use of the historical accurate term.
Content warnings: Cannibalism, murder, domestic abuse, racial slurs, racism, voilence related to colonialism, pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage, child death, body horror, blood, gore, starvation, food-witholding.