Road of Bones is set in the Russian revolution; people are being incarcerated for ridiculous things. One night on the job, the young boy, Yuri, opens his mouth a little too wide over his soup and says something he shouldn’t. Suddenly he’s wanted by the police and has to go into hiding to prevent being sent to one of the terrifying prison camps, where the labour is long and treacherous, decent clothes are scarce and food is scarcer still…

Road of Bones is one of those books that you read because of the author. The story takes a long time to get going and then, when it does, it’s very disappointing. The plot itself is a good one but the way it’s told it barely manages to keep you interested. The idea of re-reading it bores me, where as I would gladly pick up another copy of Justin Case or My Swordhand is Singing in a couple of months' time.

It must be said that Anne Fine is a very good and successful writer; I just don’t enjoy her style of writing. I have read other books by her and liked them, eg Flour Babies or The Tulip Touch; this one just didn’t do it for me.

I would recommend this book to adults but not for teenagers, it’s too serious.