Reviews

Rosie hartje Jack by Mel Darbon

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adamskiboy528491's review against another edition

4.0

Two tickets to romance, please. [b:Rosie Loves Jack|55852903|Rosie Loves Jack|Mel Darbon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1604667860l/55852903._SY75_.jpg|60915096] by [a:Mel Darbon|17834148|Mel Darbon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1524905744p2/17834148.jpg] is an emotional tale & beautifully told. The story itself is a natural edge of your seat page-turner. It tackles some very dark issues, skilfully skips over a lot of sensitive matter & takes you on a tear-jerking, laugh out loud funny journey to the very last page. Written from the point-of-view of a Down Syndrome girl in her teens, as the title suggests, this is a love story. & Jack loves Rosie. But if only it were so simple. Rosie's dad doesn't like Jack. & Jack has some behavioural problems, too, which means he gets sent away.

One day Rosie leaves home & runs away to find Jack; she makes it as far as London before things become overwhelming. This book is brutally honest & spares no details describing Rosie's challenges & how she is taken advantage of by strangers. But it so touchingly shows the love & help of strangers as they try to help Rosie find Jack before her parents find her. Will they ever be together again?

The book discusses & shines a bright light on bullying, discrimination, representation & gives the most important lesson to see the world through Rosie's eyes. The dialogues & surroundings are authentic to the characters & adequately grounded the story. The author has a charming style of telling the story that immediately gives you the feeling of being in England. Moreover, there is never a dull moment in the tale, as Rose experiences the world & how harsh it can be. There are some challenging moments that she faces, & you wonder how she will survive them.

This book is a unique & exciting debut novel that holds well independently. I wish it got a lot of recognition.

loubraryoftheforest's review against another edition

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4.0

What a powerful book this is. Beautiful, heart wrenching, rose and jacks story will stay with me. Challenging the way we view those with learning disabilities what shines through was Rose’s strength, determination, and beauty. She is treated with love, cruelty, and prejudice, but she rises above it all to fight for the man she loves, even when she finds herself lost and in danger. Brilliant book.

rosie_wp's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.0

weez_reads's review against another edition

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5.0

A lovely book , I loved reading this ' did I cry at the end , yes I did

kayk's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

dramagirl2003's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring 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

4.25

rose has down syndrome so that affects a lot of the interactions she has with people. she has a fierce desire to be independent and for the most part she manages quite excellently. there were several moments where she terrified me though and i thought, “girl no! you need some help!”

Content Warnings

francat92's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

3.75

emilyesears's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

crochevy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-paced

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

2.75

Maybe my expectations for this book were too high, but I was quite disappointed by how boring it turned out to be. It had so much potential. Almost 3 stars because I did like the characters, but the story itself waw rather meh.

Content Warnings

thebookwalian's review against another edition

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2.0

I really looked forward to reading this but I think it just tried to be too much? Not gritty enough to be gritty realism, not light and fluffy enough to be... Light fluff?
Too much going on, bit of a split personality. Enjoyable enough, though

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