Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson

11 reviews

calamitywindpetal's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

haren_k's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

moodreadswithmoe's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Things I liked:
- Found family trope and the cast of characters were easy to connect with.
- Multiple POV
- The examination of grief and it's crossover/resonance to today.
- The bookish theme was spot of and carried throughout very well
- The authors note and bookclub discussion on extended context of the wartime library the book was based on. 

Things that were a miss for me:
- Past/present setting and the ending was 'wrapped up' in a bow.
- Multiple relationship tropes to follow.
- The time period & language (this is always a miss for me and part of why historical fiction is not usually my go-to.
- Predictability of plot

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

harmonygracie's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

readingwithcats's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

theadorek9's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

shawnna_reads2's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

reading_ladies_blog's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bringmybooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

The writing in this one didn't really grab me, and almost immediately you're thrown into some pretty heavy stuff (even for a wartime historical fiction). Might just be the timing for when I tried to read it, but I feel pretty safe to say this one just isn't for me.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The Little Wartime Library is a heartwarming - if flawed - fictionalised look at life during the Second World War for the residents of London's East End.

It is told from the viewpoint of two women - Clara Button, the librarian of the underground library at the disused Bethnal Green tube station shelter, and her assistant, Ruby Munroe. Clara is a widow with a passion for making reading accessible to everybody, whilst hiding a tragic secret about her late husband. Ruby presents a cheery, devil-may-care attitude, but this is a front. She grieves the
loss of her sister in a tragic accident
and constantly worries about
her fragile mother, married to Ruby's stepfather, who is an abusive, violent alcoholic
.

If that wasn't enough, there are multiple bombing raids, a
would-be rapist on the loose
, a misogynistic, small-minded bully of an administrator
making Clara's life hell
, and two young evacuee sisters fleeing the Nazi occupation of Jersey.

Kate Thompson is an accomplished writer, and is clearly passionate about libraries and the role they play in society. The chief thing that I felt was really well done is depicting the changing roles of women (granted, mostly white women, but still) during this period in history - using the books they read as inspiration to make changes in their own lives.  Also depicted well is the trauma of the bombing raids and the senseless loss of life, and also the glimpse we got into the lives of the East End's Jewish population. This novel had more depth to it than I was expecting, which was refreshing.

I mentioned earlier in my review that this novel was flawed. The reason for this, I feel, goes to the fact this novel was far longer than it needed to be, and there was too much of well, everything. Thompson, as I have already stated, is a highly competent author, but in my opinion, she tried to cram too many issues into the novel - which meant some of them weren't given space to breathe.  The happy endings given to each character felt too predictable and in the case of
Clara's relationship with ambulance man Billy
, very problematic.

Overall, this novel has a lot of passion and heart - but it could have done with some editing.


Expand filter menu Content Warnings