Reviews

C'è poco da ridere by Jacqueline Wilson

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oceanspiral's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

mariamwazeer's review against another edition

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There have been two fires in our flat which have caused everyone in the building to congregate in the courtyard, and I'm grateful to The Bed and Breakfast Star for preparing me for the experience. I loved the protagonist of this one! (Then again I usually do. I'm biased toward protagonists — imagine someone climbing right into your brain and seeing why you do everything you do and still judging you).

beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I originally read this book when I was around 11 years old. However, during lockdown and doing some spring cleaning I came across my set of Jacqueline Wilson books that I have. I decided I would re-read and then review them. I don’t remember this one, so it was like reading it for the first time again.

This book is based on Elsa. She is known as a Bed and Breakfast kid, but she likes to call herself the Bed and Breakfast Star. She loves to tell jokes and she knows she is going to be big one day – doing what she does best, making people laugh. But after her family lost their house and moved into a run-down hotel, it seems like no one wants to laugh anymore. Despite the circumstances, Elsa is still determined to be a star.

This book was brutal for a children’s book. It’s a book that affects thousands of children every day. For children, staying in a new room with places to explore is exciting, for an adult and wondering how and where they are going to get their next meal was terrifying especially with reading it now with the cost of living. Elsa is very mature for her age that you forget throughout the book that she is only ten years old, yet she is looking after her siblings and making sure they are getting fed when her abusive stepfather is hungover, and her mother just can’t get out of bed. The side characters have personalities within this book, and it doesn’t feel like they are just there to move the story along.

Throughout the book, Elsa gets hate and abuse for her loud personality and how loud she is general, so it was nice to see that her loud voice helped everyone in the end, especially coming from a loud child I get what she felt like. I liked that this had some nice ending with them not having to worry as much, it would have been better if the stepfather left the family because he was the villain in this book, in my opinion, as well as the manager.

Content Warnings