Very disturbing novel - Rated 
This book is a disturbing account of life in a totalitarian state (nameless though that state remains, it could have been Russia or Mao's China, I guess). Yuri is a character I came to view like Winston in 1984. It's a moving account and the disturbing bit about it was, how does a writer put across the enormity of what happened to countless numbers of innocent people effectively? I am not sure at the end whether Fine achieves her objective. Is some of the horror lost? The accounts of shovelling dead bodies - how do you put that across to teen readers - I don't know the answer. However, Fine has conveyed much of the despair of the individual in this book, and I would highly, highly recommend it. Perhaps the only part that really jars with me is when Yuri drops a body and its eyes fly open. Would that really happen? Also, the ending is vague. I read it four times and still think about its meaning. But, a valuable contribution to the genre.
A dystopian masterpiece - Rated 
Reminiscent of Arthur Koestler's "Darkness at Noon" and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", 'Road of Bones' tells the story of the teenage years of Yuri, from his home-life, with its ever increasing restrictions imposed from outside, to his initial evasion of capture from the authorities before an eventual internment in a labour camp, and his subsequent efforts to survive.
Although the characters have Russian names, neither Russia nor the Soviet Union are actually mentioned by name as the location of the book. The setting, instead, is an imagined totalitarian state, but it's one whose circumstances have clearly been based on history - and powerful history it is too. This is extremely evocative and compelling stuff, nowhere more so than the frightening conclusion which demonstrates the potential power of context over objective thought - good, no matter how pure, can be twisted and warped to mirror its opposite if given no encouragement beyond itself.
Fear, horror, and it's really really cold! - Rated
Road of bones is set in what appears to be Russia. It starts off as a fairly routine book about spys, fear, and child labour. Then when the protagonist breaks a silence he has contended with for most of his life horrific events line up to confront him. Although the majority of Anne Fine 's novels have been comical and light hearted this one touches a more serious and dangerous topic. It is an interesting read. worth paying attention to.
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