This one was not for me at the time I tried to read it but that’s because I’m a total mood reader. I will definitely be going back to this at some point though. I absolutely love this cover!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Not really my thing, but it absolutely gave me the feeling of like ever "kid" movie like the sandlot, the goonies, and stand by me. Just kinda living life with this boy who kind of has it rough but finds a way to keep going

Super relatable characters, and what a page turner. It was heartbreakingly beautiful in places, fast paced and hit all my favourite parts of a coming of age story

I couldn't quite connect with the story. It just wasn't a book for me. Honestly, I don't know what happened to me with this book.

This book was gritty and hooks you from the very start. The cover is to-die for! I thought the author captured the atmosphere of the story vividly and RJ was a wonderful main character to tell the story. Although it wasn't particularly fast-paced, the POV and the writing is. enough to capture your attention. I love stories that delve into the age-old questions of good-vs-evil, and what it means to be bad, and RJ's journey was spiritually touched me. The sibling relationship between RJ and Charley was well crafted. I am thankful for this unique and interesting read.

DNF -did not finish. I decided not to keep reading this novel because I did not connect with the writing and plot. Thank you, netgalley and publisher for the early copy.

*forgot to download zo bought it myself.

It wasn't my kind of book. Overall it was nice but I missed some tension. The plot felt a little dull. I must admit that I didn't expect the twist at the end.
At the beginning, I did not expect this book to contain this much violence. Readers should be warned before starting. It was quiet heavy sometimes.

I had a lot of high hopes going into reading this book. It sounded like it would be action packed and really dive into the time period, but I unfortunately ended up disappointed.

My biggest issue with the book was the pacing and the lack of tension. Considering the fact that this book's main character, RJ, was just a kid being targeted by a gang for some unknown reason, I really thought there would be more tension while reading. I was admittedly pushing myself to finish because it seemed that RJ did not really feel any pressure from his situation. This, in turn, made the pacing of the book move so slowly. I was waiting for something to just happen to pick it up, and by the time something DID happen to create some interest, it almost felt way too late in the story for me to truly buy in.

It is totally possible that maybe this book just wasn't for me! I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from reading this book, but it is definitely not high on my list of recommendations.

trigger warning
<spoiler> gun violence, mention of rape, trauma, grief, bullying, drug abuse, alcoholism, cruelty towards animals, pet death, ableism </spoiler>

After being ignored by the ruling gang, the Blackjacks, for most of his life, now he's reached an age that makes him interesting to them and he has to decide how he wants to proceed.

First off, this book has made me <i>very</i> grateful for beeing born in a region where the gangs are only in their own sphere and don't really affect me. Lucked out on that score.
I found this book to be <i>very</i> creepy. There is nothing you can do, you have to interact with the gangs and play along or bad things will happen. It will get bad, the question is how many will die before you do.

Second, I am struck by how great a friend Manny is. His friend gets ordered around by the Blackjacks whom you just want to avoid, what does he do? Accompany RJ as much as he can, even when he has to make a delivery.

What I didn't like was the vagueness that permeated the whole plot. We never really hear what happened to the missing girl, or the night of the camping under the stars. When the whole book is about hard truths, it feels like bad writing to leave out some things on purpose.

All in all, this wasn't really a book for me.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

DISCLAIMER : Thank you, Netgalley and Soho Press for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Bones Of A Saint by Grant Farley is a young adult historical fiction. The book tells us the is a coming-of-age story of the 15-year-old RJ Armante set against the backdrop of late 70’s Northern California. RJ has lived his whole life in the hometown of Arcangel. The Blackjacks have ruled the town for years and force younger kids to do petty offenses for the gang. RJ lives with his mother, many siblings, and his differently-abled brother in a trailer park. The young boy has always been in troubling situations and finds himself at the center of a dangerous situation that forces him to work for the Blackjacks. He is tasked with the job of preying on an old new resident of the abandoned house that used to be the Blackjack’s activities. RJ is hesitant to follow the orders from the gang and the story unfolds as RJ finds himself trying to squirrel his way out of the impossible.

The story is atmospheric and has the ominous feel of something dreadful going to happen. The cover perfectly captures the vibe of the book. The story is at times bumpy in the beginning and the writing also feels a little stiff. RJ’s voice comes through very clearly and takes us through his journey as he deals with his grief, pain, and loss of his father. He is trying to come to terms with his life and as he is navigating the teen years into adulthood, we see him trying to understand life and wanting to live a life that will help his family. He is selfless in his actions and we see the dedication, love, and care he has for his family. He is your typical teenager and also not one at the same time. He is an enigma in the way he thinks and approaches different scenarios. The narrative is strong and unique and RJ’s voice comes through with perfect clarity.

Overall, the story is individual and has a distinctive tone and feel to it. It takes its time to unravel and rewards the readers with a story that is special in its own regard. This coming-of-age tale comes with mysteries and suspense that will hook us to the story and surprises the readers at every turn. Paving the way for the progression of the story is a young boy on the verge of adulthood trying his best to keep the peace during challenging times. If you love young adult historical fiction, then definitely pick this one up. It’s realistic, gritty, and unique. I gave the book 4 stars and highly recommend checking this one out if you enjoy historical fiction books that are mix of plot and character driven stories.

A good story. Solid characters. I found myself getting lost a little in a few spots. The plot had some strong points that I really liked. Overall, a 3/5 stars for me.

Bones of a Saint is a very unfortunate DNF for me. For me personally I had a lot of problems with it..

It’s about a young boy who is with a gang which he isn’t exactly prepared for as they make him do things he doesn’t necessarily want to do. It is a contemporary and as someone who doesn’t read that genre, I was aware that it might not be for me but I’ll never just put a giant X on a genre because you never know when a book might just blow all my expectations out of the water and this just wasn’t at all what I thought it was going to be.

The writing is very baseline I guess and there’s a rape joke in the first chapter, lots of titty and jugs remarks, and it was just.. weird in that field overall. Sad because this cover is great but everything else was bad.

I, regrettably, decided to DNF Bones of a Saint.

I was extremely excited for this book for multiple reasons: 1) I'm a huge fan of twists on traditional coming-of-age stories. Getting into the head of a young kid who is trying to stay out of gang life was very appealing to me. 2) I was excited to learn more about the disability rep. As a sibling to someone with a physical disability, I rarely get to read about others in a similar position to my own, especially when that is painted in a positive light, so I was looking forward to reading about RJ's relationship with Charley, and 3) the cover is absolutely stunning. I was looking forward to reading this and then purchasing it for my collection to display. It really encapsulates the 70's vibe that I was interested in.

Unfortunately, I was not able to connect with the writing style at all. I definitely think that this is well written, especially for a debut novel, but I was not able to look past the way the main characters talked about women. Roxanne was part of their group and it felt like she was more of a piece of meat than an actual person or character - every thing that RJ or the other's said about her was derogatory and I didn't appreciate that. I also really didn't like the rape jokes in the first chapter, or the fat-shaming of "Buns" - an already disgusting and derogatory name. I completely understand that these names serve a point and we aren't necessarily supposed to like these characters, but I didn't appreciate how they were portrayed, especially when this is being marketed towards the younger YA demographic, with RJ only being 15 y/o.

I made it about 25% in when I decided that I just couldn't continue anymore. It's possible that I'd pick it up again at the library, but I don't feel comfortable enough to give a full review or rating at this point.

Set in the '70s with the culture and hits to historical moments in history, this story follows RJ as he must deal with parenting his siblings, avoiding his local gang & accidentally becoming friends with a dying man.

For a story that connected full circle, I strangely couldn't get into it.
The writing at times bothered me, but I can't understand why, so I'm putting that to 'me' thing. I didn't enjoy the connection in the end, but I don't particularly appreciate how Roxanne's story was left on a cliff hanger; I think she deserved a happy ending out of all of them.

I unfortunately could not get into this book, I tried the ebook version and then tried the audio version and neither of them grabbed my attention. I am not sure if it was just bad timing. Maybe In the future I will give this another shot

I'm not sure I'll ever get used to books set in my lifetime being considered historical fiction, but here we are.. Bones of a Saint is set in the 1970s in a small California town. The protagonist, RJ, is the oldest of several siblings, all of whom have different fathers. At one point he calls them souvenirs of his mother's past relationships, something that struck a chord with me. With his mother scrabbling to make enough money to support them all, RJ is left in charge a lot of the time, and when he's not looking after his sibs, he's left to roam about unsupervised.

It's little surprise that he catches the attention of the local gang, The Blackjacks and is quickly pulled into their world of petty crime. Hoping that if he does what they want, they'll leave him alone, RJ agrees to vandalise the house of an old man living on the outskirts of town.

But of course it doesn't end there. The Blackjacks keep asking for more and their threats - toward him and his family - grow increasingly violent when RJ pushes back.

And RJ doesn't understand why the gang is attacking the old man so relentlessly. He seems pretty harmless. RJ is pulled into his world too, sharing stories about his past with the old man and receiving little pieces of his life in return.

As things begin spiralling out of his control, RJ is forced to make some big decisions that will impact not just his own family, but the future of the whole town.

I found this book a little hard to get into. I was completely lost at the beginning and it took a few chapters to really ground me in the world and the character's head. Possibly this is because I was reading an ARC on my phone and the formatting was a little funky, but I think it was also because of the writing style. It was first person, but I never felt like RJ was drawing me into his head and his world.

The book also felt episodic in parts. I liked the glimpses into RJ's past we got through he stories he told the old man, but they didn't always tie in with anything else that was happening so while they gave background to the character, it didn't help understand the why of what he was doing at that moment.

I did like the ending and how it made sense of the book's title, but I almost felt like it was too late by then. A few more clues seeded along the way would have been useful and would have made the last chapters' revelations more satisfying.

So I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book to everyone. It was engrossing enough once I got into it, but it just wasn't as moving or as exciting as I really wanted it to be.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this advance.

I tend to wish for a lot of books on NetGalley. Bones of a Saint was one of those books that I wished for. I was surprised when I checked my email and saw that NetGalley had granted my wish. I was beyond excited. I had been seeing reviews for Bones of a Saint, and the good majority of them were positive.

Bones of a Saint was a fast-paced book. Even though the book was fast-paced, I was able to keep up with the main storyline. I do sometimes have an issue with keeping up with fast-paced books. I end up having to reread specific chapters, in most cases. In sporadic cases, I end up getting frustrated and turned off from the book. Thankfully, in this case, I didn’t have issues keeping up with the book.

The storyline for Bones of a Saint was interesting. Set in the late ’70s, a local gang has the town in its grips. RJ had kept under their radar until the night he was forced into a meeting with the leader. The leader, a hippie, is mad that an older man had moved into a house used as the gang’s hideout. He wanted RJ, his friend, and RJ’s disabled brother to vandalize the place. That sets off a series of events that end up defining RJ’s entire summer and changing his life.

The beginning of Bones of a Saint had me going, “WTF.” It made zero sense, and I was trying to figure out why a priest was hiking around in the desert. But, it is explained but not until the very last chapter. I ended up rereading the prologue, and a lightbulb went off over my head. I think it would have been better as an epilogue than a prologue.

The author amazingly wrote the characters in Bones of a Saint. The main character, RJ, was rough around the edges but had a heart of gold. He helped his mother (a single mother in the late 70s) without a second thought. He made friends with an older man and then tried to shield him from the local gang. He was a good kid, and I was worried for 75% of the book that the gang would get its hooks in him.

I had my theories about Mr. Leguin and why he was holed up at the house. His friendship with RJ was one of the sweetest that I have read. There was a big twist in his storyline that startled me but at the same time made me go, “Oh well, that makes sense now.”

The storyline with the Blackjacks was interesting, but it ran out of steam for me halfway through the book. I figured things would go the way they went. So, I wasn’t amazed at the end of the book.

There is so much more I could get into with this review, but I am afraid that I will give away spoilers. Everything in this book is intertwined. Nothing is a coincidence. If you read this book, keep that in mind.

The end of Bones of a Saint was breathtaking. There was action, Mr. Leguin told long-held secrets, and the identity of the priest is revealed. This was one of the best coming of age stories that I have read in a while!!

Bones of a Saint was a fast-paced emotional coming of age story. The plotline was engaging and the characters unforgettable.

I would recommend Bones of a Saint to anyone over the age of 16. There is no sex (not even kissing). There are references to drug use and alcohol use. There are some mild violence and mild language. There is one scene where RJ gets paddled at his Catholic school, but it was not graphic.

The writing style and pacing did not help this story because at the heart of it the characters were really interesting.

RJ lives in the town of Arcangel. All he really wants is to hang out with his friend, take care of his siblings, and maybe get with a hot girl. But in a town that’s led by a gang known as the Blackjacks, it’s hard to avoid being in the gang for long. When an old man moves into a house the Blackjacks had claimed as their own, RJ finds himself stuck between the two. Threatened by the Blackjacks to intimidate the old man, RJ finds himself caught between his conscience and his sense of doing what’s right. How far is he willing to go to protect himself and his family from the gang? And who is this old man anyway, and why is he so interested in RJ’s stories?

I received an advance reading copy of Bones of a Saint in exchange for an honest review.

Bones of a Saint is a young adult novel by Grant Farley. It’s a book that takes place in the 70’s, so it counts as historical fiction. I think this might be one of the first books I’ve read that takes place in that decade, actually. I’m trying to remember any others, but this might be one of the first. I think I’m going to have to start looking for more!

But anyway, I digress. I really should start my review, shouldn’t I?

I keep seeing the word “gritty” applied to describe this book, and I guess it’s accurate. The narration felt very honest, almost too honest at times, and Farley was able to slip into RJ’s voice and give me a story that didn’t just feel like I was being narrated to, but it felt as if I was right there in RJ’s head, experiencing everything. It’s told through first-person POV, and the tone of the narration, the words, and every little thought made me feel incredibly close to the main character, as if both of us had become a single person. It was very well done.

Something else I really enjoyed about the narration was how interspersed throughout the book we’d find sections of storytelling. I thought Farley was making a very interesting commentary on the power of storytelling throughout this, even in places where people live much rougher lives. Stories can be about their past, they can be rumors, they can be hidden sins or dreams, but every person lives and experiences stories, both theirs and everyone else’s.

While I thought the narration was exceptional, I have to admit I had a bit of trouble getting hooked by the plot. I felt like there was a lot going on in this book, and it didn’t always feel connected. Sometimes I got confused, certain that I was missing connections here and there, but I’m not sure where the hints were placed that I’d miss them. This isn’t to say that I didn’t call a couple of the twists, but there were other moments that just left me basically staring at them, unable to believe what had just happened. It felt a bit disjointed, and I think a few things could have been tied in together a little more neatly, just to understand where the story as a whole was leading.

The book also left me with a lot of questions at the end, which I don’t always love. I mean, I love a book where I’m left wondering a couple things at the end (it feels unrealistic to have absolutely every question answered sometimes), but in this book, I felt like there could have been a few more answers before finishing it off. In fact, when I reached the last page I kept pressing the button on my Kindle (I was reading a digital ARC), trying to get to the next one. But there wasn’t a next one. And then I had to set the book down and just think about it for a minute.

In the end, I really liked what Farley did with the stories in Bones of a Saint, but the plot threads just never felt like they came together to coalesce into something big and meaningful. I do think this is a book people who like incredibly close narration would like, or people who like books with young characters struggling against entering a gang. It might be good for fans of The Outsiders, actually, since I was reminded a bit of some elements of The Outsiders while reading Bones of a Saint.

Bones of a Saint will be released on March 16 by Soho Teen. You can pre-order your copy from them here.