⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

To The Bone is a heartbreaking and beautiful YA historical fiction that hooked me from the first line.

I loved everything about this book. From the aching and tender sapphic romance to the seamless character development, this book captivated me. This book was fearless, tackling difficult topics and presenting realistic, unsettling scenes. It’s a powerful story I didn’t know I needed to read until I read it. I couldn’t put it down. The pacing was perfect, and I loved how Alena incorporated so much history and emotion into the story. The ending was gorgeously written but utterly heartbreaking. I will think about this story often. I highly recommend To The Bone and strongly suggest checking the trigger warnings before diving in!

Thank you to the publisher for the free ARC!

Thank you so much for allowing me to arc read this book.

I’m a pretty hard on raring books and when giving my feedback.

The book itself has an amazing concept and the story could be really good. Personally, I couldn’t connect with the characters and follow the style of writing. With it being historical and adding some horror elements with some of the scenes, it was just wasn’t executed very well. I see where the author was trying to get across, it just was getting to the point directly.

Book:
TO THE BONE
Thank you so much to Netgalley and the PenguinTeen for the opportunity to read this. (Sept 10)
Review:
3⭐
I don't know how I feel about TO THE BONE. It was a tale of sorts with somewhat of a nod to settlement in the New World. This historical fiction novel follows Ellis as she serves out her indentured servitude in the New World. It's very hard on Ellis and her friends Jane and Rowan, and as food runs out, everyone starts dying...and some resort to more drastic measures.
I'm not really someone who like historical fiction, so it was hard for me to really get into this book. Before I knew it, though, I was hooked. I wanted to know if Ellis would find her father, if things would change for the settlers. I wanted to know why Master Collins seemed to be better off than anyone. I wanted to know everything.
Though this wasn't exactly my cup of tea, I found TO THE BONE interesting but not something I would want to read again. The story telling wasn't bad, I just felt like the chapters were too long---and when the story broke into another throughout those chapter, I found it confusing.

What I Liked About It:
*the slight historical significance.

Bursting onto the scene with Ever Since, Alena is always on my radar and this book does not disappoint! A turn from her debut novel, this book has all the pieces that I loved about her first story but still feels new.

While still exploring themes of self discovery and girlhood, this story is set in history and deals with some heavy themes and events. I think Alena handles the topics she explores with delicacy and care, leaving room for the reader to learn with the main character, Ellis.

TW's for those interested: this book deals with death; adult, child, and animals. There are also a few scenes of what I would consider semi-graphic gore.

Thanks to the team at Penguin for an eARC of this incredible book, Catch it in September!

i loved alena bruzas' debut novel and was so excited (and a lil scared) when i received the arc. to the bone is beautifully haunting and frankly disgusting at times. i never thought i would read a book about the early colonization of america from the colonizer's perspective and enjoy it, but Bruzas handles it amazingly and with such nuance that you know she put her all into the research. this book is already amazing and even better (or worse depending on how you look at it) when you find out how much is based on real people

Thank you for the ARC!

Unfortunately the book was a DNF for me about 30% in. The start seemed very strong but the world seemed to taper off and not be fully developed.

I loved Bruzas' debut so I had no doubt I'd love her sophomore novel, and To the Bone did not disappoint! Harrowing, compelling, and stunning, this is a story that will stay with you long after the final page.

I chose to read this because I love historical fiction set during the Colonial time period and this one caught my attention as it takes place during The Starving Time at Jamestown in the early 1600‘s. It‘s not a romance by definition although the Ellis‘ romantic feelings for Jane are quite prominent for a good half of the story. But then the story pivots completely to something more akin to horror. The end is pretty dark for what I would expect from YA, but I guess this is understandable as The Starving Time was awful for both the native population as well as the settlers in different ways.

I loved the historical part of the story and I also enjoyed the dark horror second half. But I didn't like the romance parts at all. Also:

The main character Ellis has a tendency to pull her hair out and pinch her own arms fairly constantly throughout, and this just ruined the story for me. It isn't that Ellis had this issue that bothered me as much as how often it happened and how much page space it took up. Granted, Ellis had a hard life. But it just felt strange to me that Ellis would have enough gumption to defy the cultural norms of the time and to be so outward with and sure of her feelings for another girl, while being so incredibly unsure of herself in all other aspects. Perhaps I'm judging Ellis unfairly, but it made it a disjointed read for me. It seemed like an incongruent characterization.

I read from an advanced digital copy that I received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review. On sale date is September 10, 2024.

ank you to NetGalley and Rock Pond for the ARC.
Based on the Jamestown winter of 1609 the whole colony starved untimely leading to cannibalism. Most notoriously the death and consumption of a young woman named Jane; whose body was discovered amongst animal bones in 2012.

To the Bone is brutal and bloody fallowing Ellis an orphan who falls for Jane; but her hope for a brighter future is ruined when winter hits. As food begins to dwindle and cruelty becomes common place. The horrific nature of the book is wonderfully captured by Bruzas leaving the reader with their skin crawling.

However the story really struggles when it comes to tackling the horrors done to the Powhatan by the colonists. One of the most well known events was the kidnapping of Matoka by the leader of the colony John Smith.

Had Bruzas taken the time to consult the Powhatan about the brutally they endured; I would have given this book a higher rating but by glossing over the issue To the Bone receives 3/5

This story is centered around the trauma and suffering of European colonizers to America, specifically the narrator, Ellis. Ellis is an indentured servant who is essentially a slave, and her situation is meant to be compared to that of the Native Americans—or as they are called in To The Bone, “country people” and “salvages.” Ellis isn’t like other colonizers. Ellis is just a poor, orphaned European girl who had no choice but to come to Jamestown as the servant of a wealthy couple. Ellis is just trying to survive… it’s not her fault the men in her settlement are violent and awful to the Powhatan tribe. Her master is supposed to feed and protect her, but instead he canes her and colonizes his wife’s womb. (Yes, the term colonizing her womb is literally used).

The author’s not attempts to explain the purpose of this book. I guess she thought this would serve as a way to raise awareness about how colonialism is bad and the land back movement is good?? I don’t know what else to say other than this book seems unnecessary at best and harmful at worst—another instance of colonizers taking up space that would have been better suited for an indigenous person to write their own story.

Wow. This is a book that will continue to haunt you in the days and weeks after finishing it. It is incredibly heavy, but a fair and accurate depiction of early colonizer life. The main character, Ellis, has a very strong POV and you can’t help but feel deeply for her plight. I also always appreciate sapphics in historical fiction.


Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for this ARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Group for providing this arc in exchange for my review.

Ellis became an indentured servant for Master and Mistress Collins at James Town because she is uneducated and had no other options. Her father left the family behind to come to the New World. Ellis has followed in his footsteps in the hope of reuniting with him after her mother and sister die from the plague.

I immediately sympathized with Ellis. Her adjustment to her new life is not easy.  Master Collins is controlling and abusive. His behavior is unpredictable. His physical abuse is shocking. He gaslights Ellis on more than one occasion. Mistress Collins is newly pregnant, sickly and miserable. Ellis's work is hard, her anxiety is overwhelming at times, and she worries her father could be dead because he's not at the settlement. 

Ellis's only joy is whenever she can be with Jane, or when she and Jane explore and forage with their friend Rowan and his dog Spider.
I liked how we were shown day-to-day life at the Fort while also learning a bit of history regarding these settlements through Ellis's eyes. The backstory of incidents that occurred and told to us through Master Collins's conversations with Ellis provided the perspective of the colonizers. Ellis's fear as the food started running out was palpable when you know she couldn't eat until after Master and Mistress Collins ate. This was especially significant as the seasons progressed. Each set back and hardship became more intense and horrifying as the story progressed.
Overall, Ellis's story is an emotional read that is equal parts horrifying, haunting and devastating.  By the end of it I just wished Ellis had been able to find more moments of joy.
Based on the Author's Note, and this book releasing in the fall, it will hopefully encourage others to look into what influenced this story and the overall devastating impact the colonizers had on the indigenous peoples.

For those who, like me, need trigger warnings some of them are: physical abuse, emotional abuse, homophobia, mental illness (hair-pulling disorder, self harm), starvation, cannibalism and murder. There are also instances of animal abuse and killing, and descriptions of people being hanged.

Perhaps this just wasn't the book for me.

I'll start by telling what I liked about it: the build up of tension as the settlers slowly descended into starvation, desperation and madness. It was well done, I think. I also thought the MC had a pretty realistic complex for the times. But beyond that, I wasn't sold.

The vague plot of finding her father never went anywhere and she never did anything to progress that; besides that, what plot was there? Survive? That isn't nearly enough. While the world was pretty well detailed and accurate(?), without an engaging plot, we're just reading a history book. Which is fine, if that's what you signed up for. I did not. I signed up for a tragic love story with survival elements; I wouldn't call what these to girls have a love story. They hardly spoke to one another, really. It just didn't feel like love, it felt like obsession and lust (on the MCs part, at least).

As far as the survival part, I wouldn't say they were really surviving. I wanted to see this girl do some crazy shit to stay alive, to keep her friends alive. But I got several chapters of her wandering aimlessly, being tired, sleeping. Being hungry. While that's all probably realistic, this is fiction. I want to be entertained, not bored. The most excitement I got was her killing a rat.

And my God, was the MC weak. So many times I wanted her to stand up for herself, for her mistress, for her friends. But she just cowered in a corner and pulled out her hair. I so wanted her to kill her master in a satisfying way after all he did to her and her friends. But she didn't. Again, probably realistic. But not fun to read.

This book was also needlessly gruesome, and this is where my personal taste comes in. I understand we were going for hyper realism here, but I didn't want to imagine all that I had to while reading this. Between butchering animals and people, I pretty much had a grimace on my face the whole time. So, animal brutality, murder, abortion (the painful, bloody old timey kind), desecration of the dead, cannibalisms. It was just...a lot. And it only got worse.

There are only two or three native characters, and the rest are nameless people hidden in the trees, waiting to kill the settlers. It's ironic how in the authors note tells us not to vilify the native when that's almost exactly what she did. And throughout the whole book, I'm wondering, "why are they calling them salvages?" I thought it was a typo, but it kept on going. When I read the author's note about it I rolled my freakin' eyes. You say you don't want to vilify the natives, yet you still do, and then you're going to take away this word that could vilify the colonizers? Let's not "soften" offensive words just because some guilty parties are sensitive about it. It just makes your writing look unprofessional and extremely childish.

Some other things that niggled me a bit: Scarborough Fair wasn't around in any variation yet, and the constant redundant use of "though yet" drove me to tears.

In the Vein of Alma Katsu's The Hunger, To The Bone is an account of the Starving Time in Jamestown settlement that promises more than it delivers. Our protagonist is an indentured servant to a cruel man and his invalid life, and she suffers from the conditions of her indenture as well as the general privation. While To The Bone tells its account of starvation skillfully, it always feels like a more interesting story is waiting somewhere beyond the confines of the narrative. Not bad, just not compelling.

I know this isn’t the most quality feedback, but I feel like this book could have been executed or approached differently and it would have been a lot better. I understand the hype around this book, especially because it details sapphic love, but the disappointment when I realized this novel of colonization and indigenous people was written by a white person is what makes this read very sub-par for me. I would however like to shoutout whoever made the cover! Such a good attention grabber.

Jamestown in early colonial times where they participated in cannibalism. This was bonkers. Wow wow wow. Alena Bruzas' writing was incredible though. I was equally horrified, captivated and enticed to go on reading. I will continue to read more from Alena.

I was so excited to start this book. I love reading about Colonial America, especially Jamestown, so this sounded like a perfect fit for me. Unfortunately, I had to DNF at 20% due to the writing. I noticed a frequent combination of run on sentences and short choppy sentences. There was a lot of repetition and awkward similes. It was taking away from the story, so this just did not work for me. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to give this book a try.

To the Bone recounts the cannibalism that occurred in Jamestown during the starting times the colonists experienced. Told from the perspective of an indentured servant, I feel like I learned something from this book, but wouldn’t say I particularly enjoyed it. I found Ellis to be very irritating.

To the Bone is a YA historical novel set in Jamestown during the starving time of colonial America. Ellis is an indentured servant who arrives at James Fort hoping to find her father. But she's stuck under a contract to Henry Collins that he won't let her read. She falls in love with a girl named Jane but Henry does not like her hanging around her. Things gradually grow worse for the settlers as they start to run out of food. I learned a lot about this time period and really liked reading the author's note, a lot of care and facts went into this story which is partly fictional with some characters actually being real. This is a bit graphic as far as the YA books I've read go, but I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about this time period.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about the 1600's or Jamestown in particular, but I enjoyed it SO much. It's a very dark YA historical fiction, and gets quite heavy, but was very well written, and drew me in even though this isn't my typical genre.