There is beauty in a well-told story, one that is well-crafted the way "Wooden Bones" is. Its pacing is superb, with only a slight bump during the somewhat preachy passage in which Liz learns to work on herself.

Place and atmosphere are sketched quickly and sharply at the beginning as Liz looks at the ruins of the family farm. Suspense begins with her situation, that of a young woman rejected by both her parents and considered wayward by everyone. Her efforts to smile and act as if she is happy with farm chores seem to gain her nothing; when she sees the light in the barn and mentions it, the notion that she is abusing drugs almost immediately comes up. Out of this situation grows tension; the conflict in the story is both within Liz, who doubts herself, and between her and the low expectations others...