Bonesland
Brendan Lawley
Bonesy’s life is centered towards one thing – getting to the City and out of his completely backwater town. There’s just a couple of things that need to be set straight first… Such as his parents living in the same house again, not being bullied at school and getting laid by a girl.
I hated the objectification of women in this novel, and the completely inappropriate language all of the boys used. The lovely Muslim girl goes to a party and gets hit on and followed home by people she’s turned down. I’m perfectly fine with her smoking pot, but where are her friends to help her out when she gets in trouble? The amount of drink and drugs going around was crazy. I’d love to know where this town is, and I wonder whether its real occupants actually behave in this deplorable way. Actually, this novel reminds me of Dream-something or other that was about another isolated idiot. I grew up isolated and so did my fiancee – and neither of us had these problems (she’s a first in family to College too).
I don’t get why his nick-name was Bonesy. I hardly remember why Bonesy was remarkable. Was he average? Probably. He gets picked on because he has a ‘thing’ about germs and he is terrible with girls. The bullying is pretty extreme, but he doesn’t say anything or do anything about it. Even his friends aren’t great at supporting him. This novel attempted to show us some character growth, but it felt forced and uncomfortable.
For a kid taking valium, he wasn’t doing that well on it. He ‘thinks’ he ‘might’ have OCD, and I’d agree with that, but I’d also say he had Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Also, he is in serious denial that I would not expect of a 15-16 year old regarding his parent’s separation. His main aim seems to be get off the medication because his father wants him to and for his parents to magically become a family again.
Does his father work? How the hell do they afford anything? I’m sick of novels where the kid is poor, but there’s no solid explanation for why they have anything at all. Where’s your drive to succeed? I get that you want to go to the Big Beautiful City, but you’ve got to actually TRY get there. You can’t just hope something will magically happen in the next 2 years.
I finished it, but shouldn’t have bothered. 2 stars from me.
Text Publishing | 1st May 2018 | AU$19.99 | paperback
I couldn’t get behind this novel. I attempted to read it twice and at least got in about a quarter of the way before giving up this time. While the opening chapter puts you a bit on the edge of your seat, you know that he survives it because he writes the rest of the novel! It goes downhilll from there as Simon’s narration becomes increasingly erratic and we are introduced to more and more characters. I got sick of the frequent, gratuitous swearing that did nothing to endear me to Simon.
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Sometimes I think that laws are made to be broken. Seriously, I get that a 16 year old isn’t necessarily a full adult. But at the same time, someone should have asked Beth how she felt, and let Theo talk to her. How could Theo talking to her possibly put her at risk? Beth is old enough to look after herself, in many countries she would have children of her own already, or could even be going to college!
Lyrically written and with beautiful prose, you will find yourself travelling deeply into Petrea’s consciousness throughout her life. This memoir is one of the more enjoyable ones I have read, although at times I found myself having to hold onto my disbelief at how things worked out so conveniently. I AM a scientist by trade after all.
Wow, this novel’s first half was incredibly slow. I did like the elements of problem solving, and that redeemed the novel somewhat. Then again, I’m sorry, but Sato’s pensive and rude emotional state did nothing for me. And almost meeting a sticky end didn’t even improve him! He didn’t feel like a real person. In fact, the whole novel was so plot based that we didn’t see any character development at all. Except for Tick but that was all described in terms of him finally standing up to the school Bully – not anything more important. And that stupid scarf! Ugh. The author harped back to it, but it turns out that no-one actually cares (surprise surprise).
I thoroughly enjoyed 
An Interview with Lauren Baratz-Logsted, author of over 30 novels!
Oh yes! So remember how everyone was devastated by Sirus’ death in Harry Potter? I feel like the death in this novel of someone close to Mare should have triggered more of an emotional reaction from me, but I didn’t even flinch. Even when Mare succeeds at one of her major goals, I felt like it had happened too quickly for me to even appreciate it.
This book was entrancing and meaty and I lost quite a lot of my day to it! This novel had just the right edge to it in terms of creepiness. I found myself drinking it in in small sittings because I had to process what had just happened. It kept me awake thinking about it. It raises questions – do serial killers always act on their urges? Is it something you can treat?