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jenniferdinsmore's review
3.0
The Land of Decoration was imaginative, heartbreaking, and beautifully written.
Judith McPherson is 10 years old and is a bit of an outsider; having no friends at school and spending most of her time making things and adding it to the Land of Decoration that sits in the corner of her room. She feels as though she can never win her Father's approval or love (who battles with dark demons of his own) and lives in fear of a boy at school who constantly threaten her. When things seem to be at their worst, Judith falls back on her faith to create a miracle which she believes has helped all involved. She soon learns, however, that every action has a consequence.
I did rather enjoy this book, though it was... darker than I had expected. Most of my reservations about it stem from the fact that Judith and her Father are devoutly religious Jehovah Witnesses and a lot of these beliefs serve as the catalyst for the events in the novel. To each their own, but it did cause some problems in trying to fully relate to the characters. I felt strongly for Judith, who was always so worried about everything and clearly feels lost and alone.
Despite some of these reservations I found I had a hard time putting the book down and found the ending to be very powerful, moving, and ultimately hopeful.
Judith McPherson is 10 years old and is a bit of an outsider; having no friends at school and spending most of her time making things and adding it to the Land of Decoration that sits in the corner of her room. She feels as though she can never win her Father's approval or love (who battles with dark demons of his own) and lives in fear of a boy at school who constantly threaten her. When things seem to be at their worst, Judith falls back on her faith to create a miracle which she believes has helped all involved. She soon learns, however, that every action has a consequence.
I did rather enjoy this book, though it was... darker than I had expected. Most of my reservations about it stem from the fact that Judith and her Father are devoutly religious Jehovah Witnesses and a lot of these beliefs serve as the catalyst for the events in the novel. To each their own, but it did cause some problems in trying to fully relate to the characters. I felt strongly for Judith, who was always so worried about everything and clearly feels lost and alone.
Despite some of these reservations I found I had a hard time putting the book down and found the ending to be very powerful, moving, and ultimately hopeful.
bookishlifeofbrie's review against another edition
2.0
If I had to describe this book in one word, I would use: Weird. This book was so weird, guys. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t absolutely hate it either. I just didn’t get it.
Ten-year old Judith lives with only her father, as her mother passed away shortly after giving birth to Judith. It’s clear from the beginning that Judith and her father are very religious, and although the author never tells you which religion exactly, my detective skills tell me they were Jehovah’s Witness. Judith spends her days at school where she is horribly bullied by this awful, awful boy named Neil Lewis (gawd I hated him!), and she spends her evenings at home with her father, reading from the bible. When they aren’t eating dinner or praying or reading, Judith spends her time in her bedroom, where she has created a large diorama, “the land of decoration”, named after the Promised Land in the Bible. She adds to The Land of Decoration with whatever she can get her little hands on – scraps of material, lollipop wrappers, cotton balls, yarn, pipe cleaners, garbage on the sidewalk, literally anything that Judith stumbles upon. At first I was like, “this is amazing – I LOVE dioramas!” Then things just started to get weird.
One day, Judith makes something happen in The Land of Decoration that is then replicated in the real world. She’s convinced it is not a coincidence, and around this same time she starts having actual conversations with God. This is where I got confused. I wasn’t sure if Judith could actually talk to God, or if she just thought she could talk to God, or if she had the beginnings of a mental illness. I tried not to over think it and just go with it. At first, things start to look up for poor Judith and then I thought “ok, it doesn’t really matter if she can talk to God or not – if she believes and it helps her confront the school bullies and be a stronger Judith, then that’s the whole point”. But then, this God guy starts to get kind of mean and bully-ish himself. I mean, I’ve never talked to God, but I imagine if I could/did, he’d be a lot more supportive than Judith’s God. Judith’s God reminded more of what the devil would sound like. Judith’s God would present Judith with two choices and obviously, depending on which she chose, there would be consequences to follow. Judith would seek out God for advice/guidance and God would be all like “An eye for an eye” or, “I told you so”. Not cool God, not cool.
I really liked Judith though. She was so innocent and naive that you couldn’t help but feel for her. The pain she felt from the constant teasing and bullying she endured every day at school was palpable. I wanted to reach through the pages and pound Neil Lewis in the face. I don’t think I’ve ever despised a young boy as much as I did Neil. The bullying that went on in this book, both to Judith and even towards her father, made my blood boil and even brought me close to tears at times.
You can read the rest of my review on my blog here
Ten-year old Judith lives with only her father, as her mother passed away shortly after giving birth to Judith. It’s clear from the beginning that Judith and her father are very religious, and although the author never tells you which religion exactly, my detective skills tell me they were Jehovah’s Witness. Judith spends her days at school where she is horribly bullied by this awful, awful boy named Neil Lewis (gawd I hated him!), and she spends her evenings at home with her father, reading from the bible. When they aren’t eating dinner or praying or reading, Judith spends her time in her bedroom, where she has created a large diorama, “the land of decoration”, named after the Promised Land in the Bible. She adds to The Land of Decoration with whatever she can get her little hands on – scraps of material, lollipop wrappers, cotton balls, yarn, pipe cleaners, garbage on the sidewalk, literally anything that Judith stumbles upon. At first I was like, “this is amazing – I LOVE dioramas!” Then things just started to get weird.
One day, Judith makes something happen in The Land of Decoration that is then replicated in the real world. She’s convinced it is not a coincidence, and around this same time she starts having actual conversations with God. This is where I got confused. I wasn’t sure if Judith could actually talk to God, or if she just thought she could talk to God, or if she had the beginnings of a mental illness. I tried not to over think it and just go with it. At first, things start to look up for poor Judith and then I thought “ok, it doesn’t really matter if she can talk to God or not – if she believes and it helps her confront the school bullies and be a stronger Judith, then that’s the whole point”. But then, this God guy starts to get kind of mean and bully-ish himself. I mean, I’ve never talked to God, but I imagine if I could/did, he’d be a lot more supportive than Judith’s God. Judith’s God reminded more of what the devil would sound like. Judith’s God would present Judith with two choices and obviously, depending on which she chose, there would be consequences to follow. Judith would seek out God for advice/guidance and God would be all like “An eye for an eye” or, “I told you so”. Not cool God, not cool.
I really liked Judith though. She was so innocent and naive that you couldn’t help but feel for her. The pain she felt from the constant teasing and bullying she endured every day at school was palpable. I wanted to reach through the pages and pound Neil Lewis in the face. I don’t think I’ve ever despised a young boy as much as I did Neil. The bullying that went on in this book, both to Judith and even towards her father, made my blood boil and even brought me close to tears at times.
You can read the rest of my review on my blog here
karnaconverse's review
2.0
Had to take a break from the book about 1/3 of the way through but will probably finish it as some point -- just tired of reading from a child's POV.
kelbi's review
5.0
Engrossing. Totally different than anything I've read before. Really recommend this book
chrissireads's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this debut novel from Grace McCleen. It was incredibly original novel which was easy and quick to read (only 291 pages) but not exactly a light read. It deals with some serious issues. I'd definitely read something from Grace McCleen again!
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
4.0
Another excellent debut novel I have read this year! This is the story of Judith, a ten year old girl who lives with her religiously fanatic father but escapes to a new world when being bullied at school. This involves making a new land (of decoration) out of household scraps, and performing miracles. Highly imaginative and beautifully written, this is a book that will stay with me for a while.
ciska's review against another edition
3.0
Author
Grace McCleen was born in Wales and grew up in a fundamentalist religion where she did not have much contact with non-believers. Her family moved to Ireland when she was ten, where she was schooled at home. When Grace and her family moved back to Britain she went back to school and her English teacher suggested she apply to Oxford.
She studied English Literature at Oxford University and The University of York before becoming a full-time writer and musician. She lives in London.
Review
This book has been shelved on Goodreads on various shelves. One is religion. This book holds a lot of religion it is clear that religion is a very important part of Judith's life. Still the book does not get preachy. The way Judith lives and believes are matter of fact for her. The second shelf is magical realism. I had to laugh first when seeing this but while reading the book I was like yes, this is a correct shelf for most what happens to Judith and it was sad. It is clear that Judith's wish is a real simple one. Nothing really bad has to happen but she simply wants the bullying to stop and it is obvious that she was never able to grasp the idea how out of hand it was going to go. Though all the things happening make sense in a way I did feel it was always the worst scenario going on. I really wanted Judith and her dad to have a break at some point from all the bad and have something good happening to them but that was not really in the recipe.
I would have loved to know more about the dad, what was going on in his head and why he came to do what he did. Though some indicators are obviously there still was so much left open. I had a lot of problems with his attitude towards Judith and did not really feel that the motives given were enough to explain it.
Grace McCleen was born in Wales and grew up in a fundamentalist religion where she did not have much contact with non-believers. Her family moved to Ireland when she was ten, where she was schooled at home. When Grace and her family moved back to Britain she went back to school and her English teacher suggested she apply to Oxford.
She studied English Literature at Oxford University and The University of York before becoming a full-time writer and musician. She lives in London.
Review
This book has been shelved on Goodreads on various shelves. One is religion. This book holds a lot of religion it is clear that religion is a very important part of Judith's life. Still the book does not get preachy. The way Judith lives and believes are matter of fact for her. The second shelf is magical realism. I had to laugh first when seeing this but while reading the book I was like yes, this is a correct shelf for most what happens to Judith and it was sad. It is clear that Judith's wish is a real simple one. Nothing really bad has to happen but she simply wants the bullying to stop and it is obvious that she was never able to grasp the idea how out of hand it was going to go. Though all the things happening make sense in a way I did feel it was always the worst scenario going on. I really wanted Judith and her dad to have a break at some point from all the bad and have something good happening to them but that was not really in the recipe.
I would have loved to know more about the dad, what was going on in his head and why he came to do what he did. Though some indicators are obviously there still was so much left open. I had a lot of problems with his attitude towards Judith and did not really feel that the motives given were enough to explain it.
thewoollygeek's review
4.0
A wonderful thought provoking read !
It was hard to get into but once the first 'miracle' occurred I couldn't put it down , well narrated through ten yr old Judith which isn't always easy but like emma donohues room it is very well done here. I think I relived some of my childhood bullying in this book and loved the characters which were well written . I also thought the parts with the strikes and Judith's father were very well written and true to that time and events and Judith's father towards the end redeemed himself greatly but again that's another party of the wonderful characterisation and writing.
It was hard to get into but once the first 'miracle' occurred I couldn't put it down , well narrated through ten yr old Judith which isn't always easy but like emma donohues room it is very well done here. I think I relived some of my childhood bullying in this book and loved the characters which were well written . I also thought the parts with the strikes and Judith's father were very well written and true to that time and events and Judith's father towards the end redeemed himself greatly but again that's another party of the wonderful characterisation and writing.
grubstlodger's review
4.0
I wasn’t sure of The Land of Decoration at first. There were too many Capitalised Religious Things, the book seemed a little slippery in its setting and the narrator, Judith, didn’t strike me as a very convincing ten year olds. I’ve worked with lots of ten year olds and even the most intelligent or serious didn’t think or express themselves as Judith does, not so much because of the content (a child raised on intense Bible study is going to have ideas born from that) but because they display an adult understanding of how things work.
However, I soon got into the flow and found myself very much enjoying the book. In some ways it could be seen as an alternative Carrie. Judith is brought up in a religious home with a distant single parent, finds herself with powers and uses them against the (almost ludicrously, very 80s film) bullies in her life. If it is Carrie though, it’s Carrie with much more heart. Judith actually takes strength and inspiration from her religion, her father is not antagonistic even if he is not warm and there is even an attempt to humanise and understand the bullies somewhat.
There’s also an element of Matilda. Her original teacher is no Trunchbull but he keeps a bottle of whisky in his desk and even marked an essay where she said she’d rather die than come to school with a comment of ‘good work’. When he leaves, the new teacher is a Miss Honey figure but with more backbone, willing to stand up to the class’s bully and provide a willing ear for Judith.
Judith’s powers interested me a lot, what she did to the model world in her bedroom was also reflected in real life. It was almost a form of sympathetic witchcraft, and I’d just finished We Have Always Lived in the Castle, where the similarly slippery narrator used similar kinds of magic. However, Judith sees her powers as a result of her faith in God and even hears his voice - even if he is a whole lot nastier and smarmier. What I found interesting was that I didn’t believe that the powers were real, even as Judith, the narrator, insisted them to be so. It got me wondering how I could disagree with the ‘truth’ of the text even when the text was whole-heartedly trying to convince me.
The book is sometimes funny, often alarming but doesn’t descend to horror because there is heart at the centre of it and a belief in creativity, connection and all the good stuff - God or not.
However, I soon got into the flow and found myself very much enjoying the book. In some ways it could be seen as an alternative Carrie. Judith is brought up in a religious home with a distant single parent, finds herself with powers and uses them against the (almost ludicrously, very 80s film) bullies in her life. If it is Carrie though, it’s Carrie with much more heart. Judith actually takes strength and inspiration from her religion, her father is not antagonistic even if he is not warm and there is even an attempt to humanise and understand the bullies somewhat.
There’s also an element of Matilda. Her original teacher is no Trunchbull but he keeps a bottle of whisky in his desk and even marked an essay where she said she’d rather die than come to school with a comment of ‘good work’. When he leaves, the new teacher is a Miss Honey figure but with more backbone, willing to stand up to the class’s bully and provide a willing ear for Judith.
Judith’s powers interested me a lot, what she did to the model world in her bedroom was also reflected in real life. It was almost a form of sympathetic witchcraft, and I’d just finished We Have Always Lived in the Castle, where the similarly slippery narrator used similar kinds of magic. However, Judith sees her powers as a result of her faith in God and even hears his voice - even if he is a whole lot nastier and smarmier. What I found interesting was that I didn’t believe that the powers were real, even as Judith, the narrator, insisted them to be so. It got me wondering how I could disagree with the ‘truth’ of the text even when the text was whole-heartedly trying to convince me.
The book is sometimes funny, often alarming but doesn’t descend to horror because there is heart at the centre of it and a belief in creativity, connection and all the good stuff - God or not.
whatandreawrote's review
3.0
What a lovely book that completely caught me off guard. Judith is such a compelling narrator, and her narrow upbringing is subtly revealed and explored in small ways, rather than saying RAISED BY CRAZY RELIGIOUS DAD.
I loved that Judith's playtime and conversations with God walked the line between is she crazy? and oh, it's a young girl with imagination. The religious aspects of the book were anything but preachy; they felt so pure, even when Judith and her father began to experience doubts. The author's understanding of a young girl's convictions, naivete, and desire for absolute truth was what really made the story for me.
Wow wow wow.
I loved that Judith's playtime and conversations with God walked the line between is she crazy? and oh, it's a young girl with imagination. The religious aspects of the book were anything but preachy; they felt so pure, even when Judith and her father began to experience doubts. The author's understanding of a young girl's convictions, naivete, and desire for absolute truth was what really made the story for me.
Wow wow wow.