Bone
Jack by Sara Crowe
Review by M
Bone
Jack is wonderful storytelling: an engaging plot, lifelike characters and
absorbingly atmospheric settings and language. I had Saturday morning breakfast
in bed so that I could finish it.
Ash
is fifteen and has outrun all the other local boys to become the ‘stag’ in the
upcoming stage chase, where he must race across the hills and return uncaptured
by the ‘hound boys’ who will chase him. There are lots of local myths and
folklore about the stag chase, and when Ash starts to ‘see’ dark things out on
the hills and in the woods, he feels threatened and can’t decide what he should
do.
This debut is a compelling and atmospheric read
about a teen boy who takes on something bigger and darker than just being the
‘stag’ in the local Stag Chase. Bone Jack shows great care for the living land that
we inhabit and pass through.
Likeable
and complex characters, thrilling suspense, chilling scenes and thoughtfully
intriguing subplots boost this novel. Alongside the main plot, different kinds
of absent (but loving) fatherhood; conflicting loyalties between friendships
and foot-and-mouth ravaged farmlands; and post-traumatic stress disorder, are
all easily woven through the novel.
Genrewise,
Bone Jack is light fantasy or perhaps magical realism, where the story takes
place in a real, recognisable world but the characters can’t figure out if they’re
‘seeing things’ or not. If you’ve read Patrick Ness’ A Monster Calls, it’s a
similar mix to that novel (but the stories are not alike at all).
The
publisher’s age guidance for this novel is 12+. I suspect slightly younger
readers, who’re emotionally mature enough to deal with questions about the
taking of life, may enjoy this novel too.
As
a debut, Bone Jack has set the bar high for Sara Crowe’s second novel.
Publication
details: Andersen Press, April 2014, London, paperback.
This
copy: review copy from the publisher
Really interesting review! I'm definitely intrigued to read this one now.
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