Twelve-year-old Kallie despises nonsense. She believes there’s a rational explanation for everything, despite the good-natured prodding of her Grandpa Jess, who takes her to frivolous wastes of time like their town’s local Festival of Fools.There, Kallie meets a faceless man (must be some kind of mask) who gives her a strange wooden puzzle box (must be some kind of gimmick). Intrigued despite … despite herself, Kallie sets to work on unlocking its secrets and…lets something out. From here Kallie’s life begins to entangle with another world, a world where Liah, a young bone carver, journeys with her master to sell wares to a wicked Queen.
The sights, sounds, smells, and spells of Liah’s world are beginning to leak into Kallie’s, and if Kallie can’t decipher the meaning of her own story, “the end” might be far from happy.
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**Spoiler-free Review of A Box of Bones
***Content Warnings for A Box of Bones: drowning, implied death, implicit gore, hospitalization
When a faceless man gives Kallie a puzzle box, she becomes obsessed with unlocking its secrets. But when she opens it, her life becomes entangled with another world, a place where Liah is a bone carver’s apprentice who must defeat an evil empress…with a box of bones. The stakes start rising, which means Kallie must “decipher the meaning of her own story”…or else.
Kallie’s character is probably the best part of this whole book. She loves science and math. She believes only in facts. She is practical, orderly, and has a no-nonsense attitude. Having Kallie confront the unknown, the illogical, *really was* best thing for the story. Kallie tries so desperately to ignore the magic and mystery, which makes it that much more interesting. I also loved seeing Kallie thrown out of her routine because it helped her grow! At first, she’s steadfast in her convictions, but, eventually, she changes based on her new experiences and understandings. The end of her transformation arc does feel a bit sudden during the last few chapters, though; she’s suddenly a whole different person! Nonetheless, over the course of the story, she learns the value of people—our identity, our reliance on stories, our relationships…
Speaking of which, Kallie’s relationships were the second best part of A Box of Bones. First, I loved her connection with her grandfather. Her grandfather is reliable and allows Kallie to work through her thoughts and feeling, and even encourages her to get out of her comfort zone. (Though Kallie doesn’t seem bothered by her father’s general lack of affection, I’m glad she was able to receive her grandfather’s hands-on brand of unconditional love.) Second, I really enjoyed how Anna’s character functioned as a foil to Kallie; they are complete opposites, so Kallie must learn to see from a new perspective. As much as the story begins with the puzzle box, I think Anna is the other answer to Why tell Kallie’s story now, at this particular moment in her life? Though I liked Pole (especially since he seems to be the only POC) he was too similar to Kallie and, therefore, never challenged her.
Though readers hear from both Kallie’s and Liah’s third person perspectives, we are significantly more immersed in Kallie story. But that’s not to say that Liah’s POV was any less engaging. Actually, I quite enjoyed the “short story.” Liah is bold. Also, the plot is more straightforward and adventurous, whereas Kallie’s story was shrouded in mystery. (Indeed, some of the scenes and subplots for Kallie’s part didn’t always seem relevant at first.)
On that note, personally, I just can’t piece together the ending. When I put down the book, it just felt like there were plot holes. Even once I started putting things together, there were still a few loose ends. I understood the parallel between Kallie and Liah (and loved how their stories connected in a way you wouldn’t expect), but I couldn’t quite grasp the events on Kallie’s end: Who, exactly, is the faceless man and why does he send Kallie onto this adventure? Ugh! What am I missing? I have a handle on the fantasy elements of Liah’s story, but maybe I just can’t get into the magical realism on Kallie’s side; maybe I just need to take the story as it is, since magical realism questions reality and tends to mean no rules…and no answers; maybe I’ve thought about all of this *too* much. Regardless, for me, the conclusion was too open (and confusing) for it to be satisfying.
Aside from my analytical brain spoiling the wholesome ending (I just can’t seem to get behind the magical realism in this particular book!), A Box of Bones is a compelling (and somewhat creepy) mystery book, with a fast pace and interesting characters, that weaves a tale filled with truth, family, bravery, friends, and…storytelling.