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skylacine's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, and War
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child death
tamecapless's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and War
lawbooks600's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Representation: Main character with dyslexia
Score: Seven points out of ten.
I wanted to read this for a while and not long after I picked it up from one of the two libraries I regularly go to and the last book about war I read was so long ago so I got this one, cracked it open not knowing what I would get out of it. As I turned the last page I felt that this was an enjoyable read and I'll get this author's books soon enough, especially When the Storm Rages. It starts with the main character Joseph whose last name I don't know and he is forced to move to another house for some reason (I still don't know why?) with another major character, Mrs F for most of the book. I had some... thoughts about Joseph, for one he's flawed and not the most likable character ever but that could be an opportunity for character development and I know one book that pulled off the unlikable character but still enjoyable in some way. This was like that, also the book tried to make me feel sympathetic towards Joseph but I felt there was a barrier between him and me, I don't know how to explain this other than the fact that he wasn't a person I could deeply connect to, but that doesn't ruin the entire story.
Only a few pages in Joseph meets another character Syd (as unlikable and hard to connect to, doesn't ruin the story) and then he goes to school which isn't the best experience for him because of all the bullying and even physical abuse from the headmaster in the form of beatings which wasn't the most entertaining part of the novel. He tells me about this condition that he has that whenever he tries to read the letters keep moving, now known as dyslexia but! There is yet another critical character, a gorilla named Adonis and you can see there's a lot of characters I must follow and now it almost feels like character soup. I don't know which character is the most likable but it could be either Mrs F due to her calm demeanour or Adonis who develops a friendship with Joseph.
Towards the end of the book Mrs F pulls Joseph from school but beforehand there were a lot of heavy backstories from them and Syd which each revolve around a loss of someone they knew which devastated me and the ending is heartbreaking when Adonis didn't make it to the end of the novel. Wow. That's a low note.
Score: Seven points out of ten.
I wanted to read this for a while and not long after I picked it up from one of the two libraries I regularly go to and the last book about war I read was so long ago so I got this one, cracked it open not knowing what I would get out of it. As I turned the last page I felt that this was an enjoyable read and I'll get this author's books soon enough, especially When the Storm Rages. It starts with the main character Joseph whose last name I don't know and he is forced to move to another house for some reason (I still don't know why?) with another major character, Mrs F for most of the book. I had some... thoughts about Joseph, for one he's flawed and not the most likable character ever but that could be an opportunity for character development and I know one book that pulled off the unlikable character but still enjoyable in some way. This was like that, also the book tried to make me feel sympathetic towards Joseph but I felt there was a barrier between him and me, I don't know how to explain this other than the fact that he wasn't a person I could deeply connect to, but that doesn't ruin the entire story.
Only a few pages in Joseph meets another character Syd (as unlikable and hard to connect to, doesn't ruin the story) and then he goes to school which isn't the best experience for him because of all the bullying and even physical abuse from the headmaster in the form of beatings which wasn't the most entertaining part of the novel. He tells me about this condition that he has that whenever he tries to read the letters keep moving, now known as dyslexia but! There is yet another critical character, a gorilla named Adonis and you can see there's a lot of characters I must follow and now it almost feels like character soup. I don't know which character is the most likable but it could be either Mrs F due to her calm demeanour or Adonis who develops a friendship with Joseph.
Towards the end of the book Mrs F pulls Joseph from school but beforehand there were a lot of heavy backstories from them and Syd which each revolve around a loss of someone they knew which devastated me and the ending is heartbreaking when Adonis didn't make it to the end of the novel. Wow. That's a low note.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Bullying
Trigger warnings: Military violence and war themes, World War Two, blood depiction, death of parents and an animal, death of a daughter and child from influenza, (fatal) physical injury, near-death experiencesizzyvioletgrace's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A fast moving and easy to ready book, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. The relationships in the book are so deep and connectable for the reader.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
zoeebone's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War
amysreading_nook's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I really wanted to love this book because i'd seen good things about it but it just fell a little bit flat for me. The concept is great but the execution doesn't quite pay off for me because I feel for about 75% of the book we get Joseph who is quite an unlikeable character and it isn't until the last 25% of the book that he really begins to change. Yes I realise he is a child in awful circumstances but the way he acts to those around him is just painful to watch. Because it took so long for me to warm up to him the ending just didn't really work for me; I think if there was more of a 60/40 split in his personality it would have been better because I would have liked him more as a character and could have appreciated his development more. Instead it just feels like a bit of an abrupt ending.
It was a good read as a whole but not one I loved completely.
It was a good read as a whole but not one I loved completely.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Death, Grief, and Death of parent
field_of_books's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
4.5
In 1941, 12 year old Joseph, unlike many children in the country, is moved away from the countryside and into the city, to live with a friend of his Gran’s, due to his bad behaviour. Mrs F takes him in, but won’t stand for his foul temper or destructive behaviour. Mrs F works Joseph to the bone at the city zoo, now run down and lacking in animals. At the zoo Joseph meets Adonis, the silverback gorilla who used to be the prize of the zoo, but is now just as angry and hurt by the world as Joseph. But the question arises, if Hitler were to drop a bomb that freed Adonis from his cage, would Mrs F or Joseph be able to turn a gun on him to protect the city?
I really felt for our main character, Joseph, who had been through so much pain at such a young age. I wanted to reach through the page to comfort him so badly! The story reminded me a lot of Goodnight Mr Tom, which I used to watch when I was younger. It also reminded me a lot of A Monster Calls, I think the protagonists are similar.
I loved the writing style, whilst it’s middle grade, it’s prosaic and written in a way that it’s still enjoyable for adults.
This is definitely an emotional read, but I think it’s worth it!
TW’s: abandonment, war, war violence, death, animal death, animal abuse, aggression, hand to hand violence, bullying, grief, child death
I really felt for our main character, Joseph, who had been through so much pain at such a young age. I wanted to reach through the page to comfort him so badly! The story reminded me a lot of Goodnight Mr Tom, which I used to watch when I was younger. It also reminded me a lot of A Monster Calls, I think the protagonists are similar.
I loved the writing style, whilst it’s middle grade, it’s prosaic and written in a way that it’s still enjoyable for adults.
This is definitely an emotional read, but I think it’s worth it!
TW’s: abandonment, war, war violence, death, animal death, animal abuse, aggression, hand to hand violence, bullying, grief, child death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Grief and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
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