A review by eatenbywaffles
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

For being a short book, it took me a while to get thru it. It started off fine, but it took me a few pages to get use to the author's writing style. Elspeth Barker's writing is beautiful imo! The way she describes a scene/mood is so smooth(?? I'm having trouble conveying what I mean haha ^^; ). Maybe lyrical? Graceful? Idk, but I loved it once I settled into the story.

The main character, Janet, was interesting... 
I sympathized with her, but she was a bit cringey and I could understand why she didn't have any friends. But I also felt a kinship with her because I get it. She just wanted to be left alone to read and hangout with her animal friends, and daydream about how she wanted her life to be. She seemed like a regular kid/teenage girl. Her family kind of did suck too, which is why she was also crappy at times lol. But idk, I liked her for the most part! 

We start off knowing she's going to die young, which sort of gave me the lingering feeling of having a dark cloud over me while I read.
ESPECIALLY when we get to Janet's and Claws' relationship! I cried man, I felt so bad for Claws, even now while I type this out Q_Q


Overall, a good book that is well-written! 
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