i actually did not expect where this story was going at all i'm going to be so honest

to the bone follows ellis, a young woman who's indentured to henry collins as a houseservant. we follow ellis throughout what seems like around a year. throughout the year she falls in love with a young colonist named jane and starts realizing how dangerous her owner is.

first of all this book is pretty short; on my phone it said it was around 158 pages, which is usually half the length of a full ya novel. i think this book could've benefited from some length as well; the romance between jane and ellis could've been expanded upon more. i came out of the book feeling disjointed; the writing is very succinct and short, and i think readers would probably benefit from some longer prose.

i thought this book was interesting; i requested it on a whim, which is why i was so surprised at where the book went; by the ending i was like wtf i don't remember seeing this in the blurb at all. i had never heard of the starving time before i read this, so it was cool that the author explored a side of history not many people might know about. i felt so bad for ellis btw she was going through like ten layers of hell every single day. henry collins needed to be killed so bad btw

ultimately this was a fast, short book that explored a very sad and interesting side of history. i would recommend it if you like horror or historical fiction, because the end starts leaning toward horror.