Nita was raised by parents who trade in the black market. Of course, they make their own choices, but Kovit can’t help who he is. Are the unnaturals inherently bad because of their biology or because they choose to be bad? I believe Kovit and Nita are both products of their environments. Schaeffer tackles the age-old theme of nature vs. As much as we should despise Kovit and even Nita at some points, I found that I didn’t hate them. It’s difficult to distinguish between the heroes and the villains at times.

This world is filled with morally reprehensible people. While they are no angels, they are not nearly as bad as they are made out to seem in the beginning. Throughout the book, we are led to believe that zanies are the worst kind of monster. Kovit does some really horrible things to get his fix but I loved him anyway. A zannie is a unnatural that feeds on pain. Kovit is a character that normally would be despised, but he was one of my favorites. But that doesn’t make her any less lovable. She exists in this morally gray world but is inherently a good person. Nita is a strong main character, who’s very multidimensional. She then has to go to certain depths she didn’t think she was capable of going to survive.

( I wish I could have her power!) She is betrayed by someone in the novel that lands her in the same predicament as the very bodies she’s used to dissecting. For example, if she is suffering from an allergic reaction, she can make her body not respond to the allergen. Nita is an unnatural herself, who can alter her biology for her advantage. Unnaturals are paranormal creatures, with strange abilities, that look like humans. In this world, there are humans and then there are unnaturals. It is so unique, not only in the world Schaeffer creates but in the qualms the main character faces. The one time she adheres to her morals sets a series of unfortunate events in motion that will have Nita questioning whether she’s as monstrous as the bodies she dissects on her table.įirstly, this is one of the best books I’ve read all year.

That’s a line she isn’t willing to cross. She doesn’t bother to think about her morality in all of this until her mother brings her a live specimen. Nita has always been able to keep herself detached from it all. Not Even Bones tells the story of Nita, who dissects supernatural beings and their body parts are then sold on the internet by her mother. It is different than any other paranormal fantasy I’ve ever read. It is the first book in the Market of Monsters series. Not Even Bonesby Rebecca Schaefferis YA paranormal fantasy. This is one of the books that captured my attention from the first page.

Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer