Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of suicide, murder, anti-gay bias, and violence.

In The Bones Beneath My Skin, the unlikely trio of Nate, Alex, and Art, each isolated from conventional family structures, ultimately create their own unique dynamics when a chance encounter brings them together. Throughout the narrative, they slowly coalesce into a strong family unit. The structure of the narrative reinforces the primacy of this theme, as the novel begins on the day that Nate meets Art and Alex and concludes near the moment at which Art decides to stay on Earth permanently.

In the world of the novel, biological families are implicitly ranked as less important than found families, and this issue is first brought to light when Nate reflects upon his parents’ rejection of his sexuality and their later murder-suicide. His fraught family dynamics showcase the breakdown of conventional family bonds when key members refuse to acknowledge or honor the existence of differences. Nate’s parents, caught up in the throes of anti-gay bias, decided that their bigotry was more important than their relationship with their son. In a different way, Alex’s grief over losing his biological family establishes a void that creates space for new connections, while Art, as a literal alien inhabiting a human body, represents the ultimate outsider to human family structures.