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mehsi's review
2.0
A safe, a family, and a journey to their father… sadly, this was a disappointment.
Good, I liked the idea of a family living on the water. I always love seeing those boats in the canals or rivers here and while I wouldn’t want to live there permanently, I definitely wouldn’t mind some months of it. I was curious to read about the boat, about their life, how they made sure the boat stayed floating and worked, etc..
I liked how big the family was and how there were hardly ever any discussions or arguments.
I loved Willow and she was just such a good girl. Always trying to help her family. Not just the kid she was assigned to, but also the others in the family. She did some amazing things.
I am happy to see a deaf person in the story, in this one a kid. We don’t often see it, so I am definitely happy there was one in here. That we see why Willow is in the family, we see them use signing language and more.
I loved the nature parts of the trip they had. Sure, the trip itself… well read below. But I still had fun seeing all the things they encountered. Otters, hedgehogs, birds, plants, berries, everything. I would definitely love to visit Wales one day.
Cara was a bit over the top at times, but she was also a good and strong character. I loved that she knew quite a bit about survival, what to drink, what to eat, what to do when someone is hurt. I love her dedication to her family.
Keaton turned out to be quite a good character as well, which made me very happy. I was at first worried about him, but he was really kind and sweet and he listened to Cara.
The ending was a sweet one and I was happy for Cara and her family. Everything is solved, everyone is happy and healthy.
Now for the not so good, and I got plenty of those.
I had issues with the foster mom. I get and understand it if your boy has an allergy to dogs, HOWEVER this isn’t just a dog, this is a service dog. The kid needs it. So maybe find another home for the kids. It just felt really weird how she dismissed it and didn’t care about the concerns of the kids.
Then there was the whole allergy thing, which our MC just casually dismissed because fuck it we need our dog. And yes, I can understand that, BUT allergies aren’t too be messed with. I have an allergy for cats and while I can slightly stand an hour or so of cats (with medicines and all that) I couldn’t be around for longer than that. And later on we find out something that had me rolling my eyes even further. Wow. Classic.
I also found the journey to be interesting, but also way over the top in regards that everything that could have gone bad went bad. Plus, who the hell let’s a little kid swim in a river that clearly has strong currents? Also, for all her survival knowledge I would think that Cara would have known it wouldn’t have been a short trip of just a couple of hours. Hello. Girl?
Then there is the safe, which they freaking dragged along with them throughout the whole journey which seemed incredibly stupid. I would have hidden that thing somewhere, marked it, maybe made up some rhyme song to remember it. Not drag it along given that it was, apparently, heavy.
And then there is the opening of the safe which was hilariously timed. I mean, they have had this safe for days, tried combinations, tried all sorts of things, but never noticed THAT on the side? HOW?
Also I don’t get why people where so huffy about the family living on a boat? Is it that strange? I don’t think so, so I didn’t get the whole fuzz about it from people. We have plenty of boats here to with families and people living there, not that weird or strange.
And then there is the whole business with the mean texts which kind of fell away and then came back near the end. It wasn’t my favourite part of the book. It just felt very random and out of place. Maybe if it was done better, woven more into the story, I would have found it better.
Also, while I do appreciate the short pieces of text between the story… I eventually gave up on them because it was too distracting and I kept muddling up stories.
Plus, I had seen that coming in regards to the dad. Really? Not one of the kids thought about that? sighs
So yeah, a very mixed bag. It took me two days to read this book due to the issues I had with it. At times I just didn’t want to read. But I continued and I am glad I finished it. 2 stars is all I can give it.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Good, I liked the idea of a family living on the water. I always love seeing those boats in the canals or rivers here and while I wouldn’t want to live there permanently, I definitely wouldn’t mind some months of it. I was curious to read about the boat, about their life, how they made sure the boat stayed floating and worked, etc..
I liked how big the family was and how there were hardly ever any discussions or arguments.
I loved Willow and she was just such a good girl. Always trying to help her family. Not just the kid she was assigned to, but also the others in the family. She did some amazing things.
I am happy to see a deaf person in the story, in this one a kid. We don’t often see it, so I am definitely happy there was one in here. That we see why Willow is in the family, we see them use signing language and more.
I loved the nature parts of the trip they had. Sure, the trip itself… well read below. But I still had fun seeing all the things they encountered. Otters, hedgehogs, birds, plants, berries, everything. I would definitely love to visit Wales one day.
Cara was a bit over the top at times, but she was also a good and strong character. I loved that she knew quite a bit about survival, what to drink, what to eat, what to do when someone is hurt. I love her dedication to her family.
Keaton turned out to be quite a good character as well, which made me very happy. I was at first worried about him, but he was really kind and sweet and he listened to Cara.
The ending was a sweet one and I was happy for Cara and her family. Everything is solved, everyone is happy and healthy.
Now for the not so good, and I got plenty of those.
I had issues with the foster mom. I get and understand it if your boy has an allergy to dogs, HOWEVER this isn’t just a dog, this is a service dog. The kid needs it. So maybe find another home for the kids. It just felt really weird how she dismissed it and didn’t care about the concerns of the kids.
Then there was the whole allergy thing, which our MC just casually dismissed because fuck it we need our dog. And yes, I can understand that, BUT allergies aren’t too be messed with. I have an allergy for cats and while I can slightly stand an hour or so of cats (with medicines and all that) I couldn’t be around for longer than that. And later on we find out something that had me rolling my eyes even further. Wow. Classic.
I also found the journey to be interesting, but also way over the top in regards that everything that could have gone bad went bad. Plus, who the hell let’s a little kid swim in a river that clearly has strong currents? Also, for all her survival knowledge I would think that Cara would have known it wouldn’t have been a short trip of just a couple of hours. Hello. Girl?
Then there is the safe, which they freaking dragged along with them throughout the whole journey which seemed incredibly stupid. I would have hidden that thing somewhere, marked it, maybe made up some rhyme song to remember it. Not drag it along given that it was, apparently, heavy.
And then there is the opening of the safe which was hilariously timed. I mean, they have had this safe for days, tried combinations, tried all sorts of things, but never noticed THAT on the side? HOW?
Also I don’t get why people where so huffy about the family living on a boat? Is it that strange? I don’t think so, so I didn’t get the whole fuzz about it from people. We have plenty of boats here to with families and people living there, not that weird or strange.
And then there is the whole business with the mean texts which kind of fell away and then came back near the end. It wasn’t my favourite part of the book. It just felt very random and out of place. Maybe if it was done better, woven more into the story, I would have found it better.
Also, while I do appreciate the short pieces of text between the story… I eventually gave up on them because it was too distracting and I kept muddling up stories.
Plus, I had seen that coming in regards to the dad. Really? Not one of the kids thought about that? sighs
So yeah, a very mixed bag. It took me two days to read this book due to the issues I had with it. At times I just didn’t want to read. But I continued and I am glad I finished it. 2 stars is all I can give it.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
bluewithstars's review
5.0
Jess Butterworth is a master of storytelling and adventure, and there is always an animal link. I particularly loved the setting of this story, as Wales is a very special place for me.
bookbint's review
4.0
The adventure part of this book was fun. I liked how the siblings stuck together, their service dog Willow included all the time, as Enzo is deaf I liked that this was mentioned once so you knew when they were speaking they could all sign and he could understand.
I was interested in the fact they lived on a narrow boat, that they all knew the landscape and wildlife by sight and sound.
When lost in the Angel Mountain looking for their father they were confident, even when their friend had hurt himself nobody was left behind.
A fun adventure book with a local folklore myth introducing each chapter so by the end you get the sense that nature rewarded Cara. As always Jess Butterworth has made a children's journey more meaningful with bullying not the theme, but upsetting Cara enough to make a mistake, but later after she has been through so much, makes it seem silly to have been worried about it but being brave enough to tell someone.
I was interested in the fact they lived on a narrow boat, that they all knew the landscape and wildlife by sight and sound.
When lost in the Angel Mountain looking for their father they were confident, even when their friend had hurt himself nobody was left behind.
A fun adventure book with a local folklore myth introducing each chapter so by the end you get the sense that nature rewarded Cara. As always Jess Butterworth has made a children's journey more meaningful with bullying not the theme, but upsetting Cara enough to make a mistake, but later after she has been through so much, makes it seem silly to have been worried about it but being brave enough to tell someone.
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