TJ Klune will always warm my soul with his books. Such a beautiful blend of the fantastic and reality. Just a high recommendation for anyone needing to have their heart touched deeply and their mind set free

Absolutely loved this book, which gripped me from the very first page to the last. I completely fell in love with the characters and adored the slowburn queer romance. TJ Klune is a master.

This was another hit from Klune. Alex was everything you wanted throughout the story. i was swept away with this one as usual and adored every moment.

This was such an enjoyable story! It was very strange, to say the least, but I feel that in itself was the charm of this book. The characters were likable, and the setting was interesting and immersive. From the very beginning I was compelled to keep on reading, and at a certain point the pages were just flying through my fingers! Definitely a book I can recommend.

Another wonderful book by TJ Klune. Nate,in an attempt to sort out his life , goes to the remote cabin which he has inherited from his estranged parents where he meets an extraordinary little girl and a man named Alex who are hiding in the cabin. However everything is not as it seems and we are taken on a rollercoaster ride of a journey across America as secrets and stories are discovered as the group tries to escape from those who are tracking them down No more spoilers! This genre of science fiction is not my usual read but the compassion and love that TJ Klune writes into his books had me hooked. I will remember Artemis Darth Vader and her quirky view on humanity and the world we live in for a long time. . Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

Fans of Stranger Things and E.T.- style alien movies will get lost in this adventure novel about the family we choose and the wonders of being different.

It follows Nate, a recently-fired and lonely journalist with nowhere to go but his family’s cabin. When he gets there and finds he’s not alone - a strange little girl and her bodyguard are hiding there, armed and on the run - he’s swept up into an action-packed quest involving telekinesis, bacon-loving aliens, threatening servicemen and a grumpy soldier he has a soft spot for.

Told with the author’s signature sweetness and awe at the brilliance of human companionship, it draws you into the characters’ lives and gives you a front seat as they learn to trust each other. It switches between brutal, funny and gentle scenes, combining a whole ton of different genres, which can be jarring at times but fits the overall pace and plot line well.

I think my expectations were set unfairly high for this book as I’ve only read (and LOVED) the author’s more recent work, and this was written back in 2017, so if I enjoyed it a little less, that might just be because the author has honed his style since. Still, I’m so pleased T. J. Klune had a chance to publish this as he originally hoped - complete with all the ‘weirdness’ the world previously tried to cut or change. The result is a whole lot of action and tenderness, an authentic voice and memorable characters.

Few authors can write found family stories like TJ Klune can. Very few.

And that's essentially what this is. It´s the story about how a man with no direction in life, a gruff ex marine and a wonderful little girl (who may not be a little girl) end up becoming family.

The first few chapters before Nate meets Art and Alex are a little slow, but after that there's humor and bacon, western books and space princesses, blooming flowers and exploding helicopters. And it's so so wholesome. I love Art so very much.

I maybe could have gone without the whole cult situation but other than that it was all epic and awesome.

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and TJ Klune for the advanced copy of The Bones Beneath My Skin via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.
In true TJ Klune fashion, this is another sci fi/fantasy masterpiece full of imagination-stretching topics and adventure. From the first to the last page, the action doesn’t let up, and the story was perfectly paced to keep my interest throughout.
I’m a character reader and what I appreciate about Klune’s writing is that the characters are usually richly fleshed out and described, and really come to life on the page. Their emotions are compelling and suck you in, and I found myself tearing up at the climactic ending.
Queer fiction is so important, but finding LGBTQIA fiction that isn’t full of the same tired tropes being trooped out over and over is almost impossible. Thankfully this book isn’t one of them and it was a joy to read something fresh and different. Yes, it was a romance, yes it was enemies-to-lovers, but it wasn’t tropey or cliched.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Moods: adventurous, challenging, dark, emotional, funny, hopeful, mysterious, sad, tense
Tropes: enemies/friends to lovers, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, loveable rogue, widow/widower
Pace: medium-fast
Character development: strong
Plot or character driven: 50/50
Diversity: medium
Spice: 4/5
Trigger warnings: Blood/Gore, Death, Death of a family member, Grief, Guns/weapons, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental Illness, Murder, Physical or mental abuse, PTSD, Sexual content, Torture, Violence
Rating: 4.5/5

It was a very beautiful book. We return to the reflections on what it means to be human, love and family, but now from a perspective that is more science fiction than fantasy.
I really enjoyed the setting of the book, the reflections on feelings and of course, as always, the trope of the found family that this author's books always bring us. Heartwarming and sweet.

If you ever want to know how to write with heart, how to make readers really feel emotions and a lesson in expert storytelling then read any book by TJ Klune, he is my go to author for wanting to feel hope, love and family in its best and truest forms.

The Bones Beneath My Skin is another fantastic and beautiful story from the master craftsman of spinning yarns. Yes I am completely biased and a thoroughly besotted fangirl. I think this might be his best yet, but then I think I say that with each new book he publishes and I hope to the universe that I never stop saying it.

Nate and Alex I absolutely loved the bones of them, but for me Art thoroughly stole the show. Art is such a wonderful little girl, quirky, unique, quick witted, she just stole every page she was on. This story is full of scifi, fantasy, mystery and intrigue but most of all found family and choosing to love.

5 stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The fun thing about TJ Klune books is that you never know how they will break your heart - just that they will. Don't worry, though, also in true Klune fashion, hearts get broken and mended in this story and I for one feel wholly like I went through a cathartic experience. The outset of this novel is tragic and painful - being left something in your parents' will when you know that they did not agree with you being queer yet also being so devastated by life and all its horrors that you do end up going to that cabin is one thing - finding the love of your life there in the strangest meet-cute of all time is quite another.
I recommend going into this without knowing the synopsis because it certainly adds a bit more magic to the story. And I promise you, the happy ending is worth all the pain, confusion and working through trauma that Klune does so exceptionally well.

3.5 rounded down. This didn't grab me the way the other books I've read by TJ Klune have. There is a heartfelt story about love and family and lost but the other books have made me cry. This didn't. I spent a good portion of the book not liking the characters which is a real shame.

This is a great bridge between the vintage Klune of Bear Otter and The Kid and the modern Klune of Whispering Door and Puppets.

Acting as a bridge there’s the flippancy and camp, but also some of his later trademark darker moments as the bond between the main characters.

Funny where it needs to be, poignant in others this little road trip is a treat to keep us going till more new Klune. And the cover redesign is excellent.

I appreciate NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

T.J. Klune’s The Bones Beneath My Skin is a beautifully crafted blend of science fiction and heartfelt storytelling. At its core, it’s a story about love, found family, and acceptance. I wouldn’t say it is his best work but definitely better than Somewhere Beyond the Sea. So, worth a one time read definitely.

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

I’ve read a few of T. J. Klunes previous books, and while I really enjoyed some (Cerulean series), others I just didn’t get on with, and I’m afraid this one falls into the latter category. I wasn’t a fan of Nate. I found it hard to want to pick this book up because his character just really grated on me. Alex and Art were much the same as well, which is a pity because I did want to enjoy this book! I’m sure die hard Klune fans will enjoy it, but it missed the mark for me!

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of TJ Klune, I'm always super excited to see what he writes next, and The Bones Of My Skin didn't disappoint at all.
No one writes cosy, often high stakes fantasy like him, which have the found family trope in abundance.
I don't read a ton of Sci fi, and this is very different to a lot of TJ's books. It's definitely more action-packed and often reads like a movie, but it's just as gorgeous as the others.
Artemis will be a character I think about for a long time. Along with Nate and Alex.
I don't want to give too much away about the plot as I recommend going in completely blind and just trusting the process, but I love when an author takes flawed characters and explores humanity, love and acceptance through them and this is the case here.
Although The Bones Beneath My Skin felt quite dark in some places, it also has so much warmth and heart.
I'm honestly in awe of TJ's imagination and the worlds he creates and will forever read whatever he writes.

Hardback bought by myself but ebook previously provided by NetGalley. Thank you.

Nate has lost his parents in a murder/suicide. Not that he's had much to do with them since they basically disowned him for being gay. Now he's also lost his job so he decides to use his only inheritance from his parents - his dad's truck and their holiday cabin in the mountains - and get away for a while.

When he gets there however he finds the cabin occupied by a giant hulking army guy and a little girl around 9 years old. Alex, who prefers to shoot first and ask questions later, and Artemis Darth Vader, who is not quite normal, however she is obsessed with western novels and bacon.

Yet another stunning novel by TJ. Tightly plotted with characters that are so easy to love and to root for and yet another brilliant example of found family! This was so visually written I can imagine being a fantastic movie, hey Hollywood can you get on that?

I really loved this book. As always with TJ Klune it was the characters that really drew me into this book and I loved the dynamic between the 3 leads and how it developed throughout. As they grew to love each other more I was loving their relationships more and more. I found myself laughing and crying at various points as Art was navigating her way through the world. I will definitely recommend this book to others.

***advance review copy received from NetGalley in return for an honest review***
I wasn’t too sure about this book until I finished it - I found the pacing initially to be quite slow, and was a bit frustrated with how long the so-called mystery was dragged out. I say so-called as I thought it was fairly obvious - so obvious in fact that I’m not sure it was ever meant to be a mystery, and therefore the prolonged “what’s going on here” line of questioning was even more frustrating.
That said, as the plot and more importantly the characters develop and grow with each other, the more invested I became. The themes of found family are strong and will appeal to a lot of people.