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Jawbone
A young woman has one minute to speak on a submission video to win a one-way trip to Mars, a location she views as the ultimate escape. As she barricades herself in a cottage by the sea and prepares to record, she examines her fixation on the colour red, shame, guilt, a dramatic breakup with her boyfriend, and the breakdown of her relationship with her best friend. There is another problem however, her jaw has been wired shut for a long time, and she's having trouble speaking. A passionate story about queer love and loneliness and a dazzling debut from author Meghan Greeley..
- GenresCanada
102 pages, Paperback
Published October 10, 2023
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74 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 6, 2023
Jawbone was a cover request for me. I went into it knowing nothing of the story.
This was such a unique read and one that is going to stay with me for awhile. It's the type of book you can get completely lost in. I found so much of this story relatable and felt comfort in that.
I could absolutely see this as live theatre. It would make such a quirky play!
My thanks to Radiant Press and River Street Writing for this gifted copy.
This was such a unique read and one that is going to stay with me for awhile. It's the type of book you can get completely lost in. I found so much of this story relatable and felt comfort in that.
I could absolutely see this as live theatre. It would make such a quirky play!
My thanks to Radiant Press and River Street Writing for this gifted copy.
October 23, 2023
Such a quiet book that says so much about life, friendships, living to our fullest selves. This short book is packed with beautiful writing, and it’s definitely one that will sit with you for a while, and deserves a reread at some point in the future. A dazzling debut (as the back cover says) indeed! I loved how everything comes together in the end.
November 17, 2023
I received this novella from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.
A soft, concise, and sometimes funny novella about questioning what our future will hold, Jawbone illustrates how running from our problems does nothing to resolve them.
This is one of those novellas that could have been a novel, but in this case, the novella works best. This is mainly because Greeley does not mince words. She’s far from verbose; it makes sense that she’s also a playwright, because every sentence, every line, has meaning and does something for the story. A novel of this book would have worked, too, but I don’t think it would have been nearly as impactful.
A major theme in this novel is running. The main character, Velvet (but whether that’s her real name or a nickname, we’re not sure), runs from her true emotions the entire book. She runs from her obvious (to us) non-compatible boyfriend and her attraction to someone else. She wants to run away to Mars, to apply for a one-way trip to a colony. The climax of the story has her literally running from something. Yet, the story isn’t trying to argue that you should face your conflicts - it was showing that sometimes people just don’t want to deal. It’s easier to put up with stuff than face it, and I think that’s very relatable.
The novel, though it might sound depressing, is actually quite funny at times. There were three moments that made me actually laugh out loud, and several where I smiled. The humour is more dialogue-absurdity based, which is my favourite type of humour. It broke up the tension a little bit, turning what could have been lofty to realistic.
The novel also brings up struggles I think are relevant to a lot of people, especially women. Velvet’s boyfriend is a well-meaning but man-spainy guy who thinks he’s being helpful but doesn’t see he’s being selfish. It’s not implied that he’s a bad guy, just arrogant and thinks Velvet is something she’s not. There’s nothing really wrong with the boyfriend - he’s romantic, smart, and talented, but he’s just not the right fit for Velvet, which is part of her struggle. You have to wonder if she’s gravitating towards the opposite - her roommate - because she’s so drastically unlike him, or whether it’s simply because Velvet now has the space to learn who she really is and what she wants.
In that sense, this is a novella about hard choices and about taking risks. Velvet doesn’t want to do either, which is why she runs. Going further into it would be spoiler territory, so I’ll go back into a more general overview.
I really enjoyed this novel. It’s just artsy enough for me that it doesn’t fall into pretentiousness, and it's short, elegant, and funny. There are some lovely turns of phrase. It’s enthralling.
A soft, concise, and sometimes funny novella about questioning what our future will hold, Jawbone illustrates how running from our problems does nothing to resolve them.
This is one of those novellas that could have been a novel, but in this case, the novella works best. This is mainly because Greeley does not mince words. She’s far from verbose; it makes sense that she’s also a playwright, because every sentence, every line, has meaning and does something for the story. A novel of this book would have worked, too, but I don’t think it would have been nearly as impactful.
A major theme in this novel is running. The main character, Velvet (but whether that’s her real name or a nickname, we’re not sure), runs from her true emotions the entire book. She runs from her obvious (to us) non-compatible boyfriend and her attraction to someone else. She wants to run away to Mars, to apply for a one-way trip to a colony. The climax of the story has her literally running from something. Yet, the story isn’t trying to argue that you should face your conflicts - it was showing that sometimes people just don’t want to deal. It’s easier to put up with stuff than face it, and I think that’s very relatable.
The novel, though it might sound depressing, is actually quite funny at times. There were three moments that made me actually laugh out loud, and several where I smiled. The humour is more dialogue-absurdity based, which is my favourite type of humour. It broke up the tension a little bit, turning what could have been lofty to realistic.
The novel also brings up struggles I think are relevant to a lot of people, especially women. Velvet’s boyfriend is a well-meaning but man-spainy guy who thinks he’s being helpful but doesn’t see he’s being selfish. It’s not implied that he’s a bad guy, just arrogant and thinks Velvet is something she’s not. There’s nothing really wrong with the boyfriend - he’s romantic, smart, and talented, but he’s just not the right fit for Velvet, which is part of her struggle. You have to wonder if she’s gravitating towards the opposite - her roommate - because she’s so drastically unlike him, or whether it’s simply because Velvet now has the space to learn who she really is and what she wants.
In that sense, this is a novella about hard choices and about taking risks. Velvet doesn’t want to do either, which is why she runs. Going further into it would be spoiler territory, so I’ll go back into a more general overview.
I really enjoyed this novel. It’s just artsy enough for me that it doesn’t fall into pretentiousness, and it's short, elegant, and funny. There are some lovely turns of phrase. It’s enthralling.
January 4, 2024
This was my first ever gifted book (thanks to Radiant Press + River Street Writes for my copy!) and if it’s a sign of things to come then I can’t wait to receive more gifted books because this one blew me away.
I really fully, truly loved this short novella about queer love. It is a nuanced type of read that says so much without saying much of anything particularly direct in its 100 pages.
Jawbone is about a young woman, Velvet, who is at present in a secluded cabin that she calls “the loneliest place in the world”, on an “indefinite sojourn” while she attempts to film a video submission in order to win a trip to Mars. Most of the book, however, is reflections on her relationship with her unnamed best friend, referred to exclusively as “you”.
I love when books refer to the reader as “you”, in the second person, but as a character, not directly as the reader. I feel like it provides a deeper feeling, as though you’re reading a letter written by someone to their lover, or best friend, or to someone who has passed away. You get a look into the way they speak to this other person when they don’t think anyone is watching them. Or the way they would speak to them if they came back from the dead, or if they could have just one more conversation with them. But either way, there’s no consideration for anyone other than the “you”. And you, the reader, are granted the privilege of being the “you”, for a brief moment of beauty. It allows for a degree of intimacy that is not entirely possible when you are just reading about feelings or thoughts. It is powerfully intricate.
This is definitely a “woman vs the void” type of book, where the main character struggles with all sorts of things but the main thing is her relationships and being honest with herself.
For fans of the detached and fragmented style of short scenes of snippets in time in Elif Batuman’s The Idiot and Either/Or, and the tepid tone of A Bit Much by Sarah Jackson.
I really fully, truly loved this short novella about queer love. It is a nuanced type of read that says so much without saying much of anything particularly direct in its 100 pages.
Jawbone is about a young woman, Velvet, who is at present in a secluded cabin that she calls “the loneliest place in the world”, on an “indefinite sojourn” while she attempts to film a video submission in order to win a trip to Mars. Most of the book, however, is reflections on her relationship with her unnamed best friend, referred to exclusively as “you”.
I love when books refer to the reader as “you”, in the second person, but as a character, not directly as the reader. I feel like it provides a deeper feeling, as though you’re reading a letter written by someone to their lover, or best friend, or to someone who has passed away. You get a look into the way they speak to this other person when they don’t think anyone is watching them. Or the way they would speak to them if they came back from the dead, or if they could have just one more conversation with them. But either way, there’s no consideration for anyone other than the “you”. And you, the reader, are granted the privilege of being the “you”, for a brief moment of beauty. It allows for a degree of intimacy that is not entirely possible when you are just reading about feelings or thoughts. It is powerfully intricate.
This is definitely a “woman vs the void” type of book, where the main character struggles with all sorts of things but the main thing is her relationships and being honest with herself.
For fans of the detached and fragmented style of short scenes of snippets in time in Elif Batuman’s The Idiot and Either/Or, and the tepid tone of A Bit Much by Sarah Jackson.
March 1, 2025
Earthshatteringly phenomenal depiction of the gutwrenching fuzzy area between best friend and lover, this book held my heart in its hand
February 4, 2024
IS THE QUALITY OF PROSE MORE IMPORTANT THAN STORY? WHAT IS LIFE DEVOID OF MEANING, IF YOU CREATE? BUT A DEFT HAND TRIMS THE WORDS TO A PRECISE BEAUTY. THAT IS THE BLESSING OF THIS WRITER TO ME. THERE IS A POETIC QUALITY TO THE PEOPLE WHO SEEK EXPRESSION AS AN ART.
SOME WRITERS ARE NOT SKILLED AT LONG FLOWING PROSE. THIS IS NOT A DISADVANTAGE. HOW MUCH BETTER TO WRITE WITH A SWIFT BLADE THAT FORCES YOU TO NOTICE BLOOD ONLY IN RETROSPECT.
THE PEOPLE OF THIS BOOK ARE DISTINCT. IT IS A GIFT TO WRITE THEM THIS WAY. TOO EASY TO DROP OUR PERSONALITIES INTO COMMON ARCHETYPES, LETTING THEM EMERGE LIKE THE POD BORN SCREAMERS THAT HELD OUR FASCINATIONS IN THE 70’S; TACTFUL TO DISCOVER WHAT IS THE ORIGIN EXPRESSED; BIZARRE UNPREDICTABILITY IN THE PSYCHE; WHERE TRUE LOVE IS BORN.
THE STORY BEGINS WITH A JAW AND A CAMERA AND SPINS POSSIBILITIES FROM THERE. THIS IS A MIRROR OF EVERY BIRTH, EVEN IF ADMITTING IT PUSHES US INTO THE EMPTY SPACE OF VULNERABILITY. SOLIDITY IS A METAPHOR, A PERSON A SIMILE AND STORY A PLACE OF BELIEVABLE IM-PROPORTIONS, AN AFFAIR WITH THE UNKNOWABLE.
WE ALL WANT TO CHANGE BUT WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO IT. MAYBE THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT THAT.
MUCH IS DONE WITH HANDS AND MOVEMENT, BODIES ARE NOT JUST NOTICED BUT I PAUSE TO FEEL WHAT I MIGHT FEEL, WHAT I DO FEEL. PRECISE DESCRIPTIONS THAT CATCH ME IN THE WEAVE OF THE ORDINARY ARE NEVER OVERDONE, BUT SIMPLE ENOUGH TO REVEAL SOME MASTER OF THE CRAFT.
AND IT’S FUNNY; DAVID SEDARIS MAYBE?
AND SEX? YES, OF COURSE, TASTEFULLY DONE. AM I BLUSHING TO USE AN OUTDATED CLICHE? OF COURSE. I FEEL THE TASTINESS OF CONFUSION BETWEEN INTIMACY EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL, THE SENSUAL TENSION, REACHING, STRAINING FOR INELUCTABLE RISK.
INVENTIVE, THAT’S THE KEY, USING IMAGINATION TO ENLIGHTEN THE SIMPLEST ACTIONS, LIKE TEXTING OR NAMING A DUMMY.
SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS DESIRE CAN CREATE A UNIVERSE, OR THE PERCEPTION OF ONE.
CAN YOU USE THINGS TO CONVEY THOUGHT AND ESPECIALLY, EMOTIONS.? YES AND HERE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEE THAT WE DO APPLY FEELINGS TO INANIMATE THINGS, AS IF THEY ARE EXTENSIONS OF PEOPLE OR MEMORIES.
CAN YOU USE JELLYFISH TO CONVEY SENSUAL EMOTIONS? YUP. JAWBONES OF A LESSER FISH? INDEED. LICK YOUR LIPS.
I WILL RECOMMEND THIS BOOK BECAUSE THE WORDS ACTIVATE THE IMAGINATION AND MEMORY AND WED THEM TO CREATE MEANING FOR THE READER. IT LEFT A TASTE IN MY MIND, IINVENTIVE AND PLAYFUL TO SLIDE UNDER PRECONCEPTIONS AND LEAVE ME UNSATISFIED ENOUGH TO BE SATISFIED.
SOME WRITERS ARE NOT SKILLED AT LONG FLOWING PROSE. THIS IS NOT A DISADVANTAGE. HOW MUCH BETTER TO WRITE WITH A SWIFT BLADE THAT FORCES YOU TO NOTICE BLOOD ONLY IN RETROSPECT.
THE PEOPLE OF THIS BOOK ARE DISTINCT. IT IS A GIFT TO WRITE THEM THIS WAY. TOO EASY TO DROP OUR PERSONALITIES INTO COMMON ARCHETYPES, LETTING THEM EMERGE LIKE THE POD BORN SCREAMERS THAT HELD OUR FASCINATIONS IN THE 70’S; TACTFUL TO DISCOVER WHAT IS THE ORIGIN EXPRESSED; BIZARRE UNPREDICTABILITY IN THE PSYCHE; WHERE TRUE LOVE IS BORN.
THE STORY BEGINS WITH A JAW AND A CAMERA AND SPINS POSSIBILITIES FROM THERE. THIS IS A MIRROR OF EVERY BIRTH, EVEN IF ADMITTING IT PUSHES US INTO THE EMPTY SPACE OF VULNERABILITY. SOLIDITY IS A METAPHOR, A PERSON A SIMILE AND STORY A PLACE OF BELIEVABLE IM-PROPORTIONS, AN AFFAIR WITH THE UNKNOWABLE.
WE ALL WANT TO CHANGE BUT WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO IT. MAYBE THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT THAT.
MUCH IS DONE WITH HANDS AND MOVEMENT, BODIES ARE NOT JUST NOTICED BUT I PAUSE TO FEEL WHAT I MIGHT FEEL, WHAT I DO FEEL. PRECISE DESCRIPTIONS THAT CATCH ME IN THE WEAVE OF THE ORDINARY ARE NEVER OVERDONE, BUT SIMPLE ENOUGH TO REVEAL SOME MASTER OF THE CRAFT.
AND IT’S FUNNY; DAVID SEDARIS MAYBE?
AND SEX? YES, OF COURSE, TASTEFULLY DONE. AM I BLUSHING TO USE AN OUTDATED CLICHE? OF COURSE. I FEEL THE TASTINESS OF CONFUSION BETWEEN INTIMACY EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL, THE SENSUAL TENSION, REACHING, STRAINING FOR INELUCTABLE RISK.
INVENTIVE, THAT’S THE KEY, USING IMAGINATION TO ENLIGHTEN THE SIMPLEST ACTIONS, LIKE TEXTING OR NAMING A DUMMY.
SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS DESIRE CAN CREATE A UNIVERSE, OR THE PERCEPTION OF ONE.
CAN YOU USE THINGS TO CONVEY THOUGHT AND ESPECIALLY, EMOTIONS.? YES AND HERE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEE THAT WE DO APPLY FEELINGS TO INANIMATE THINGS, AS IF THEY ARE EXTENSIONS OF PEOPLE OR MEMORIES.
CAN YOU USE JELLYFISH TO CONVEY SENSUAL EMOTIONS? YUP. JAWBONES OF A LESSER FISH? INDEED. LICK YOUR LIPS.
I WILL RECOMMEND THIS BOOK BECAUSE THE WORDS ACTIVATE THE IMAGINATION AND MEMORY AND WED THEM TO CREATE MEANING FOR THE READER. IT LEFT A TASTE IN MY MIND, IINVENTIVE AND PLAYFUL TO SLIDE UNDER PRECONCEPTIONS AND LEAVE ME UNSATISFIED ENOUGH TO BE SATISFIED.
October 31, 2023
I was sent another offer for a range of books for review from River Street Reads, and I couldn't stop thinking about one book. It was Jawbone by Meghan Greeley. Written with the same momentum as a stage play - it did have a brief life as a dramatic piece - Jawbone is a radically different form of writing.
Containing sparse yet illuminating physical descriptions of each character, their images are curated through their movement. Expressions and reactions build the world, with very limited written dialogue.
Set in a weird time where travel to Mars is feasible and people have cell phones, yet use the radio for their news, the story follows a character we learn to know as Velvet. Velvet is a young actress who is attempting to film a one-minute video submission to be considered for a one-way trip to Mars. Instead, she spends weeks staring at the camera; she hasn't been able to speak since her jaw was wired shut.
While staring at the camera, we are given insight into how she got here. She shares droaning emails from her increasingly annoying and mansplainy long-distance boyfriend. Meanwhile, Velvet is exploring sapphic love for the first time.
Sapphic love has oft been depicted as secret or unbeknownst to the ones experiencing it, yet brutally apparent to the readers. In Jawbone, the lovers, Velvet and "you", talk about sharing an urn after their cremation. Similarly, Sapphic love is often depicted as only to be realized in death. There is a lot of talk about death - perhaps to love is to die endlessly. Or something like that.
I really liked Jawbone for its weirdness. I liked how it was so itself. Its camp was cartoonish at times, with exaggerated characters and jumping timelines. But I loved it for that. It was a quick, one-sitting read.
Jawbone is very in your face. The big realizations of the book are obvious. Velvet can't speak because her jaw is wired shut - she is therefore symbolically powerless. The emails Velvet receives from her boyfriend are so outlandish that you can't help but think of him as a cardboard cutout of a man, where they somehow managed to only hold onto the worst parts. And yet in all this evident information, we have to search for the nuances of the relationships. Catch them in the margins of the pages, in their footsteps and what is left out. All we get is what Velvet sees, not what her eyes forget to tell her.
Containing sparse yet illuminating physical descriptions of each character, their images are curated through their movement. Expressions and reactions build the world, with very limited written dialogue.
Set in a weird time where travel to Mars is feasible and people have cell phones, yet use the radio for their news, the story follows a character we learn to know as Velvet. Velvet is a young actress who is attempting to film a one-minute video submission to be considered for a one-way trip to Mars. Instead, she spends weeks staring at the camera; she hasn't been able to speak since her jaw was wired shut.
While staring at the camera, we are given insight into how she got here. She shares droaning emails from her increasingly annoying and mansplainy long-distance boyfriend. Meanwhile, Velvet is exploring sapphic love for the first time.
Sapphic love has oft been depicted as secret or unbeknownst to the ones experiencing it, yet brutally apparent to the readers. In Jawbone, the lovers, Velvet and "you", talk about sharing an urn after their cremation. Similarly, Sapphic love is often depicted as only to be realized in death. There is a lot of talk about death - perhaps to love is to die endlessly. Or something like that.
I really liked Jawbone for its weirdness. I liked how it was so itself. Its camp was cartoonish at times, with exaggerated characters and jumping timelines. But I loved it for that. It was a quick, one-sitting read.
Jawbone is very in your face. The big realizations of the book are obvious. Velvet can't speak because her jaw is wired shut - she is therefore symbolically powerless. The emails Velvet receives from her boyfriend are so outlandish that you can't help but think of him as a cardboard cutout of a man, where they somehow managed to only hold onto the worst parts. And yet in all this evident information, we have to search for the nuances of the relationships. Catch them in the margins of the pages, in their footsteps and what is left out. All we get is what Velvet sees, not what her eyes forget to tell her.
December 16, 2023
This is gorgeous. I'm reminded of Maggie Nelson, in an odd way, by this slim, spare novella that clocks in at just under 100 pages. Greeley drafted it as a novel, then as a one-woman show that has been presented in two cities and was well received, and then again as a novel. Friends who saw the play in St. John's raved about it, so I'm a bit sorry that the novella version may supplant the theatrical one, but--wow. A story of love and longing and loneliness, but it's funny and moving. There are lines and anecdotes that will stick with me--the parachute! And now I want to read more about Mars (which will sound odd, out of context, but trust me that it's relevant).
October 18, 2023
A woman alone in a cabin. Isolated by choice. The sounds of her breath, her chair. The creak of her floorboards. Her wired jaw now unwired, but still. The tiny red light of her camera in the dark.
Jawbone is remarkable. Truly, genuinely remarkable. As in singular. Arresting. Unique. As in written in language so tangible you could be bathing in it.
It has a plot, of course. A good one, an important one, about misunderstandings and the pain people cause and a contest for a trip to Mars. But the breathtaking scenery is at least as significant as the route the path takes.
Jawbone is remarkable. Truly, genuinely remarkable. As in singular. Arresting. Unique. As in written in language so tangible you could be bathing in it.
It has a plot, of course. A good one, an important one, about misunderstandings and the pain people cause and a contest for a trip to Mars. But the breathtaking scenery is at least as significant as the route the path takes.
July 19, 2025
Sad gay impressionist authors, where you at?
A group of jellyfish is called a bloom, you said, or a smack, and they have lived on Earth for millions of years. They have no brains. They can detect pain, but not feel it; they respond by moving faser, changing direction, but they can never understand or process it.
And they were both silent for a long time. I think I might be a jellyfish, you said at last. I could very well be a jellyfish.
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February 6, 2024Otherworldly, experimental, edgy. Stream of consciousness prose makes reading this novella feel like kayaking down a river of psychedelic thoughts. There is a certain kind of haziness to this book that must be exceedingly difficult to write. Would have loved to see the stage adaptation.
January 22, 2025
What a perfect little book. It’s a life starting, a life already well lived. Small, not in a dismissive way, but COMPLETELY inside the narrator; small in the sparse language, only the necessary seems to be added, and there’s nothing (seemingly) missing.
June 3, 2025
Lisa Moore called it an incredibly beautiful novella and she isn't wrong.
A thought-provoking, emotional and unique story about queer love, shame and desire. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Meghan about this book.
You can find our conversation on Junction Reads YouTube channel.
A thought-provoking, emotional and unique story about queer love, shame and desire. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Meghan about this book.
You can find our conversation on Junction Reads YouTube channel.
February 2, 2024
wow, couldn’t put this down at all. such beautiful writing, and yet weird and funny at the same time. genuinely such a fantastic book
February 13, 2025
Very fragmentary at the start, and I wasn't sure I could stick with it, but the narrative got a bit more conventional (or did I just adapt?) and I really enjoyed this story.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews