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A review by rokojo
The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey, Jennie Godfrey
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
4.5
Wow so this book really blew me away. It's written from the perspective of Miv, an 11 year old girl who decides to solve the mystery of the yorkshire ripper as a distraction from her troubled home life.
This is a brilliant coming of age story, which uses Miv's hunt for the ripper as a lens to explore the time and place she's growing up in. Through her eyes we see who is protected in this community and who experiences neglect and violence. It looks clearly at the different experiences of race, gender, class, and disability without feeling forced or overly exploitative.
Throughout there is also a really interesting exploration of the double edged sword that is a close-knit community where everyone knows each other's business.
The book occasionally took turns with different narrators to show perspectives outside of Miv's which I think accomplished sharing a more adult perspective on the situation, although I will say I enjoyed some more than others, especially Helen and Omar's.
I also think it could have been a bit more restrained as Miv uncovers a darker side of her community through her investigations, there were some bits in the middle with members of the church community that didn't feel like they added much beyond just piling on to the hidden dark side to the community.
Overall though I think it worked really well and I enjoyed it a lot. Would definetly recommend picking this one up.
This is a brilliant coming of age story, which uses Miv's hunt for the ripper as a lens to explore the time and place she's growing up in. Through her eyes we see who is protected in this community and who experiences neglect and violence. It looks clearly at the different experiences of race, gender, class, and disability without feeling forced or overly exploitative.
Throughout there is also a really interesting exploration of the double edged sword that is a close-knit community where everyone knows each other's business.
The book occasionally took turns with different narrators to show perspectives outside of Miv's which I think accomplished sharing a more adult perspective on the situation, although I will say I enjoyed some more than others, especially Helen and Omar's.
I also think it could have been a bit more restrained as Miv uncovers a darker side of her community through her investigations, there were some bits in the middle with members of the church community that didn't feel like they added much beyond just piling on to the hidden dark side to the community.
Overall though I think it worked really well and I enjoyed it a lot. Would definetly recommend picking this one up.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Child death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Mental illness, Sexism, and Alcoholism