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totemtickler5000's review against another edition
5.0
This book was incredible. The formatting, seeing Chrissie as a child and her thoughts, and then herself as an adult and the repurcussions of her childhood was amazing. The wording and descriptions were beautiful and macabre and I found myself wanting to put everything on pause to read and appreciate this book.
smehlbauer's review against another edition
4.0
What happens when a curious headstrong girl is raised by a cold narcissistic mother and when that girl is starved for both food and attention? In Chrissie’s case, it leads an 8 year old girl to look for love anywhere and to go to the greatest of lengths to feel anything but hungry.
bigal_hello's review against another edition
4.0
Four stars only because I did the audio version and it was kind of hard to follow. I wish I would have read instead, and I still might.
This will for sure pull on your heart strings.
This will for sure pull on your heart strings.
jnl_dayton's review against another edition
5.0
Gosh, this was wonderful, heartbreaking, harrowing. That poor child!
bethsbooketlist's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
eshulok's review against another edition
5.0
The First Day of Spring is the story of a woman who murdered a child when she was 8 years old and now has a child of her own.
Libby labeled this novel as a mystery, but there is no mystery. We know from the start that a little boy was murdered by 8 year old Chrissie. However, there is a decent amount of suspense around whether she kills again or how she gets caught. There is also suspense in the present day narrative around whether and how her new life will change after her daughter suffers a broken wrist.
The story is told from two timelines. In one, Chrissie is 8 years old, living with a neglectful mother, starving for attention, and literally starving from lack of food. In the other timeline, Chrissie goes by Julia, who is a 25 year old with a new identity, raising 5 year old Molly.
Chrissie is a difficult character to like, despite knowing she is only a child who lacks the attentive care of a parent.
This was a thought provoking book that made me think back to my own childhood and my childhood friends. This story is about a young woman coming to terms with her childhood, her parents, and her current role as a mother.
Libby labeled this novel as a mystery, but there is no mystery. We know from the start that a little boy was murdered by 8 year old Chrissie. However, there is a decent amount of suspense around whether she kills again or how she gets caught. There is also suspense in the present day narrative around whether and how her new life will change after her daughter suffers a broken wrist.
The story is told from two timelines. In one, Chrissie is 8 years old, living with a neglectful mother, starving for attention, and literally starving from lack of food. In the other timeline, Chrissie goes by Julia, who is a 25 year old with a new identity, raising 5 year old Molly.
Chrissie is a difficult character to like, despite knowing she is only a child who lacks the attentive care of a parent.
This was a thought provoking book that made me think back to my own childhood and my childhood friends. This story is about a young woman coming to terms with her childhood, her parents, and her current role as a mother.
mrsrreads's review against another edition
4.0
A tough read but so well done. Questions the role of society in raising a child; the repercussions of neglect, physically and emotionally; and the moral responsibility for children who commit crimes.
cmdw74's review against another edition
4.0
This was not an enjoyable book to read- it was incredibly painful from beginning to end. But that just means this author did her job very well. She took readers inside the mind of a severely neglected and traumatized 8 year old who actually thinks and behaves like a severely neglected and traumatized 8 year old. As a child psych clinician myself (like the author), I felt like there was authenticity here, albeit some worst-case scenario events. I’ll be reading more by this author.