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meganmreads's review
4.0
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a short novella, but full of adventure. I really enjoyed it.
Lucretia’s brother tells her a story about the people upstairs in apartment 6D that frightens and intrigues Lucretia. Her best friend Sunny is struggling with cancer and is supposed to hang out for 2 hours in Lucretia’s apartment. When she doesn’t show up, Lucretia discovers she may have been in apartment 6D and embarks on an adventure to find her.
While it reads like middle grade fiction, it was quite enjoyable for me. I realized the lesson learned here is how to cope with loss and Lucretia’s adventure helps her say goodbye to her friend. It was well written and descriptive. This story had a powerful message about loss and terror.
The book opens with the quote “I wrote these words for everyone who struggles in their youth".” by Lauryn Hill, ‘Everything is Everything’
This is the perfect quote to open this book, as it’s the true meaning of it.
“Louis turned out to be right about one thing, however: Being young didn’t protect anyone. Horrors came for kids, too. She understood that now.”
This was a short novella, but full of adventure. I really enjoyed it.
Lucretia’s brother tells her a story about the people upstairs in apartment 6D that frightens and intrigues Lucretia. Her best friend Sunny is struggling with cancer and is supposed to hang out for 2 hours in Lucretia’s apartment. When she doesn’t show up, Lucretia discovers she may have been in apartment 6D and embarks on an adventure to find her.
While it reads like middle grade fiction, it was quite enjoyable for me. I realized the lesson learned here is how to cope with loss and Lucretia’s adventure helps her say goodbye to her friend. It was well written and descriptive. This story had a powerful message about loss and terror.
The book opens with the quote “I wrote these words for everyone who struggles in their youth".” by Lauryn Hill, ‘Everything is Everything’
This is the perfect quote to open this book, as it’s the true meaning of it.
“Louis turned out to be right about one thing, however: Being young didn’t protect anyone. Horrors came for kids, too. She understood that now.”
sargasso_c's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
cgsmks's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
zigalayho's review
4.0
I had never read any of Victor Lavelle's work before reading about Lucretia. Just for the record, I now want to read more. This story is enthralling. It pulled me in from the beginning and I didn't want to put it down.
Lucretia is a young girl who only wants to spend her birthday with her sick friend. We meet Loochie and her mother at her birthday party where, unfortunately, her best friend has been forced to miss because of her sickness. Needless to say, this doesn't put Loochie in much of a mood to put up with the haughtiness of her current "friends" and she throws them out with much lurid fanfare. Eventually Sunny and Loochie are reunited, but not in the way that they would like and the outcome is far from what Loochie expects.
I don't want to give anything away, but this story is funny, sad, intense, thought-provoking, and horrific. Read it - now. I know I'm going to read more of Mr. Lavelle's work.
I must state that I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for a review.
Lucretia is a young girl who only wants to spend her birthday with her sick friend. We meet Loochie and her mother at her birthday party where, unfortunately, her best friend has been forced to miss because of her sickness. Needless to say, this doesn't put Loochie in much of a mood to put up with the haughtiness of her current "friends" and she throws them out with much lurid fanfare. Eventually Sunny and Loochie are reunited, but not in the way that they would like and the outcome is far from what Loochie expects.
I don't want to give anything away, but this story is funny, sad, intense, thought-provoking, and horrific. Read it - now. I know I'm going to read more of Mr. Lavelle's work.
I must state that I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for a review.
chrispyschaller's review
2.0
Tweens slip through the looking glass for adventure with unlikely allies.
readinggrrl's review
2.0
Creepy and spooky I'm not sure this is a novella for children. Loochie winds up in an in-between place where she is chased by Kroons (decaying broken crack addicts), flying rats and saved by her best friend Sunny. It is a tale of friendship, loss. This is such a disturbing little story I'm not sure if I liked it or didn't but it certainly made an impression.
vixenchick's review
4.0
I'm thinking this book is more middle grade than young adult because the main character is 12. My kids are adults now but I think they would have really enjoyed this book when they were younger. The character and world building could have been a little better and more descriptive but, this was a good book. I must be a wimp because it was a little scary for me. LOL. I finished this in a few hours. I'm thinking there was a little lesson there but, I'm not sure what it is. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with middle grade kids and older.
caitlinxmartin's review
4.0
Lucretia and the Kroons is a novella with all the punch of a full-length novel. It's not often that authors write about children dealing with their friends' deaths, but Victor LaValle is not afraid.
Lucretia's best friend, Sunny, suffers from an illness (probably cancer) that has slowly taken her away from her friend. Treatment and medication have rendered her almost unrecognizable, but still Lucretia remains faithful. Then comes the day when Sunny disappears and Lucretia finds herself on a mad and frightening and marvelous adventure into the unknown with only a mysterious and monstrous woman as her guide.
I very much enjoyed this book. It was sweet and genuine and scared the pants off of me. Mr. LaValle has a great way with words and storytelling and opens a big picture window for his readers and characters to step through. Wonderful read and appropriate for middle grade kids and all of us older kids who aren't easily frightened or just love to be scared!
Lucretia's best friend, Sunny, suffers from an illness (probably cancer) that has slowly taken her away from her friend. Treatment and medication have rendered her almost unrecognizable, but still Lucretia remains faithful. Then comes the day when Sunny disappears and Lucretia finds herself on a mad and frightening and marvelous adventure into the unknown with only a mysterious and monstrous woman as her guide.
I very much enjoyed this book. It was sweet and genuine and scared the pants off of me. Mr. LaValle has a great way with words and storytelling and opens a big picture window for his readers and characters to step through. Wonderful read and appropriate for middle grade kids and all of us older kids who aren't easily frightened or just love to be scared!
clairewords's review
3.0
Wasn't sure quite who this book was aimed at when it was suggested to me by the publisher and since it is a 120 page novella and a new author who I note has written some excellent articles and essays on narrative perspective and voice I thought I'd download it to kindle and read.
Its clearly a young persons book and an interesting take on a 12 year old dealing with growing up and the pain of separation from her best friend who has a terminal illness. Rather than get sentimental LaValle's flourishing imagination takes the girls to a place that may or may not exist on an adventure of a zombie-ish kind.
I think this book and others like Neil Gaiman's Coraline are really interesting for youngsters like my daughter who are drawn towards the much more imaginative, often dark, transformational kind of ouevres. Its not what I read as a child, but I see not only what my daughter reads, but what she creates herself (including graphic novels) with different characters, more Gothic and avant garde (not even sure of the word to describe it) and wonderful in a kind of ghoulish way.
Its clearly a young persons book and an interesting take on a 12 year old dealing with growing up and the pain of separation from her best friend who has a terminal illness. Rather than get sentimental LaValle's flourishing imagination takes the girls to a place that may or may not exist on an adventure of a zombie-ish kind.
I think this book and others like Neil Gaiman's Coraline are really interesting for youngsters like my daughter who are drawn towards the much more imaginative, often dark, transformational kind of ouevres. Its not what I read as a child, but I see not only what my daughter reads, but what she creates herself (including graphic novels) with different characters, more Gothic and avant garde (not even sure of the word to describe it) and wonderful in a kind of ghoulish way.