adriannarivard's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
littlemisselvis's review against another edition
4.0
This was really sad throughout but very well conceived and written. Not sure I could handle reading it again, but it was excellent.
jmatkinson1's review
5.0
Leon is eight years old when his brother Jake is born. It is 1979 and Leon loves The Dukes of Hazard, Action Man and his brother. His Mum, Carol, is unstable so Leon and Jake are taken into care and placed with a foster mother, Maureen. Jake is blonde, blue-eyed baby and Social Services put him up for adoption, Leon is a mixed-race, troubled boy on the brink of adolescence and he is to stay with Maureen. Maureen becomes ill and Jake is moved to stay with her sister. Here he makes friends with the old men on the local allotments but Leon has a plan to reunite his family. Meanwhile racial tension is building in the area...
From the very first page this book had me hooked. Leon is such a sympathetic character, coping with his mother's mental illness and lifestyle, then being separated from his baby brother, a brother he had been the chief carer for. Against the backdrop of the social services system in the early 80s, separating the brothers was seen as logical. The fact that Leon is mixed race is not a tool for the plot to involve racial tension, it just seems completely natural. The secondary characters are also complex, Mr Devlin falsely thought to be a pervert, Tufty and Castro and the casual racism they encounter, Maureen a complete hero. The writing is clever, told from the point of view of an eight-year old but with enough insight to bring the larger political events to bear. this is a wonderful read.
From the very first page this book had me hooked. Leon is such a sympathetic character, coping with his mother's mental illness and lifestyle, then being separated from his baby brother, a brother he had been the chief carer for. Against the backdrop of the social services system in the early 80s, separating the brothers was seen as logical. The fact that Leon is mixed race is not a tool for the plot to involve racial tension, it just seems completely natural. The secondary characters are also complex, Mr Devlin falsely thought to be a pervert, Tufty and Castro and the casual racism they encounter, Maureen a complete hero. The writing is clever, told from the point of view of an eight-year old but with enough insight to bring the larger political events to bear. this is a wonderful read.
sophiekingo's review against another edition
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
beccaattiffanys's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-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
5.0
cara_rose's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
allybea's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lucyfifield's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
karissakate's review
2.0
I felt for Leon and liked how realistic this story was written, but I just couldn't get pulled into it as deeply as I had hoped. I think it is an important area that needs written on, but for me it was just okay.