Our Numbered Bones - Katya Balen - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Katya Balen

GENRE: Contemporary Literary Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: February 17, 2026

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A contemporary literary fiction. Children's author Katya Balen's first adult fiction novel. Beautiful lyrical prose, melancholic plot, morbid lead character. Not an easy read as it's raw in its pain. A good option for those who like dark emotional stories and poetic writing. Major triggers for personal loss.

Plot Preview:

Anna, an author in her late thirties, has struggled to pen her second novel after a tragedy. Pressured by her deadline, she leaves London and goes to a remote cottage in rural England with no connectivity, hoping to find some inspiration. But in the marshes, an old secret resurfaces. Anna finds herself irresistibly drawn to that site, almost to the point of obsession. Can the past help Anna heal her present?

The story comes to us in Anna's first-person perspective.

PSA: Go in blind. The blurb is really accurate and tight-lipped for once, but several reviews contain major spoilers.

Katya Balen is a well-known author of middle-grade fiction. Most books I've read of hers have contained pain and healing, and also beautiful prose. All these features are also present in this, her first novel aimed at adults. However, the intensity level is dialled way upwards, which works both for and against the book.

The biggest plus point of this novel is its lyrical writing, which is literally and stylistically poetic at times. This might not work for everyone, but I was captivated by the prose. The author has a tendency to create vivid imagery and deep emotions using simple but precise words. In some places, she even uses free verse to deliver her point.

At the same time, the first-person POV ensures that we get all these poetic thoughts mainly from Anna's perspective. As Anna is dealing with some major emotional blow, the writing is greatly focused on her internal thoughts, her loss (the details of which we learn about much later in the book), her obsession with morbidity, and her longing for escape, whether from her relationships or from her existence. This depiction is so raw and intense that it is tough to read the book without feeling the same pain. The book is hence a mood read, and not to be picked up while dealing with personal struggles.

Anna is an interesting lead character for such a storyline. Through her thoughts, we see only depression and obsession, but through her introspection of her past, we also see the stark contrast between the Anna of then and the Anna of now. The reason for the difference is kept a secret for a long time, though we do get vague hints. It is intriguing to wait for Anna to reveal what created such a drastic change in her.

For almost half of the story, there are very few active characters. We see Anna having only minimal interpersonal interactions, whether with her husband or with inconsequential side characters. It's only after a certain development that we see her having more interactions. This means that for a good part of the book, we hear just Anna's extended first-person narration. Given how bleak her thoughts are, the book feels heavy in various ways.

Of course, there are other interesting characters in the book, but these become more active only in the second half. As such, I can't elaborate more on their character development. But I do wish that we could have known a few of them in greater detail so that we could understand them and their motivations better. Two characters in particular won my heart.

For once, the blurb is surprisingly vague. As such, I simply didn't predict the direction taken by the story regarding the "old secret that resurfaced." If this makes you dismiss the book as yet another thriller-type story with the heroine having a dark secret in her past, you couldn't be more wrong. I loved the sensitive way in which this angle was explored in the book p.

That said, the story makes the reader work hard. Not all details are revealed, and even those that are provided come out at random intervals in tiny bits. The book requires active reading so we can glean the information from between the lines. This isn't for those who speed-read. At the same time, going into such a storyline with a magnifying glass ready means that the emotional turmoil is felt more greatly.

Character-oriented stories are usually slow, but this novel is a bit too sluggish to get going. This minimal pacing, combined with Anna's depressed POV, doesn't make the book an easy read. A further challenge is the lack of quotation marks. The book uses italics for spoken dialogues, but I prefer the traditional quotes.

The ending is perfect for the story. I cannot think of any other alternate version that could have delivered greater satisfaction. I love it when books stop at just the right point instead of forcibly tying everything together into an overly neat bow.

The title and the cover both hold special significance in the story. There's a special note at the end of the book on the cover - quite interesting.

Overall, this isn't the kind of book I thought it would be, and yet it is the kind of book I expected it to be. The plot took me by surprise both in its content and its tone, but the prose didn't.

This isn't a book for every reader. The topics, though handled with sensitivity, are too dark and depressing. The pacing is dragged. The triggers are severe. But to those readers who aren't afraid of a deep dive into human pain and human persistence, this book ought to be a satisfying experience.

Recommended to readers of literary fiction looking for an intense exploration of human feelings after a life-changing incident, and preferably fond of a poetic writing style. This isn't an easy read, so pick it up when in a strong headspace.

My thanks to HarperVia for providing the DRC of “Our Numbered Bones” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Content warnings (MAJOR SPOILERS HERE):

Dementia, miscarriage, suicidal ideation