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kara999's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
olivialp's review against another edition
4.0
a little dry in style but wow i loved knowing every landmark she referenced. sf chinatown has such a rich history that i knew so little about. salmon alley <3
bharthimohan's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
nschank's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. this was nice to read, i don't feel like it was anything incredibly profound for me personally but it was a good in-between read and the ending was nice. pretty sad at times; intimate family dynamic sort of book. would make a nice movie maybe
hoserlauren's review against another edition
2.0
Leila is the eldest of three sisters in a Chinese family living in San Francisco. Her father is no longer around and when her mom remarried, they had two additional daughters. Leila is as close to her half sisters as if they were her full sisters. The youngest sister has moved off to New York, the middle is dating another Chinese guy, and Leila seems to hover around her mom and step-father trying to ensure they are happy.
When the family finds out that the middle sister has committed suicide, the family goes in to a tail spin. The book goes from present day and then works its way back to the day of the suicide. We find out what pushed Ona to jump from the 13th floor and end her life. By the end of the book I was thinking that's it? It didn't seem enough for me. Ona had many different ways she could have reacted to what eventually drove her to suicide, and suicide certainly shouldn't have been at the top of the list.
In the end, this book fell short for me because we're trying to understand why Ona did what she did but we aren't given enough information to figure it out. Instead, we're focusing around how this affects the family which usually is ok for plot, but not when you don't even understand why it happened in the first place.
When the family finds out that the middle sister has committed suicide, the family goes in to a tail spin. The book goes from present day and then works its way back to the day of the suicide. We find out what pushed Ona to jump from the 13th floor and end her life. By the end of the book I was thinking that's it? It didn't seem enough for me. Ona had many different ways she could have reacted to what eventually drove her to suicide, and suicide certainly shouldn't have been at the top of the list.
In the end, this book fell short for me because we're trying to understand why Ona did what she did but we aren't given enough information to figure it out. Instead, we're focusing around how this affects the family which usually is ok for plot, but not when you don't even understand why it happened in the first place.
hrh_victoria's review against another edition
4.0
I found myself constantly comparing Bone to Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, which is unfair, really, as that's hard to compete with. But Bone holds its own in that battle, offering brilliant one-liners like "It wasn't just death that upset Mah, it was life, too" (79). There are clear motifs with ships, counting, and, of course, bones--my favorite sighting of which is the line "The oldtimers believe we have a heavenly weight, and that our fates can be divined by the weighing of our bones" (150). Most of all, though, I appreciate the book's backwards chronology, which works in a way that seems to bring the dead back to life. My only suggestion for change is that the book develop Mason in more depth.
alesiaa's review
2.0
As the child of two immigrant parents, I really did relate to this novel. However, the writing was so insufferably bland imo that its a Dnf for me :(
Read for school too and still couldn’t bring myself to finish it
Read for school too and still couldn’t bring myself to finish it
apokras's review against another edition
3.0
This book presents a vivid picture of post-immigrant life in Chinatown in San Francisco. I had a difficult time placing the time period, only doing so late in the book when a specific political reference was made (1975 ish). The central tragedy of the plot is made known within the first 2-3 pages, so the rest of the book discusses its impact. Bone is a book about how a family and a microsocioety deals with death in a new world. Sadly, it doesn't truly make me understand what led up to the tragedy, despite trying to do so.
I wanted more out of this book. It held a great deal of promise, but I felt like it unraveled toward the end. The ending brought little clarity to the beginning and middle of the story. Still, I would read more by this author.
I wanted more out of this book. It held a great deal of promise, but I felt like it unraveled toward the end. The ending brought little clarity to the beginning and middle of the story. Still, I would read more by this author.