I Didn't Devour This 'Bones and All'

Bones and All

Author: Camille DeAngelis

Goodreads / Amazon

Maren Yearly doesn’t just break hearts, she devours them.  Since she was a baby, Maren has had what you might call "an issue" with affection. Anytime someone cares for her too much, she can’t seem to stop herself from eating them. Abandoned by her mother at the age of 16, Maren goes looking for the father she has never known, but finds more than she bargained for along the way. 

Faced with love, fellow eaters, and enemies for the first time in her life, Maren realizes she isn’t just looking for her father, she is looking for herself. The real question is, will she like the girl she finds?

I'm kinda disappointed in this book. You'd think cannibals would be uber-interesting, but this book falls short of my expectations. I wanted so much more from this book. The concept was what drew me in, but the lackluster almost everything else just shooed me out.

I mean...cannibals, right? Supposed to be pretty interesting, you know?

Likes:

• Lee was a normal weirdo with an interesting story. He had an uncaring mother and loving sister. I wanted more about him. He was much more interesting than Maren. He had a backstory. And I was interested in that. Why did he do what he did? How did he come who he was? Did he have cannibals in his family? I had so many questions about/for him.
• Though I didn't particularly like it, Lee's sacrifice showed he cared. I loved how much he cared for Maren, romance or not. He cared enough to do that for her. That shows so much about his character. He cared for this girl, practically a stranger. And I admired him for that. But then again, he kinda had a death wish. Sooo.

Dislikes:

• There really isn't a discernible plot. What is Maren's purpose? What did she want accomplished? I have no clue. She didn't go anywhere. She didn't grow as a person. I felt so annoyed. I needed action, tension, something! I was so completely bored as I read. Thanks but no thanks.
• And Maren was a boring character. She had no interest for me. I wanted more about her past eats. Who were they? What were they to her? Had she controlled her hunger? I wanted to know more about her, but she was too Mary Sue for me. She didn't have a good backstory or motivation. She was an empty shell. She could have been way more interesting, but she fled her problems instead of facing them.
• The concept was fantastic. It reminded me of an anime (Tokyo Ghoul, if you're wondering.) I don't think I've read stories with cannibal side characters, much less featuring cannibals at the star of the show. The idea of cannibals who live comfortably in society raises many questions. How do they live? Are there societies of cannibals? We don't even find out how cannibals exist. Or why they do. There are a lot of unanswered questions. And the author, in the author's note, said the cannibals are more like ghouls. Like...is it hereditary? How do you find out you are with someone who is a cannibal? I had too many questions and no answers.
• And, of course, the romance falls flat. It wasn't captivating. And it wasn't even hinted. There was no spark. Nothing. The romance felt so forced for the reader's entertainment, like a team to root for. But both parties didn't even seem to love each other. Sure, there was a little brotherly love but nothing beyond that.