A review by lydiahephzibah
The List of Real Things by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
2.0
At its heart, The List of Real Things is a story about coping with grief.
Gracie and her six-year-old sister Bee are living with their grandfather and their uncle after their parents’ deaths several years ago, and things spiral downwards when their grandfather died.I found the summary to be a little misleading, however, as it took quite a while for the book to kick off and reach the turning event of the grandfather’s death. There was a lot of build-up, most of which felt superlative to the summary.
There was a side-plot of Gracie trying to fit in with her friends and getting a new boyfriend, which was referenced in the original summary but appears to have changed since, and it seemed like an unnecessary addition to a story about family and grief. What is trying to be a poignant story about loss would have been a lot more effective had it made this subplot more relevant, or dropped it altogether. It just didn’t work for me, when I would’ve preferred to see more characterisation of Gracie’s Uncle Frank and her Aunt Lucy.
One thing that irritated me quite a lot was that I struggled to believe that Bee was six when she spoke more like a wise old ninety-year-old. The characters mention she’s a little odd, but her speech just didn’t ring true for a six-year-old (who, at one brief point, was suddenly eight). It did lessen the impact of the story for me. I think it would have been a lot more powerful had Bee acted a bit more like a child.
However, her character was one full of hope and optimism when it came to life and death, thanks to her wild imagination that she tries to share with Gracie, who is far more grounded in reality and is embarrassed by her little sister. At times, I thought Gracie stepped out of line and her embarrassment seemed beyond the scope of reality: at one point, her sister is invited to the party of Gracie’s crush’s little sister, so Gracie lies to stop her sister from going, to save face. Not only was it cruel, but it just didn’t seem realistic.
The book redeemed itself more in the last third or so, when it delved more into the family and Bee’s imagination, and Gracie was able to understand her sister a little better as well as her grieving relatives. The story is not without its problems but I imagine it could be of help to children / young teens coming to terms with grief.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Gracie and her six-year-old sister Bee are living with their grandfather and their uncle after their parents’ deaths several years ago, and things spiral downwards when their grandfather died.I found the summary to be a little misleading, however, as it took quite a while for the book to kick off and reach the turning event of the grandfather’s death. There was a lot of build-up, most of which felt superlative to the summary.
There was a side-plot of Gracie trying to fit in with her friends and getting a new boyfriend, which was referenced in the original summary but appears to have changed since, and it seemed like an unnecessary addition to a story about family and grief. What is trying to be a poignant story about loss would have been a lot more effective had it made this subplot more relevant, or dropped it altogether. It just didn’t work for me, when I would’ve preferred to see more characterisation of Gracie’s Uncle Frank and her Aunt Lucy.
One thing that irritated me quite a lot was that I struggled to believe that Bee was six when she spoke more like a wise old ninety-year-old. The characters mention she’s a little odd, but her speech just didn’t ring true for a six-year-old (who, at one brief point, was suddenly eight). It did lessen the impact of the story for me. I think it would have been a lot more powerful had Bee acted a bit more like a child.
However, her character was one full of hope and optimism when it came to life and death, thanks to her wild imagination that she tries to share with Gracie, who is far more grounded in reality and is embarrassed by her little sister. At times, I thought Gracie stepped out of line and her embarrassment seemed beyond the scope of reality: at one point, her sister is invited to the party of Gracie’s crush’s little sister, so Gracie lies to stop her sister from going, to save face. Not only was it cruel, but it just didn’t seem realistic.
The book redeemed itself more in the last third or so, when it delved more into the family and Bee’s imagination, and Gracie was able to understand her sister a little better as well as her grieving relatives. The story is not without its problems but I imagine it could be of help to children / young teens coming to terms with grief.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.