I loved this book. It was special to me because it took place in Calgary in the community that I grew up in. I enjoyed how it was a mix of sports, suspense, and romance that was not over the top. I don't think everyone can relate or enjoy the book though, I can see it having a limited audience.

I didn't find this book terrible to read but it's nothing stellar either. The writing is clear. I didn't exactly love the ending.

I just LOVED this book. It's an unusual setting and theme but the characters are so well drawn. I learned so much about the human physique, too. Fans of "The Biggest Loser" or those who push themselves physically, will especially enjoy the setting of preparing for the Olympics. But the writing is so appealing and the characters so real that anyone interested in a good story will enjoy this book. I cannot wait for this author's next book -- her writing really appeals to me. .

Selected as a nominee for the 2011 Canada Reads competition, The Bone Cage is a fascinating look into the lives of elite athletes. With her first novel, Angie Abdou, who has a PhD in Canadian Literature and Creative Writing, has written a book that surpasses the boundaries of “sport lit”. The Bone Cage is a character study of two Olympic-bound athletes—Sadie, a swimmer, and Digger, a wrestler. With vivid detail, Abdou describes the lives of these two and all that is required to reach this level of success in a sport. And Abdou should know. She herself was a competitive swimmer and her brother was an Olympic wrestler in the Sydney games. The story is told in chapters that alternate between Digger and Sadie until they finally meet and their worlds change forever. As both train for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, they begin to wonder what lies beyond this ultimate competition. So many hours of training have been put into achieving this goal, and this will be their last chance to compete at this level. What will happen to them when the Olympics is over? Win or lose, their lives are about to become very different. Fans of Canadian literary fiction will really enjoy this novel. There is also an element of suspense as the reader becomes wrapped up in how the athletes will fare in the end. A commentary on Canadian society and how it treats its athletes, the book highlights how much focus is put on events like the Olympics without anyone really understanding what it takes to get there. The Bone Cage is definitely worth the read!

A mildly interesting story but not a great book. Surprised it made the Canada Reads list. The writing is a bit heavy-handed and simple. The author takes every opportunity to state and restate the main points. Ends up with quite a bleak portrait of Olympic training industry. I would not recommend this book to other adults. Nearly gave it 1.5 stars. Might work better for teen readers -- for whom some of the ideas would be new and the romance between the 2 characters would be more interesting. Would have made a much better short story than it does a novel. The author strains several muscles trying to stretch the content out to book length. For the 203 people in Ottawa still on the waiting list -- the book was not worth the wait, at least not for me.

The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou is about young and not-so-young elite athletes striving for their personal and professional pinnacles, a place on the Canadian Olympic team. The story is traced compellingly through the alternating and eventually intersecting trajectories of speed swimmer Sadie and wrestler Tom (Digger to family, friends and teammates). Abdou draws persuasively on her own competitive sports background (she swims at the Masters level, her brother was an Olympic wrestler) to build a convincing and approachable story. Find a longer review of this book, comparing it to the movie Black Swan, at: http://bookgaga.posterous.com/the-bone-cage-by-angie-abdou