WARNING: If gore, torture, murder, dissections, grisly descriptions of things that gross out the general public, DO NOT READ NOT EVEN BONES OR THE MARKET OF MONSTERS SERIES!!!!
Good, now that’s out of the way.
Not Even Bones (book one of the Market of Monsters Trilogy) by Rebecca Schaeffer is “twisty, grisly, genre-bending and immersive” and will “grab you by the throat and drag you along as it gleefully tramples all of your expectations”, in the words of author Sara Holland. This dark sci-fi/horror/thriller/fantasy? book tells us about Nita, a girl who sells the body parts of “unnaturals” that are believed to benefit those who ingest them on the black market. She doesn’t kill them, her mother does - but Nita dissects and packages them for sale. She has no other option to - not only does Nita enjoy dissections, her mother has friends everywhere and has ruthless consequences for defiance. However, when Nita’s mother brings home a “specimen” who is alive, Nita decides she will not dissect him and helps him escape. But Nita’s mercy has costs - she ends up sold on the black market herself, in his place, because she herself is an unnatural. On the other side of the Market, Nita must ask herself what kind of monster she’s willing to become for her freedom. Lines will be drawn. Lines will be crossed. And lines will be erased.
Characters:
Anita (Nita) Sanchez is the Market of Monsters protagonist. She’s moved around a lot in the past, and has rarely been allowed to connect with other children - she’s been sheltered heavily by her parents for as long as she can remember, and as a result, Nita has absolutely no idea about life outside her’s. She thinks of herself as a laid-back, go-with-the-flow girl who just does what she does, until she is sold on the black market herself. Soon, she learns about the real world - the hard way - and most importantly, the Black Market she helped stimulate. She is an unnatural herself, though there is no name for the type of unnatural she is. She has the ability to alter her biology.
Kovit Sangwaraporn is a zannie, a type of unnatural that looks like the normal human being but feeds off of - gets high on - the pain of others. They are often used by black market players for torture, which is what Kovit does for the mafia family he’s a part of. Zannies are also notorious for being cruel, ruthless, and willing to hurt anyone for their need of pain - but Kovit has a moral code, which leads Nita to befriend make a deal with Kovit to help them both leave a post neither wants.
Some other important characters to note are Monica (Nita’s mom), Fabricio (the unnatural Nita helps escape), INHUP (the International Non-HUman Police, protecting innocent unnaturals and eradicating the dangerous one), and Reyes (Nita’s Black Market Handler).
Notes on the book:
For someone who has a strong aversion to horror or science fiction, Not Even Bones was a great book that was both. The idea for the book was super original and something I’ve never seen before. No tropes, no cliches, 100% originality and I never felt lost reading this book. The plot was very cohesive and put together, and plot events flowed into each other in a very organized manner. Explanations of and from the past are placed in the book in a manner that does not give you any unnecessary details, nor does it slow down the plot pacing. There are also lots of subplots and subproblems that add flavor to the actual novel’s plot and problem. They do not take away from the main plot/problem, which I find is one of the biggest problems I as a writer and as a reader find in books.
My biggest issue - if one, at that - with Not Even Bones is the characters. The character development, especially with Nita, is monumental, but throughout most of the series I did not understand the characters. I don’t usually have this issue, even in fantasy books when a character’s normal day means slaughtering and going on a murderous rampage. I mean that it was hard to connect and understand characters rationally and emotionally. Sometimes, I did not understand their motives, sometimes I didn’t think they’d been developed enough, and at times it felt that the characters and I were both disconnected from the novel. It’s one of the reasons I was not that interested or invested in Not Even Bones - I didn’t understand or feel the appeal from any of the characters.
Notes and final thoughts:
I, as a reader, have no issue with gore or murder - I read YA Fantasy, murder and/or torture is bound to happen. I’ve written my fair share of grisly toture myself. However, I stay away from Horror, just not my piece of cake and I think my imaginary bookshelf of things I’ve read is better off without those creepy covers.
(this is Aamina, by the way.)
I had a mild reading slump in May, during which I texted Hasini frantically for *a* book, and she responded with 10 (no, Hasini, that’s not “a” book). She put Not Even Bones on special spotlight, telling me it was “the book you must read”.
At first, I took it lightly, and I actually wasn’t that invested in the story, one of the reasons being how much sci-fi+horror it was. And by “sci-fi+horror” I mean some of the characters get high on torture, and some dissect (thoroughly, I mean they pull out every single organ) as self-therapy.
What pulled me back into it, enough for Not Even Bones to get a mention on The Bookshelf? The Webtoon.
I kid you not, the whole Market of Monsters Trilogy is in the process of being adapted into a webtoon. Book one is complete and book two is in the process. Reading the Webtoon showed me character connections I didn’t see before, plot events I didn’t take seriously, and (like always) the art styles and vivid displays took my imagination of the way the book played out to another level.
Don’t let anything stop you from reading Not Even Bones and the Market of Monsters Trilogy. Everything from the plot and pacing is spectacular, and the idea and originality presented in Not Even Bones will be sure to drag you in and hook you up. The Webtoon is a bonus - the art is amazing, and will show you things you missed the first time. I would give this book an 8/10 - points deducted for the characters. Even if you (like me) stay away from horror and science fiction, you need to read Not Even Bones. It’s perfect for everyone.