WOW, THIS WAS DARK. This is an extremely dark, upper YA book about Jamestown. The cover is gorgeous, but don't let it fool you into thinking this is a sapphic historical romance. This is a harrowing historical fiction book that happens to feature sapphic characters. (Which, tbh, is actually really nice to see and worked well with the themes of the story.)

The characters and their relationships aren't necessarily the focus, but the whole book has this foreboding sense of doom that Bruzas conveys really well. Ellis, our main character, was wonderfully written and that was a standout to me. If the book had a sharper sense of focus or if the characters were developed slightly more, it'd have been an easy 5 stars. That said, I think because it was teetering between a YA story with an adult tone, it lost a bit of the depth it could have had if it was more firmly written for one of those age brackets.

This was a short and easy read with really beautiful prose. It works well if you know of Jamestown in 1609-1610 or if you're completely unaware. Definitely recommend this!

Thank you so much to Penguin Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for an honest review!

I’m not sure how to feel after reading this. I appreciate the author’s note at the end and understand what she meant to do with this story, but I’m not sure it translated that way for me. To the Bone did display the horrifying realities of colonial life, but as for the indigenous tribes side of the story and effectively communicating the brutality indigenous people faced from colonizers — it was really lacking for me and may have even created the opposite result. Since our protagonist is an indentured servant girl, we barely hear/learn of the trading between tribes and colonizers, and we also don’t hear much (we do hear some in the beginning but it fades out pretty quickly) of how the colonizers attacked and brutalized the natives. Most of the scenes with indigenous folks are of the tribes committing violence toward the forts and killing what readers are led to believe are “innocent” people. We only get two short scenes of a positive interaction between Ellis and a native woman. In the author’s note, she writes that we should not vilify the indigenous people for defending themselves and their land and their resources; however, her novel does not really make an effort to humanize the indigenous people and almost *does* invite readers to blame them as equally as the colonizers for the violence and brutality. I will say, had I known this novel was written by a white woman beforehand, I would not have requested the arc. I’m not convinced this story is necessary, nor is it a white person’s place to narrate indigenous oppression. While there are some valuable parts of this, such as the elaboration on The Starving Times for history buffs, I think the question “Why am I writing this?” should be seriously thought over.

Phew, this book was intense! It was a very graphic and harrowing novel about starvation and desperation during winter famine in Jamestown in the colonies. An interesting historical fiction novel, and I liked how it brought a sapphic twist. I almost never read horror but I’m really fascinated by this time period, which is why I gave this book a shot! Needless to say, it definitely scarred me with the bodily horror, but I appreciated its frankness and how grounded it is in reality, as the author obviously did their research. 3.75 rounded up.

🌈Queer rep: FF main couple, lesbian mc

This is a historical fiction that in unafraid to showcase the wrongdoings and the horrifying realities that can live in the past. The effects of colonialism are not shied away from, and as much as one feels for what the citizens of Jamestown must live through, the fact that they should not be there, the fact that are completely in the wrong, is made starkly. Even those are who do not inflict violence upon the indigenous people are not innocent in wanting to take what is not theirs.

This book is honest in its depiction of the past, in all of its depravity, paired with the pieces of good, hopeful moments. It made my stomach churn, but it is done so incredibly well.

Boy I sure hope Master Collins isn't an evil creep--"
I forgot that Henry Collins was the name of the guy in my history textbook that murdered his pregnant wife and was then executed. I didn't remember until that actually takes place in the book, and then I went "UGH, of course, he's THAT guy." But my memory failing made that moment extra horrific.

This was brutal, nauseating, deeply upsetting. I felt sick reading the last half. I cried.

In case you're still not sure what you're signing up for after reading the synopsis, this is about the starvation and cannibalism at the early settlement Jamestown. STARVATION and CANNABALISM. This is about death and murder, about English settlers stealing from and murdering Native Americans and being attacked and starved in return.

This is real history. It's one thing to read about Jamestown in class or a history book. It's another thing to be brought deep down into it, to feel the suffering, and that's what To the Bone does.

Every character dies.

The age-old (🤢) question: are you hungry enough that you'll eat your dead gf?

The MC is an indentured servant. The prose is simple and easy to read, but gets more rambling as the food dwindles and tragedy strikes. I'd say this is a quick read since the book is short, but the subject matter is also horrifying, and I needed to take breaks from reading to dull the impact of the horror.

There's a cute dog named Spider! Maybe the only cuteness in the book. If you want spoilers about Spider: the dog escapes into the woods and survives. Yay! So not every character dies, just the humans. And the livestock.

Thank you so much to Penguin GROUP, Penguin Teen, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for an honest review. To the Bone follows Ellis, a young indentured girl living in James Fort in 1609.

This a novel that delves into the reality and the horror of the people living in Colonial America. There are quite a few content warnings for this book as a result so be sure to check those before reading.

Although it took a few chapters to settle into the tightly crafted and long prose style, this was a very interesting read. I was most interested in the difference in the dynamics between Ellis and her friends (and love) Rowan and Jane, and the people she is indentured to.

While the book is quite dark at times I did enjoy reading To the Bone and was very captivated by Ellis’ world and the author’s writing style.

A brutally honest depiction of colonialism, based on true events, that doesn't pull any punches in its depiction of utter vileness.
To the Bone will make your skin crawl and your stomach lurch. It's not for the faint of heart; I highly advise anyone interested to check for CW (I listed some below), of which there are many, but if you can/are willing, it's a terrific read and story that screams to be heard in this trying day and age.
Alena's prose will confuse you at times—know that it's intentional. The story is told from the perspective of a desperate, illiterate girl who does horrible things trying to survive on stolen land under the thumb of an abusive employer. While the writing depicts all of that to messy perfection, it can be jarring if that's not something you're into/used to.



CW: body horror, child death, domestic violence, abuse, abortion/miscarriage, pregnancy, cannibalism, racial slurs, sexual abuse (mentions), mental illness, self-harm, death, blood, gore, murder.

Thank you NetGalley/Penguin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.