Craig David Singer

Craig David Singer's compassionate, haunting new novel "More than Bones" starts out by exploring strong, unique characters and a mysterious premise that takes you in surprising directions. By the end, Singer has taken you on a journey that involves deeply emotional victories, crises, and genuinely heartfelt changes in his characters. "More than Bones" sinks you into its characters and their external and internal conflicts. As the novel's title suggests, it delivers on its promise to be "more than" just a story about superficial interactions or even internal skeletal structures. It engages you in the emotionally rich lives of its characters, the loves and fears and longings in their lives, and it doesn't shy away from asking larger spiritual questions. The mysteries and complexities of life flow through these pages like wind, animating and filling whatever they find.… (mehr)

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars, rounded down

The main character of this book is a straight woman who receives a strange amulet that may or may not influence her entire life. Several of her family members and friends are gay men, and she volunteers for a gay helpline, so the community is important to the story.

This is described both as darkly suspenseful and a lighthearted comedy, which is a pretty weird mix. Personally, I didn't really feel the comedy part - the parts that might have been meant as funny mostly caused me second hand embarrassment. And there were some quite heavy triggers that I didn't expect in a comedy book.

Overall, I have to admit that there were story twists that surprised me, and I liked how the story played out in the end.

major tws: cancer, suicide, child sexual abuse… (mehr)

More Than Bones by Craig David Singer is a 2019 Twin Rabbits Books publication.

Faith, belief, forgiveness, friendship, and personal growth, with a cherry sized dollop of magic on top!

Dr. Emily Norton arrives in Boston to begin her medical residency with a wide- open future ahead of her. But, when her odd duck neighbor gives her an amulet, along with a word of advice, Emily, who does not believe such nonsense, ignores the amulet and the advice. She soon comes to regret her decision, however, when bad luck becomes her new normal. For starters, her fiancé dumps her, publicly, she is reprimanded on her first day at the hospital, fails to make a good impression with the other doctors, and then seriously offends her roommate, just for starters.

Meanwhile, Emily becomes attached to Rachel, a young mother who has been diagnosed with a deadly form of breast cancer. The two begin to form a bond akin to sisterhood. But, could Emily’s refusal to wear the amulet effect Rachel’s chances for remission?

Okay, I had a few preconceived notions about this book, and they turned out to be way off the mark. While this is not super heavy reading by any means, it was not exactly the light, fluffy material I was expecting.

The story follows Emily as she takes a journey which begins with avoiding anything faith based, to considering the possibilities of having a belief system. She has a few enlightening epiphanies about life, which helps her make peace with the past and prepares her for whatever life may bring in the future.

There are a few comical situations in the book, and the story is filled with eccentric characters, giving it a lighter tone at times, however, just because it has been categorized as magic realism and has a kitty cat on the cover, do not be deceived. The book addresses many heavy topics, such as suicide, cancer, death, and heartbreak and losing one's faith.

Emily tried my patience on several occasions. I initially felt empathy for her after her initial run of bad luck. While she lamented that no one respected her wishes to forego putting her faith in religion or charmed amulets, she didn’t respect others who did have faith in God or anything else.
While she was sympathetic, and followed her heart and conscience, she could also be rude, offensive, cold, and judgmental, chewing people out who may not have deserved her wrath simply because they believed in something she didn't.

The other cast members were hit or miss with me as well. Emily’s roommate was either hot or cold, and entirely too melodramatic. Grown men throwing temper tantrums?

But, then, there was Rachel. Hands down, she is the bright light in this story.

I have a lot of mixed emotions about this book. The story didn’t always flow evenly and one secondary story involving a fellow resident was underdeveloped, and I'm not entirely sure why it was necessary to the story. On the other hand, I was satisfied, for the most part, by Emily’s personal growth. I think we left her in a positive place with room for more improvement, and of course, I was very moved by Rachel’s story and the way she and Emily bonded. Her impact on Emily was enormous and her influence was inspirational for Emily and the reader, as well.

So, I’ve waffled back and forth on my rating for this one. Usually when I can’t decide on a firm rating, I go with a middle of the road score. I'm giving this one an added half star for the record- and for Rachel.

3.5 rounded down… (mehr)