A review by lanica
Dog Boy by Eva Hornung
1.0
I've tried to read this book three times. I started fresh each time and tried to get a running start. I only got a handful of pages further each time before something about the main character made me set the book down before I threw it across the room. No, really. I had the urge to throw it against a wall. It actually made me angry.
Why? I guess it all comes from me having children. That kid is just not right. Even at two my kids would have known to follow an adult rather than a dog. Want food?...'Mom' was a person who fed me...so I'm going to find another 'mom-like' being to feed me. Simple two year old logic. And yet this four year old decides to ignore the people he sees and go live with a dog? he breaks every rule his mom set for him, but chooses 'Don't talk to strangers' to follow.
I guess it comes down to this...when the kid is supposed to be smart, he's slow witted. When he's supposed to be ignorant he somehow has insight beyond his years. He's just not realistic and so I was yanked out of the story before I even got into it.
Also, I kept trying to get a grip on what had caused the people to leave, but the point-of-view was no help at all. We just don't know. Perhaps there is some event in the history of Moscow that is so well-known that most readers just tie this event to the events in the book, but I am not at all familiar with the history of the USSR. Perhaps it's explained later int eh book, but I just can't bring myself to read anymore.
Why? I guess it all comes from me having children. That kid is just not right. Even at two my kids would have known to follow an adult rather than a dog. Want food?...'Mom' was a person who fed me...so I'm going to find another 'mom-like' being to feed me. Simple two year old logic. And yet this four year old decides to ignore the people he sees and go live with a dog? he breaks every rule his mom set for him, but chooses 'Don't talk to strangers' to follow.
I guess it comes down to this...when the kid is supposed to be smart, he's slow witted. When he's supposed to be ignorant he somehow has insight beyond his years. He's just not realistic and so I was yanked out of the story before I even got into it.
Also, I kept trying to get a grip on what had caused the people to leave, but the point-of-view was no help at all. We just don't know. Perhaps there is some event in the history of Moscow that is so well-known that most readers just tie this event to the events in the book, but I am not at all familiar with the history of the USSR. Perhaps it's explained later int eh book, but I just can't bring myself to read anymore.