Reviews

The Unadoptables by Hana Tooke

holly_153's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

elifboyaci's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

3.75

alyshadeshae's review against another edition

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5.0

A sweet story all about found and chosen family. It was recommended by the library app and it was delightful.

chaosmavin's review against another edition

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4.0

Sometimes the world is too terrible so you get lost in a children's book about orphans. Man if I had read this as a kid I would have been so sad it wasn't a series. It was so very perfect from the stereotype twisting of the kids characters, to the solving problems together, and of course to the recognition that family is not about blood but about who is there for you when everything looks and feels hopeless. I am promptly buying copies for my two favorite 9 year olds.

nickabockaglory's review against another edition

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4.5

I adored this book! I'm trying to read more broadly with different genres and authors and locations and I happened to step into the kids section of my library where The Unadoptables caught my eye. As a teacher, I want to read books aimed at young people regularly so I can recommend things to them and possibly bring them to class and my goodness this would be a great one for that. 

The story was exciting and well-paced throughout. The characters were interesting, intriguing and well written. And even though it took me a little while to get to know who's who, I really enjoyed the array of characters. 

I did find a few elements of the story quite predictable but honestly in a kids book, I expected a lot more of it to be predictable. 

Also, the illustrations were wonderful! A lovely tease for each chapter without giving much away which was a pleasant surprise. 

Overall an excellent read that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Borrowed from my local library. 

quietlyflourishing's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

4.0

buecherfuechsin's review against another edition

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5.0

OH MY GOUDA, this book! It tells the story of five orphans in 19th century Amsterdam who are thrown into an adventure when they are forced to escape their orphanage one night.
I fell in love with Lotta, Sem, Fenna, Egg and Milou and was sad to let them go after I finished reading.

therewasanattempt's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I loved this. There's more talk about death than I expected but it feels so cosy and heartfelt and I loved all the characters. The only drawback in my opinion is that the ending felt kind of rushed in comparison to the rest of the book. We spent so long searching for answers that I wish we'd sat a bit longer when we got them. It also could get a bit difficult to keep track of all of the characters sometimes. 

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zoe_94's review against another edition

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4.0

Very pleasant read set in an unusual and delightful setting.

wylanslcve's review against another edition

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3.0

First off, is everyone here? By everyone, I mean readers who either 1) loved this book, 2) hated it because of the story itself or 3) those who think it's problematic, offensive and disgusting.

Oh, and there's also me - someone who's kind of in the middle of all of this.

I stumbled across this book whilst watching one of Ruby Granger's vlogs on YouTube and was immediately intrigued. I looked a bit more into the book before finding it in Dymocks about a month later - and I knew I just HAD to pick this book up.

In [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909], we follow five children (who all have terrible names, mind you - it kind of raises a few red flags) who are considered . . . well, unadoptable due to their differences: Egg is of East-Asian heritage; Fenna is mute; Lotta has twelve fingers; Sem is implied to be a tall and gangly boy with supposedly large ears; and Milou (pronounced Mil-oo apparently - seriously, who named this child?) is outspoken - something that wasn't seen as appropriate for females to be.

The title already sends a bunch of warning signs. The reasons why these children are unadoptable sends a bunch of warning signs. Even their names mean that something's not right with this book. However, while [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909] is in desperate need of a title change, it's set in the late 1800s - and the perception of people who weren't white or people with disabilities was very different to what it is now. However, this is a middle grade book, and I don't think little kids who barely know the history of their own country would be able to determine that these values were different. This is why I think this should NOT have been a children's book.

Just be reading the description, I could tell that this was going to be a story about found families (which I have no issues with) - however, I was also expecting to see if the children would ever find out that they were still "adoptable" regardless of their differences.

Spoiler alert: it did not work out the way I'd hoped.

And yet . . . this didn't have a very huge impact on whether or not I liked the book itself - in short, it was a fun little story that explores what it means to have a family. However, the author should have also explored that any child can be adopted, because any child CAN be adopted.

Now, what about the actual story?

First off, the positives: there is no doubt that [a:Hana Tooke|19473508|Hana Tooke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1566126762p2/19473508.jpg] can write. Her writing style is beautiful but not too over-the-top that it overwhelms the target audience. The dynamic between the five children was purely adorable and I absolutely loved it. The atmosphere that Tooke created in Amsterdam (and I've never read a book that is set in the Netherlands - unless you count [b:The Fault in Our Stars|11870085|The Fault in Our Stars|John Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360206420l/11870085._SY75_.jpg|16827462], but we won't) was gorgeous even though the worldbuilding wasn't all that great.

Now, onto the negatives: Milou was annoying as heck. She was selfish and annoying (not because she was outspoken) and basically told the others that she needs to do what she needs to before anyone else can *tries not to spoil* - for example, "you guys can't find out anything about your families until I do". And she felt slightly underdeveloped by the end of the novel - actually, all the characters were kind of underdeveloped. It would have been nice if the story was told from ALL of their perspectives rather than just Milou's - that way, we could have had some insight into how the others struggle with accepting who they are.

The worldbuilding could have been better (I know, it's a middle grade, but I wanted to learn a bit more about the orphanage than just brief recounts from the children and the click, clack of the matron's heels) in terms of developing the orphanage. This is just a personal preference and nothing that would impact the story itself if it weren't there.

And, of course, there's the matter with Tooke not exploring that every child is "adoptable" that wouldn't have made her look like a racist and ableist author to many readers.

I'm still giving this book 3 stars because, overall, it was a decent book. It was a fun little story with beautiful writing and a decent premise that could have had better execution. However, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not you should read it.