Not Even Bones (Market of Monsters, #1) by Rebecca Schaeffer
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers on September 4th 2018
ISBN: 1328863549
Pages: 368
Goodreads

Nita has always helped her mom dissect dead monsters or “Unnaturals” that she brings home to sell the sought after parts on the black market.  Dissection is Nita’s thing or ingrain need.  Up until now they have kept under the radar of the International Non-Human Police (INHUP).  Their status changes and their system is dangerously jeopardized when her mom brings home a live boy and expects Nita to dissect him.    Nita helps him escape and then finds herself kidnapped and placed in a cage on a deserted island in the South American jungle as part of a “live” part monster trade.  Fortunately, Nita is not human and is able to heal herself and negate responses from her pain receptors.  Unfortunately, there is a market for her special skin.

Schaeffer provides minute to minute action and one dangerous situation after another intertwined with Nita’s personal budding self-awareness of the “rules” she wants to live by that guides her monster-ish needs.  The content of cutting up bodies and monsters (human and non-human) that have a psychopathic  need to cause pain, dissect bodies, and eat parts of bodies is graphic and slightly disturbing, a horror reader’s dream.  Envision a monster “Dexter” for the mature high school reader.   There is a cliff-hanger ending which will have reader’s holding their breath until the next installment.

Reviewed by Sheila Dube, Springvale Public Library, Springvale