Kingdom of Needle and Bone

Humans can be many things. Saviors. Sinners. Hunters. Hunted. Monsters, or the divine. We are given ample opportunity to show our true colors during our lifetimes. Often our true colors are somewhere in the grey area as no one is any one thing. We are a collection of moments. Most writers often overlook the many faces of human nature. But great writers give a plurality to their characters. It may not be easy to understand who is good and evil without thinking about it, but isn't that real life? Mira Grant aka Seanan Mcguire is one of those great writers that celebrate the pluralism of morality in her characters, and this novella is an excellent example of this.

Dr. Izzy Gauley, the protagonist, is as morally gray as any character could be. She is distraught and caught in the guilt of her previous choices, and she must continually make ethically ambiguous decisions to further what she believes is the truly right thing. Those choices may or may not bring the entire proverbial glass house on top of herself. Much of the plot hinges on whether her choices in this story are wicked and self-serving or genuinely in the best interest of all are up to the reader. She is a good character. But, this is not surprising as Mira Grant tends to write real people.

Plot-wise, Grant has written a novella that is terrifying to a parent. What happens when herd immunity fails? The whole premise is based on a parent's worst nightmare, losing their children. Even worse is that it is through the parents own actions that global calamity happens. Although the delivery of the message regarding immunizations and the importance thereof is a bit ham-fisted at times, her point comes across. Vaccinations are essential and the backbone of a healthy society. What I liked about the plot is that it developed from, “How important immunizations are,” to a discussion on bodily autonomy. Do we sacrifice bodily freedom for the sake of a healthy society? This argument is a very real and prescient argument that could play out in the courts in the next upcoming years.

I hope to see this turn into a full-fledged series. There is enough meat on the bones of this novella to expand the characters and plot into a great story very much in the vein of the “Newsflesh” series.
I am so glad the Mira Grant is such a prolific author. I enjoy her work often and repeatedly. She is one of the few authors that seem to be just as good on a reread as it was initially. I can't tell you how many times I have read Newsflesh and October Daye. If you have an opportunity to check out this novella, I dearly hope you do.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

Sheesh, let's just say this book about a fictional disease outbreak is an eerie read amidst the COVID-19 pandemic I refuse to believe Grant didn't peer into a magic crystal ball and try to warn us of what she saw in the fog. Despite the fact that this was published a year before any of us had corona virus on our bingo cards, Kingdom of Needle and Bone details how easily a contagious disease can spread and how poorly most institutions will respond to that threat.