BARDO Magazine Issue 1 | Page 28

like a revealing display of Mitchell's power as a writer that at no point in any of this did the novel stop feeling as engrossing or as powerful as it had at any other point in the story.

It's important that, at least technically speaking, the novel moves forward in time from chapter to chapter, as the temporary nature of life is one of the big issues it addresses - “the bone clocks” of the title are mortal humans themselves, each moment bringing them closer to their eventual end; this is something that becomes more and more relevant to Holly as she ages and has other scrapes with death. But since part of the novel deals with ostensibly immortal beings, time is really a rather relative concept, and early parts of the novel that essentially feel like nonsense finally find an explanation later on. Given this, The Bone Clocks has tremendous re-readability. It may very well be my personal favorite book that I've read in years, and I will no doubt return to its particular, large world many times to both connect the dots between its interlocking narratives and simply bask in the multitude of perfectly encapsulated moments that make it up. ∆

relative concept, and early parts of the novel that essentially feel like nonsense finally find an explanation later on. Given this, The Bone Clocks has tremendous re-readability. It may very well be my personal favorite book that I've read in years, and I will no doubt return to its particular, large world many times to both connect the dots between its interlocking narratives and simply bask in the multitude of perfectly encapsulated moments that make it up. ∆

Illustration by Juliana Wang