Your Blood and Bones, by J. Patricia Anderson
The Book
Synopsis:
Kill the monsters when they’re found.No matter who they used to be.
The girl with secret feathers in her skin and strange bones jutting out beneath her clothes is resigned to her fate. Her deformities mark her a monster and the stories say monsters must die.
When her family finds out and turns on her, a village boy saves her and leads her on a frantic escape.
The girl believes her death has merely been delayed—until he mentions a cure.With the world against them and the monstrous change progressing, they must cross water, forest, and field to chase the rumor that fuels their desperate hope. But is hope enough to keep them going?
My Review
"Kill the monsters when they're found. No matter what they used to be. Drain their blood. Butcher their flesh. Grind their bones to dust. Wrap it all and sink it in the sea. Leave nothing, lest some weak soul be tempted by the dark power bestowed upon those desperate enough to break the covenant. Desperate enough to use the remains."
Your Blood and Bones is a lyrical, dark fantasy novella, unsettling at many times, written by the Canadian author J. Patricia Anderson. We will follow the story of a boy and a girl, who are slowly transforming into monsters; they were forced to flee their village, starting a travel seeking for a cure.
From the first page, we can observe how Anderson adds some elements that enhance the fairytale like experience of this novella, such as the unnamed characters (they will always be alluded as boy and girl), the lyrical and highly atmospheric prose and the relative simplicity of the storytelling, focusing more on the emotional weight of the whole.
Anderson presents a story built on the relationship of our characters, boy and girl, a relationship that gets developed through the time and the experience, starting with a total distrust that progressively grows to end becoming even a love relationship, where both acts as support and strength for the other.
It's interesting how the monstrosity transformation is used to ask another question about the identity of the actual monsters, looking at what are the things that, in reality that dehumanize us; it's not on our body, but on our actions.
In such a short read (honestly, I recommend reading it on one sitting for maximizing the emotional impact), Anderson manages to show her particular writing style, a mesmerising story sparkled with a little amount of horror elements, which are well blended into the mix.
Your Blood and Bones is an excellent novella, a dark fantasy tale that will get directly to your feelings. If you are a fan of experimental formats, and thought-provoking themes, you should read it!
