Reviews

The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff

mindallbooks's review against another edition

2.0

I’m not sold on this book. there’s no real outcomes and you don’t particularly have that well read feeling. There’s a legitimately unnamed protagonist who walks us through her experiences and emotions with no actual resolutions or introductions. I found it wound up too easily without any actual scene of what should or could have happened. Overall, this is a book I have read but will most likely forget about. However, I did like the writing style so will mostly likely try another book by Rosoff.

aoife_taylors_version2413's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.75

l_u_c_y_'s review against another edition

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

2.75

amilabell's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

katyboo52's review against another edition

5.0

The Great Godden is a coming of age novel in which the main focus for me is really the character of the teenage summer. Six weeks of tension, boredom, desire, family politics, the desire for things to never end and the pulling sorrow of knowing it will. This reminded me rather of Rumer Godden's The Greengage Summer and I did wonder if, given the name of the novel, this had influenced Rosoff.
Year on year a family go to the same holiday cottage by the sea, building tradition and comfortable routines that shape their summer. This year that routine is broken by the introduction of the Godden brothers who come to unsettle and and reshape the summer forever after. Teenage love and desire, distrust and jealousy snake through the heat of the summer days and ripple through everyone's lives. This is a wonderful, coming of age novel which both takes its place in the genre and with a few, subtle twists, redefines it.

bioxc's review against another edition

4.0

really noir in a weird way with no plot but lots of family dynamics

zwischenzeilen's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Die Idee und der Klappentext von „Sommernachtserwachen“ klangen wirklich spannend, doch leider hat mich das Buch sehr enttäuscht. 
Die Protagonistin war sehr unsympathisch. Ihre internalisierte Misogynie ihren Schwestern gegenüber hat mich unfassbar genervt, auch wenn sie sich in der Hinsicht zum Glück zum Ende hin etwas weiterentwickelt hat.
Insgesamt fand ich alle Charaktere sehr flach, genau wie die Geschichte selbst. Das Buch war überfüllt von Klischees. Den Plottwist empfand ich als sehr seltsam.

Er wirkte irgendwie einfach nur homophob.

 
Was ich ganz interessant fand, war, dass man den Namen der Protagonistin nie erfährt. Sonst hat mich das Buch leider sehr enttäuscht.  Ich würde es nicht weiterempfehlen. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content

navzoon's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

httpspuppy's review against another edition

3.5

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I think the girl should get a grip, it was obvious from the beginning that Kit was trouble, and that Hugo was the best. Through my annotations you can see how much I loved Hugo, and how grossed out I was about Kit, even from the start. this was an easy read, i felt relaxed, however i think the ending was so rushed and not well done. i expected more from this book, i was let down, but because i did have a good time all together i will give it 3.5 stars 

chroniclesofabookmum's review against another edition

4.0

This was a fast paced wonderful book. I had so many theories that eventually came together and I loved reading along whilst creating these. I absolutely loved the writing style, it was so engaging and really did captivate me from start to finish. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters, took me a while to get used to them as there are quite a few but once I knew who was who I really flew through this book. The characters, well some of them, are such a mystery to me, even now after reading the book. Whilst I did expect the big reveal, i thought it was executed really well.

I would recommend and love to see more from this author.