“Sometimes you need to take things on faith,” she said quietly. “Even if you think you have no faith left, I promise you, you do. All of you do. It’s easier, I think, to stay lost. But when you’re found, when you open your eyes, you can finally see the truth for what it is.”

The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune

My Review

I didn’t get that. Not before, Art had told him. I don’t think any of us did. Not until they felt a heart beating in a chest like I have. Not until I felt the bones beneath my skin. We’re not alike. Not really. We’re separated by time and space. And yet, somehow, we’re all made of dust and stars.

The Bones Beneath My Skin has been on my TBR for about a year, and I’m very glad I finally got around to reading it. It was weird and wonderful and exhilarating to read, and I had a pretty good time with it.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read TJ Klune, which was a large part of why I finally wanted to read this. I read and reviewed both The House in the Cerulean Sea and In the Lives of Puppets almost three years ago now, in 2023. Far too long to go without reading a TJ Klune novel, and I’m glad I finally rectified it. I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the other two, but it’s still a bit of a banger, and a must-read for fans of Klune’s other works.

Alex reached down and picked up his rifle, snapping it free from the harness. Nate grabbed a dropped metal baton.

“You know how to use that?” Alex asked.

“It’s a stick,” Nate said. “You hit people with it.”

Anyway, the characters were definitely the highlight of this novel. Our POV main character is Nate Cartwright, a young journalist seeking a stay at his inherited cabin to clear his head and figure out where to go next, after suffering some devastating losses. He has the biggest character arc of the bunch, and I loved watching him fall into a found family with Alex and Art. Found families always seem to be one of Klune’s strong suits, and The Bones Beneath My Skin continues this trend.

The other two protagonists – Alex Delgado (not his real last name, but I’m not gonna spoil it) and Artemis Darth Vader – are also phenomenal. Art is especially a treat, and I loved her dialogue. The established father-daughter dynamic was also wonderful, and I enjoyed all of their interactions. The interplay only gets better once Nate started being drawn in – these three are a fantastic trio. Some of my favorite scenes in the book are just the three of them hanging around the cabin doing stuff and talking. The chemistry and dialogue between everyone is also off the charts.

“You’re not toast,” she said. “You can be Nathaniel Cartwright. Then you can be someone else. And then if you don’t like it, you can be Nathaniel Cartwright again. You’re not toast. Bread doesn’t have a choice. You do.”

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered.

I also liked a couple of the minor characters, when though they don’t really appear much, or hold a lot of impact to the story. Eddie the gas station guy was great, and I also really liked Nate’s former coworker Ruth. I would have liked to see more of them, because I really liked the scenes with them and Nate, but I understand why they didn’t appear all that often. They kind of felt like they were only there to move the plot forward, though, which is a little unfortunate.

The story is also very engaging, and the pace is perfect. I like how the book starts off a little slower, and then around the halfway point, abruptly begins to ramp up. It just works so well.

The last third of the novel does slow down a bit though, and the plot feels like it goes on a little tangent for a bit, but it also feels necessary and connects nicely to the climax of the book. The ending was fine, but it didn’t hit right for me for some reason. I’m not sure why. It was still a solid read overall, however.

“I wondered what you would be like. Humans. What you would be capable of. How your minds would work. How your hearts would beat. You are animals. Fierce and wild. You are harsh and brutal and beautiful. There is no one like you in all the universe. You have the power for such destruction within you. And such joy. It’s a dichotomy that shouldn’t exist, and yet here it is. Within you. Within all of you.”

But yeah, I quite enjoyed The Bones Beneath My Skin and, as I mentioned above, I’m glad that I finally got around to reading it. Fans of softer sci-fi, aliens, found family, books with LGBT+ stuff, and of course – fans of TJ Klune – will probably like this novel.

As always, thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

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