annieb123's review
3.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
A Guide for Murdered Children is a genre defying book. I had no real expectations when I began reading it and was completely unfamiliar with the author. I also try to avoid looking at reviews before I am finished with a book and have my own review mostly completed, so I had quite a lot of difficulty in getting into sync with the narrative and, frankly, understanding what was going on before about 50%. The premise is quite creative, it's just that the prose was so very difficult for me to read and understand. I didn't find the host (landlord) characters particularly sympathetic, and Willow Wylde (bizarre name) was off putting to say the least.
The book -is- full of unpleasantness and rape, abuse, murder (of children and others). It's ostensibly a revenge book, which would normally work for me, but in this case it's muddled and confused and I couldn't follow a lot of what was going on, and the bits I understood clearly didn't move me much. There was a huge *squick* factor for me because the kids were 'rooming' with adults who were acting like adults... if I had a child sharing my mind/body, I would be hyper aware of doing adult things with them present...
As others have stated, this is a polarizing book. Readers seem to love it or hate it. I really believe the author has prodigious creativity and talent. There is huge potential here. With a gifted/committed editor this novel could be mind-blowing.
I could definitely see this book becoming a phenomenon and I feel like I probably wasn't cool enough to 'get it'. (I admit, I've had problems with other books that my bookish friends *gasp* and swoon over). Definitely difficult themes and a difficult narrative.
Stats:
Title: A Guide for Murdered Children
Author: Sarah Sparrow
Publisher: Penguin - Blue Rider Press
Publication: 20 March, 2018
500pages, Hardcover and ebook format
Three stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
A Guide for Murdered Children is a genre defying book. I had no real expectations when I began reading it and was completely unfamiliar with the author. I also try to avoid looking at reviews before I am finished with a book and have my own review mostly completed, so I had quite a lot of difficulty in getting into sync with the narrative and, frankly, understanding what was going on before about 50%. The premise is quite creative, it's just that the prose was so very difficult for me to read and understand. I didn't find the host (landlord) characters particularly sympathetic, and Willow Wylde (bizarre name) was off putting to say the least.
The book -is- full of unpleasantness and rape, abuse, murder (of children and others). It's ostensibly a revenge book, which would normally work for me, but in this case it's muddled and confused and I couldn't follow a lot of what was going on, and the bits I understood clearly didn't move me much. There was a huge *squick* factor for me because the kids were 'rooming' with adults who were acting like adults... if I had a child sharing my mind/body, I would be hyper aware of doing adult things with them present...
As others have stated, this is a polarizing book. Readers seem to love it or hate it. I really believe the author has prodigious creativity and talent. There is huge potential here. With a gifted/committed editor this novel could be mind-blowing.
I could definitely see this book becoming a phenomenon and I feel like I probably wasn't cool enough to 'get it'. (I admit, I've had problems with other books that my bookish friends *gasp* and swoon over). Definitely difficult themes and a difficult narrative.
Stats:
Title: A Guide for Murdered Children
Author: Sarah Sparrow
Publisher: Penguin - Blue Rider Press
Publication: 20 March, 2018
500pages, Hardcover and ebook format
Three stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
stephelhajj's review
3.0
I loved the concept. It just lacked some polish that would have made the story wonderful.
ashley__reads's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I can’t even put into words how much I loved this book.
jordynbbarnes's review
3.0
I feel like i need to give this one another go...it's jumpy so listening to it while doing other things will find you lost fairly quickly. I liked what I could grasp of the plot and idea, and can see where some people will find it too graphic (i didn't have an issue with that).
cloudyqueer's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
chlomal21's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Rape, Suicide, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
samanthampg's review
1.0
I'm gonna be honest, I had to push myself through this book. I had such high hopes because the synopsis sounded so interesting, but it did not live up to my dreams.
TLDR: don't waste your time
I had issues with the pacing of the story, I kept waiting for it to get exciting and it just didn't. I'm not a personal fan of the writing style, I found it over detailed in areas that didn't matter. I didn't think that the reveal of who did it was very satisfactory either, and the ending didn't meet my expectations either.
The main character Willow was not a good person, and I can grow to love a bad person if they deserve it, but Willow remained a constantly bad person. Sure he wasn't an alcoholic making terrible life choices anymore but he still saw women as objects (referring to his girlfriend as “young pu**y”, he has a lesbian friend and when she asked if he wanted her to visit he said she might have “SDC - sudden d*ck craving”. He made jokes calling himself "special needs", he used the F slur and the list goes on. Willow was a horrible person and I didn't care what happened to him at all.
This book was uncomfortable, not because of the murdered children but because the author didn't shy away from plotlines that really didn't add to the overall story and could've not happened. Maya and Troy (brother and sister children) inhabit two cops who are sleeping together. Why did they have to be doing that? we could have not had that been happening. I don't feel uncomfortable about a lot of topics, but that I did not approve of.
The author also used the N word three times when it wasn't needed and it didn't feel like it was coming from a place that was being used to showcase something important. The character who used it was a terrible, child killer, so yes maybe he would use that word. But it didn't add anything in the moment for him to be saying it, we knew he was a terrible person without him having to throw the N word in there. It didn't sit right with me considering the author is white to my knowledge.
CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS IF YOU'RE GOING TO READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT HAS A LOT OF THEM
TLDR: don't waste your time
I had issues with the pacing of the story, I kept waiting for it to get exciting and it just didn't. I'm not a personal fan of the writing style, I found it over detailed in areas that didn't matter. I didn't think that the reveal of who did it was very satisfactory either, and the ending didn't meet my expectations either.
The main character Willow was not a good person, and I can grow to love a bad person if they deserve it, but Willow remained a constantly bad person. Sure he wasn't an alcoholic making terrible life choices anymore but he still saw women as objects (referring to his girlfriend as “young pu**y”, he has a lesbian friend and when she asked if he wanted her to visit he said she might have “SDC - sudden d*ck craving”. He made jokes calling himself "special needs", he used the F slur and the list goes on. Willow was a horrible person and I didn't care what happened to him at all.
This book was uncomfortable, not because of the murdered children but because the author didn't shy away from plotlines that really didn't add to the overall story and could've not happened. Maya and Troy (brother and sister children) inhabit two cops who are sleeping together. Why did they have to be doing that? we could have not had that been happening. I don't feel uncomfortable about a lot of topics, but that I did not approve of.
The author also used the N word three times when it wasn't needed and it didn't feel like it was coming from a place that was being used to showcase something important. The character who used it was a terrible, child killer, so yes maybe he would use that word. But it didn't add anything in the moment for him to be saying it, we knew he was a terrible person without him having to throw the N word in there. It didn't sit right with me considering the author is white to my knowledge.
CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS IF YOU'RE GOING TO READ THIS BOOK BECAUSE IT HAS A LOT OF THEM
shellwitty's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0