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ladyreading365's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
spacegrass's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
cheries35plus's review against another edition
3.0
Book 1 of 7 in The Clifton Chronicles series. This is a historical fiction, or maybe even a family drama saga, based in the 1920s to 1940s time frame in England. It is all about a little boy Harry Clifton, who is from a poor family. His father (a dock worker) is killed under mysterious circumstances at work, and his mother struggles to take care of the family, but she is a hard working and determined woman, and she wants Harry to have a better future than to be a dock worker like his father. Harry wins a choral scholarship at a prestigious blueblood school for the upper crust of society, and he manages to make some friends. He later finishes school and has to choose between Oxford or joining the military as Britain is entering WW2.
I highly enjoyed the audiobook version, I do recommend it.
I think Archer is a gifted storyteller. I found the 7 characters rotating points of views and overlapping timelines to be tedious and repetitive, and it interrupted the natural flow of allowing the plot to move forward. It kept retelling the same story but from a different character's perspective, so I had to go back in time to listen to the same story over and over. If this had been told in a straight forward continuous flow, my rating would be much higher! Archer does very well in character development.
At the end, I feel invested in these characters, I watched little Harry grow up, and I am curious enough to move on to the next book in the series, called The Sins of the Father.
I highly enjoyed the audiobook version, I do recommend it.
I think Archer is a gifted storyteller. I found the 7 characters rotating points of views and overlapping timelines to be tedious and repetitive, and it interrupted the natural flow of allowing the plot to move forward. It kept retelling the same story but from a different character's perspective, so I had to go back in time to listen to the same story over and over. If this had been told in a straight forward continuous flow, my rating would be much higher! Archer does very well in character development.
At the end, I feel invested in these characters, I watched little Harry grow up, and I am curious enough to move on to the next book in the series, called The Sins of the Father.
zoer03's review against another edition
I can’t rate this as I haven’t finished it. Due to how the story is panning out and how errm over the top everything is. It’s well written and very easy to read but I cannot like it.
eltorothedeep's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting read
The plot was a bit too convenient and almost all the characters a little too nice. But a decent read anyway...
The plot was a bit too convenient and almost all the characters a little too nice. But a decent read anyway...
mohmed_safwat's review against another edition
2.0
الشخصيات والقصة وزمنها مثيرين للغاية..
أسلوب السرد واللغة (هل ممكن يكون بسبب الترجمة\ معتقدش) طفوليين للغاية مش سيئين، لأ، طفوليين فقط، في أغلب الفصول تحس إن إلي كاتب القصة طفل..
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منكرش إني عاوز أقابل الشخصيات دي تاني وأعرف مصيرها، فهدي فرصة للجزء التاني يمكن الكتابة تتحسن..
أسلوب السرد واللغة (هل ممكن يكون بسبب الترجمة\ معتقدش) طفوليين للغاية مش سيئين، لأ، طفوليين فقط، في أغلب الفصول تحس إن إلي كاتب القصة طفل..
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منكرش إني عاوز أقابل الشخصيات دي تاني وأعرف مصيرها، فهدي فرصة للجزء التاني يمكن الكتابة تتحسن..
napoleon365's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
gipfelglueck's review against another edition
3.0
Most of this was quite boring, just another family story about a poor but oh so talented boy in the UK. The ending was quite good however, so I might actually grab the next in this series... someday.