“Beautiful writing...”
~ The Globe and Mail

“The Bone Cage extends past sport, exploring the tentative relationship between people and their bodies. Are we simply prisoners of our own "bone cage," predestined by our body, or can we overcome the limits of our body? Do we even want to overcome our body, or is it simply inseparable from ourselves? The Bone Cage's questioning of an inherent self-body dichotomy reaches out universally, involving not only sport, but also illness and death. Ultimately, because Abdou does not offer concrete answers for these questions, she shows that though the specific relationship between body and self is individualized, our struggle to reconcile them is universal.”
~ Canadian Literature

“A compelling debut novel....The Bone Cage will appeal to a wide audience, offering keen insight into the physical and psychological challenges faced by Olympic level athletes.”
~ Prairie Fire

“Through Sadie and Digger, Abdou captures the heroic quests of these hopeful Olympians in all their gritty pain and glory. Sequences describing Digger's wrestling matches and Sadie's grueling sets of lengths are vivid, intense, and authentic...The Bone Cage is well paced and readable, memorable for its fresh perspective on the lives of athletes and the obstacles they must overcome.”
~ Quill & Quire

“Angie Abdou's debut novel, The Bone Cage, finds its heart...daring to question what happens to athletes who put everything else on hold for a chance at the Olympics. [...] What lurks in the shadows of elite athletics is what makes Abdou's follow up to Anything Boys Can Do, a book of short stories, so compelling.”
~ VUE Weekly (Edmonton)

“Beautifully rendered...The Bone Cage is a timely offering for Canadian fans of competitive sport, especially in light of the upcoming 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.”
~ Edmonton Journal

“Abdou writes in The Bone Cage with the same insight and gift for character development that she displayed in her short story collection, Anything Boys Can Do. And only someone who's been in the pool at 6 a.m. could have written
such graphic descriptions of training.”
~ ARTiculate Magazine

“Abdou deftly infuses the actions of her athletes with palpable energy”
~ Alberta Views

“Abdou eschews the standard sports story cliché of underdog-triumphs-in-the-end, and instead explores what goes into the making of an elite athlete.”
~ Prairie Books NOW

“Neither a classic sports novel, nor a simple coming-of-age story, The Bone Cage offers a unique spin on both beloved genres.”
~ CBC Books