Not Even Bones

Written by Rebecca Schaeffer

Narrated by Almarie Guerra

"Twisty, grisly, genre-bending and immersive, Not Even Bones will grab you by the throat and drag you along as it gleefully tramples all of your expectations." --Sara Holland, New York Times best-selling author of Everless

Dexter meets This Savage Song in this dark fantasy about a girl who sells magical body parts on the black market -- until she's betrayed.

Nita doesn't murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet--her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they've been "acquired." Until her mom brings home a live specimen and Nita decides she wants out; dissecting a scared teenage boy is a step too far. But when she decides to save her mother's victim, she ends up sold in his place--because Nita herself isn't exactly "human." She has the ability to alter her biology, a talent that is priceless on the black market. Now on the other side of the bars, if she wants to escape, Nita must ask herself if she's willing to become the worst kind of monster.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Dec 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781721338610

Rebecca Schaeffer

Rebecca Schaeffer is the critically acclaimed author of Not Even Bones, Only Ashes Remain, and When Villains Rise. The Webtoon adaptation of the trilogy has garnered over a hundred million reads and nearly 2 million subscribers. Her next book, Cage of Dreams, comes out in 2023.   rschaefferbooks.com Twitter: @rrschaeffer. Instagram: @rebecca_schaeffer

Reviews for Not Even Bones

[Jenneci · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A dark and brutally honest tale that holds nothing back

[Billie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not Even Bones
by Rebecca Schaeffer

The first thing I want to say about this book, that even though it is listed as a Young Adult, it isn't. This is graphic, gory, and demented. I would not let my kid read this unless they were over 14. (But then again, look at the video games they play at a much younger age).

This book is about Nita, a young girl who loves, and I do mean love, to dissect bodies. They are not human per-say, they are supernatural, and she didn't kill them, her mother ‘acquires’ them, and mom enjoys her job. She brings the bodies to Nita to dissect and put the pieces in jars and boxes, and then the parts get sold on the black market.

Nita's dissection room is her 'quiet' place, the place where she can relax and enjoy the passage of time. As a warning, she walks you through the dissections as she does them, and from her memories. 

It's wrong, it's demented, but I really liked the story! 

It's NOT for kids!

The story does leave the room and follows Nita when she is kidnapped and taken to the black market she’d cut up bodies for. She, and all of her parts, are now up for sale.

4 stars

[Aires Ong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not your average YA book. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I think the comparison to Dexter meets the savage song is accurate. This story opens up with Nita dissecting unnaturals' bodies for her mother so they can sell their body parts to black market. And considering the types of people involved, things obviously take a turn and Nita is forced to confront what she and her mother are actually doing. I'd daresay this is reminiscent of the Mafia books I love so much with the amount of imprisonment, torture, power struggles, and blood there is. If you like your stories on the darker side with morally grey characters with a smidge of fantasy and plenty of gore and torture without being too gratuitous, check this one out!

[Alison O’Donnell · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I never write reviews, but I hated everything about this book so felt compelled to write about it. Under-developed characters, weak plot and a really disappointing ending. It ends in a way that makes me think there are more to follow, but I won’t be reading them.

[Ashley Nickel · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Short review:
I will probably try to read the next book, but it was tough to get through. But; this was definitely a unique read and not like any other YA book I’ve ever read.

Long review:
I have mixed feelings. Overall, I thought it was generally well written. The character development feels traditionally YA - it’s about finding your place in a world that’s against you while trying to define your own code of ethics (or lack thereof) and identity. A coming of age story, if you will… but that’s where the YA genre ends in my opinion. The rest of the book was so violent, so gory, so disturbing that I myself, a nearly 30 year old, am shooketh. If you’re looking for a book to give you a thrill or visceral reaction— this is it.

I thought I knew what I was getting into with this book, especially based on the description of it being like Dexter. I was wrong. I like my fare shaew of gore and gruesomeness—I write horror myself. That said, I thought there was more graphic description than necessary - especially once you get to the black market portion where it’s all bad news and torture… that was most of the book and by about half through I was like “okay I get it, it’s a very bloody business.” We didn’t need to be continually reminded that their eyeballs were in danger of being plucked and eaten. The blatant cannibalism also did legitimately make me nauseated. I would have liked more thriller and less gross disembodied parts, personally.

Will I read the next book? I’ll try to, because I am invested in the story and what happens next, but I’m not at all sure I’ll be able to finish the series if the gore:plot ratio is the same as in this book (approximately 10 gores to 1 plot) .

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[Ranakkuma · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

That WAS EPIC! I am so intrigued, honestly. That was an awesome book.

[alejandraivanez · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this first book in the series. It was exciting and had a good pace to the story. The characters were interesting and this book made me excited for the rest of the series.

[m_mozeleski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ooooh. Yes.

Excellent story. Really looking forward to the sequel!

[quondame · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Double recessives can create special humans, some of whom, vampires and pain eating zannies are monsters. As a double whammy some monster flesh when eaten or blood when applied, has positive results, euphoria, analgesia, possibly immortality. So monsters are sold in parts, and Nita is one who takes apart the bodies of other monsters - then she is up for sale. Just barely, or just almost readable, for those who like "I am a monster" teen fiction. Nothing new to me, and I avoid the genre, but my daughter liked it enough to loan it to me and keep on my case about reading it.

[jrlibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed the unnatural creatures and Nita’s character but sadly feel like this is much much much too dark to share with my grade eights. I won’t be giving it to any of my schools to stick on their shelves. If they discover the book on their own however, perhaps from a public library, they might also really enjoy the characters. I hope Nita meets up with Kovit, the zannie again. And I am interested to see if see exacts revenge on Fabricio.

[evaw-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very dark and gruesome - but very well written. The plot grabs you ... and I am hooked to get the sequel once it's written to see what happens next to Nita!

[bethyacoub · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well, I finished this one a week ago and decided to hold off writing a review in order to let my feelings percolate a bit. What brewed was a dark, delicious blend of creepy, oft times graphic, ill fated yet somehow still hopeful perseverance against terrible odds. The characters were awesome/heinous which made them all the more appealing. The main character, Nita, was seriously messed up BUT could you blame her?? Her parental experiences were stilted, toxic and all around atrocious. Sure, she liked to dissect unnaturals though she herself was one, she did have some morals though like donors needing to be well and truly dead before gracing her table...and yes...she relied heavily on her dismemberment rituals to achieve a calm, peaceful headspace...BUT... she also questioned herself at every turn and it was this introspection that gave us a very interesting window into her psyche and holy heck was it chilling.Peppered amongst the lush world building were poignant social commentaries like: White Male & American Privilege and the power that said privilege affords, various types of addiction and the literal and figurative market of horrors that accompanies such a beast of burden, as well as Eugenics and the controversies over its ethics. It was fascinating. I loved the variety of characters this world had to offer although Nita's brief friendship with the other female captive was disappointing and mainly there to move the plot along. Oh well, opportunity for "sisterly"/captive solidarity bond lost. Another main character that won me over was Kovit, the reluctant jailor/torturer/all around menace. I thought without a doubt that the relationship between he and Nita would have felt more disjointed and forced but by the end I was SO on board with their budding Amore(???). It's a hard relationship to define but I absolutely loved how alike they were even though they were raised in completely different climates...it was uncanny and intriguing!I must admit, I'm not usually one for kidnapped/trapped/drugged/tortured plots but this dark beauty had me, hook line and sinker. The pace was perfect. The nausea inducing topic of human trafficking/dismembering for a profit was intense and highly disturbing. There were loads of times that I had no idea where the plot was going and I didn't think I wanted to find out BUT the story was addicting and left me bleary eyed in the wee hours having gotten absolutely no sleep.Constant heart palpitations?...CHECK Transported to places previously unimaginable?...CHECKTwists and turns?...CHECKWorrying over the fate of fictional characters like they are your dearest friends?...CHECKAn unputdownable read?...DOUBLE CHECKWith all that being said, what more could you possibly expect for a few hours of your time?!?? You will definitely get your money's worth with this read! ~Enjoy

[kamoorephoto · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not Even Bones (Untitled, #1) - Rebecca SchaefferThis is a breakout bloody good book (pun totally intended), and if you don’t like blood, the idea of autopsies, or a lot of gore, I would stay far far away. But if you’re anything like me, and you don’t keel over at the thought of body parts being cut off (I know someone who does), and you’re looking for the most original dark fantasy this Fall (some would definitely call it horror), look no further. In ‘Not Even Bones’, Rebecca Schaeffer has given life, as gory, twisted, and fantastical as it may be, to a sort of anti-hero we can’t help but rally behind, Anita, who not only is masterful when it comes to dissecting dead bodies, but who possesses magical capabilities (she’s able to turn her pain receptors on and off, and do amazing things like heal parts of her own body).Nita and her mother have traveled the world working within the black market of selling body parts of other ‘unnaturals’; Nita’s mother does the killing and Nita does the dissecting, something she enjoys, but she uses the moral reasoning whereby ‘it’s all okay because she’s not actually doing the killing, her mom is’. She even has dreams of one day doing medical research and putting her skills to good use. But then the day comes when Nita is betrayed and she ends up on the wrong side of the ‘Death Market’, and possibly will become body parts herself, and she really has to question all those good morals and boundaries she has set up for herself. She ends up putting trust in someone she’d never have imagined she’d have to, and doing things she’d sworn to herself she never would. And there’s a LOT of blood and guts along the way. I don’t like making comparisons, and make a point of not doing so myself, but the one that has been made about ‘Not Even Bones’, and is right on its cover, is that it’s a mashup of ‘Dexter’ and ‘This Savage Song’ by V.E. Schwab. I could barely tear myself away from the TV show ‘Dexter’, I loved it to death, but this isn’t why I read this book (just look at the scalpel on the cover), and making comparisons like the one made here doesn’t give author Rebecca Schaeffer the true credit she should even give herself (Dexter is referenced in the book, so I know she loved the show too). I relished all the adventure and the gore, but I also found the writing and story captivating, and not worth comparing to anything else, especially once I got lost inside this new world and involved with the characters.Above all, the questioning of Nita’s own existence, her morals, and her judgment in the situations that come up, was so fascinating to read, this book has levels beyond the ears and toes in jars of formaldehyde. It was so thought-provoking amidst all the horrifying bloodiness and excellent world-building, and that was so unexpected. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing this series progress; the fate of Nita looked precarious at the end of the book, and I can’t wait for more blood and more magical ‘monsters’ to be cut up into tiny little pieces to make her strange future right again. One can only hope, and even if she doesn’t really ‘deserve’ it.