Written by Rebecca Schaeffer
A book for readers in grades 7 and up reviewed by Molly
The novel Not Even Bones is the first book in a heart-wrenching and compelling trilogy of fantastical thrillers written by Rebecca Schaeffer, a Canadian author with an unbelievable amount of creativity and the ability to tell awe-inspiring dark fantasy tales. The story revolves mainly around a young woman by the name of Nita Sanchez in a warped version of Peru.
In the book, you will find that the setting does not take place in a completely orthodox reality. Other creatures, or "unnaturals” as Schaeffer calls them, live alongside humans. These beings include many diverse and interesting races like zannies (beings who need to feed off of other people’s pain in order to survive) and botos (creatures similar to sirens and mermaids that can disguise themselves as humans to lure their prey to rivers). Every unnatural race has unique abilities like these. However, some are not dangerous but rather are misunderstood.
Enter Nita, an unnatural herself with the ability to manipulate her body in ways that would certainly be impossible for ordinary humans. She can repair her broken bones and tissue with ease, control her immune system to outstanding degrees, and can even toggle her pain receptors on and off in order to not feel pain. Of course, Nita requires plenty of energy to do all of these things, which is why she uses her powers sparingly. The origins of her powers, as well as what type of unnatural Nita is, are never fully explained. However, since Nita's mother, Monica Sanchez, has the same abilities, it can be assumed that Nita's powers are hereditary. Nita and Monica also appear to be part of a very rare unnatural species.
Speaking of Monica, it is pretty safe to say that she is not completely normal, even for an unnatural. Monica is a black market dealer who, even before Nita was born, lived a very precarious lifestyle. Hiding her identity from the police and running from other dealers, she eventually established herself as a very powerful and instigating businesswoman. Her main source of income comes from targeting and killing certain unnaturals, whose limbs she sells to the highest bidder.
This is where the story gets a bit more interesting. The reason this is so profitable is because some unnaturals’ bodies have certain properties that people are willing to pay very high prices for. Take, for instance, unicorns, whose bones are regularly used as drugs after being ground into fine powder. Or zannies: just smudging their blood onto your wounds (which sounds very grim and odd) can almost instantly numb your pain, as it is a very potent painkiller.
Once she was of age, Nita was taught how to help her mother dissect corpses and put their body parts in jars of formaldehyde, which were then shipped to anonymous buyers. But, one day, Nita comes home to find her mother with an unusual victim: a young boy who is very much alive. His name is later mentioned as Fabricio. Nita's mother does not kill Fabricio in order to keep his body parts “fresh” for buyers, who are apparently willing to pay more than $10,000 for just one vial of his blood. Fabricio’s unnaturality was never mentioned in this book. However, it was established that he is very special and indeed very valuable.
The story goes on to tell the tale of what Nita decides to do with Fabricio and how the consequences of her actions are then put into play. Nita’s journey involves many harsh sacrifices and her struggling to deal with the outcomes of every decision she makes.
I cannot express to you how much I enjoyed this series and how much detail went into the symbolism, the vivid imagery, and the emotion it brings out in readers. As the plot thickens, this sci-fi masterpiece will latch onto your heart, and it will keep you hooked until the very last word.
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