energyrae's review
5.0
It's not often that I read a book in one sitting, but Cold Bath Lane is a book that's impossible to put down. We follow Jody, a 9-year-old who, while her life isn't always easy, it's happy, because she has her mother. But then one terrible night, she not only loses her mother, but she welcomes her baby sister Alicia into the world. When questioned by the police to the loss of her mother, she clams up, deciding it was better to stay together as a family than risk losing her sister.
So enamored with her sister, and having a father that has little interest in the baby, the care of Alicia falls directly on Jody's shoulders. Not only does she have to raise her sister, but the cooking and cleaning is Jody's responsibility too. Thinking back to the opportunity to tell the truth, Jody wonders if she made the wrong decision because life is hard, much too hard for such a young girl.
As her father's late-night antics escalate, he now involves his children. Jody is getting very little sleep, no help, and her father is taking out all his woes on the world on her. It's not easy, but somehow Jody is surviving. After a terrible event that affected both her and Alicia, they get the opportunity to leave their father, but will they be able to make it out in the world?
This was such an intense read, and my heart broke for everything that Jody endured and everything she had lost. Having to live in some of the worst places, I can't imagine how hard it was for her to stay sane while trying to raise her unruly sister. I was proud of her endurance even if she did get caught up in some terrible situations on her own, but it's very reflective of the home life she lived. Dounaeva weaves excellent stories, with rich characters and engaging storylines. A fabulous read!
So enamored with her sister, and having a father that has little interest in the baby, the care of Alicia falls directly on Jody's shoulders. Not only does she have to raise her sister, but the cooking and cleaning is Jody's responsibility too. Thinking back to the opportunity to tell the truth, Jody wonders if she made the wrong decision because life is hard, much too hard for such a young girl.
As her father's late-night antics escalate, he now involves his children. Jody is getting very little sleep, no help, and her father is taking out all his woes on the world on her. It's not easy, but somehow Jody is surviving. After a terrible event that affected both her and Alicia, they get the opportunity to leave their father, but will they be able to make it out in the world?
This was such an intense read, and my heart broke for everything that Jody endured and everything she had lost. Having to live in some of the worst places, I can't imagine how hard it was for her to stay sane while trying to raise her unruly sister. I was proud of her endurance even if she did get caught up in some terrible situations on her own, but it's very reflective of the home life she lived. Dounaeva weaves excellent stories, with rich characters and engaging storylines. A fabulous read!
secre's review against another edition
2.0
Cold Bath Lane is more of a prequel to the two prior books than the third book in the series and is essentially the story of why Jody and her younger sister end up being such terrible people. It's a dark and fairly miserable story, and frankly didn't actually interest me all that much. So instead of completing the already running narrative arc, you end up with a fairly bloated novel that should have been a novella prologue at half the length.
And whilst parts of it were believable; largely the abuse and suffering Jody undergoes at the hands of her father, other aspects really, really weren't. Things might have been significantly more lax in the eighties, but I struggle to believe a young teenager could simply stop going to school after the birth of her baby sister and nobody pay the blindest bit of notice. Likewise, evidence collecting wasn't quite as high tech, but considering the father is a raging alcoholic and running a side-lined business setting fires (with business cards no less!), it beggars belief that he wouldn't be caught.
This would have been a far better read at half the length, with a significant amount of the repetitive aspects cut out in honesty. Because whilst it is undoubtedly grim and depressing, it's narrative is meandering and uneven. There is very little tension; nothing particularly unexpected happens. It's just the story of three children growing up in a home that is woefully neglectful, abusive and under the thrall of a violent alcoholic with a penchant for setting fires.
And whilst parts of it were believable; largely the abuse and suffering Jody undergoes at the hands of her father, other aspects really, really weren't. Things might have been significantly more lax in the eighties, but I struggle to believe a young teenager could simply stop going to school after the birth of her baby sister and nobody pay the blindest bit of notice. Likewise, evidence collecting wasn't quite as high tech, but considering the father is a raging alcoholic and running a side-lined business setting fires (with business cards no less!), it beggars belief that he wouldn't be caught.
This would have been a far better read at half the length, with a significant amount of the repetitive aspects cut out in honesty. Because whilst it is undoubtedly grim and depressing, it's narrative is meandering and uneven. There is very little tension; nothing particularly unexpected happens. It's just the story of three children growing up in a home that is woefully neglectful, abusive and under the thrall of a violent alcoholic with a penchant for setting fires.
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