Customer Review
- Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2018I love this book SO much. The Bones Beneath My Skin is such a lovely story that is filled with the unexpected and SO MUCH HEART. This book does work as a standalone, but there are some nice Easter eggs for fans of the author's books early on in this story. And when I say "nice," I mean both completely heart-wrenching as it pertains to one book in particular, and very interesting when it comes to others. I guess TJ Klune's contemporaries all exist in the same universe, so I really like spotting the Easter eggs. I didn't know who the main character was as a person, but you can bet by page two I was already crying because an unexpected character shows up in the story.
This book takes place in 1995, in Roseland, Oregon. Quite frankly, I don't really know much about the early 90s since I was still a baby, but it seems like a very weird time in history where anything could happen. In the case of this book, Nate Cartwright was feeling a little burned out from his DC job and when he found out his dad passed away and left him two things, a truck and their family cabin in Oregon, he packed his bags and made the drive west.
When he discovers people living in his cabin, he doesn't really know what to do. He wanted to go to the cabin as a place to rest and reflect in solitude as to what he wants to do with his life, and finding a man and a little girl in the cabin is literally the last thing he could ever have expected to happen.
And this man and the little girl will forever change his life.
This book starts off a little slow as the story unfolds. Because what seems quite ordinary and mundane slowly starts to unravel and reveal itself in unexpected ways. Who is this man called Alex and why does the little girl call herself Artemis Darth Vader? I wouldn't really say I was shocked by the reveal, because it kind of reminds me of another book (which I won't mention here because it would be a huge spoiler and I don't think the author would appreciate me comparing his book to this one another book even though it is kind of similar in this one way lol). But, everything before and after is so fresh and exciting, that the book kept me on my toes trying to figure out what the end-game was.
This book is surprisingly action-packed, but also has a way of hitting you right in the feels out of NOWHERE. I think Nate's relationship with his brother is so heart-breaking to me, but like many of TJ's books, he's more about found family than the one you're born into and that's evident here.
I don't even know how to tell you guys how much I LOVE Art. The author has a way of writing the loveliest children characters, and even if you don't really like children, I feel like you will always wind up loving the kids in his books. Tyson in the Bear, Otter, and the Kid series is one of my favorite child characters, and Art is definitely RIGHT there in terms of my love for her. Also, I very much love her love for bacon. It's hilarious and wonderful. Especially when there's this one scene with Nate, who is absolutely bewildered that there are two people in his cabin and that he should be throwing them out, winds up making a full breakfast for them because that's just the kind of person he is.
And speaking of lovely people in this book, not only are Nate and Art totally precious characters who I want to wrap up in blankets, but Alex is the BEST. He's so selfless and gives everything to looking after Art and I'm just UGH WHY ARE YOU SO PERFECT? I love him a lot, you guys. This is a darling ragtag group who gets caught up in something they never would have expected and I love them so, so much.
This book is an absolute page-turner that makes it very hard to put down, because you just HAVE to figure out what's going to happen next. This book is intense, with some much needed moments of levity sprinkled in throughout. This book is a romance, and it does end in a HEA. The journey there just might not be what you might normally expect in the genre, but it's a classic TJ Klune book with angst and heart and so much love. <3
***Thanks to the author for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review***
