Reviews

Brightwood by Tania Unsworth

elephant's review

4.0

Eleven year old Daisy has never left the grounds of her home, Brightwood mansion, where she lives with her mother. She has never even spoken to another person in her life. She has no idea what the outside world is like at all. Her mother is a hoarder, filling a box a day with things to help her remember and the house is so full that it has become a maze. One day, Daisy's mother goes out to the store, and does not return. Then, a man shows up at the house. He claims to be her cousin. He is not a nice man. Can Daisy survive? Will her imaginary friends help her? This is an intriguing mystery for middle grade children.

manwithanagenda's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

Imagine, if you will, 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' without a precocious, or particularly interesting, heroine. Daisy Fitzjohn has always lived at Brightwood, her family's estate, with her mother and, it quickly becomes clear, no one else ever. Daisy has never even left its grounds or seen another living person.

Instead, she's made friends with a rat and with a topiary and with pictures throughout the house. The house is quite large, but much of it is filled up with boxes of memories. Her mother collects the "memories" of every day and stashes them in special boxes labeled with the date. There are rules about memories and it is a ritual that must be adhered to. Only, mother hasn't returned in some time and someone new has started prowling around the outside of the house. What's a girl to do?

The treatment of mental illness was unrealistic and the whole situation absurd. I couldn't get into it, I just finished it to make sure the Rat was OK.

mybookishdelights's review against another edition

4.0

I purchased this book because I love books with big old houses and hotels as a setting and, honestly, the cover made it seem magical. I knew from the description that it was going to be kind of mysterious or whatever, but it was more of a mystery-thriller and I wasn't prepared for that. I will have to have a disclaimer though that I'm a big scaredy-cat. I don't normally like to read scary books and I don't enjoy thrillers. I don't like being scared. I have anxiety and I don't like to feed the beast. Sometimes I can read Stephen King, but I have to gear myself up for it and it's only because I love his writing (I know that makes no sense... I guess I like to torture myself). But I wasn't expecting this to be scary at all so it caught me off guard. haha And it has to do with a kid, which is one of my no-no's so that could be part of it too. Anyway, I'm rambling. I'll stop.

I loved the setting. I loved Brightwood Hall and it was one of those places that I wish I could have stories of its hey-days, etc. Daisy was such a sweet and likable character and I loved her imagination. From a mom's perspective, you couldn't help feel sorry for her situation being stuck on this estate with no other human contact with the exception of her mother. Gritting was a creepy character that made me uncomfortable. As he should. There were some parts of the story that didn't really make sense to me.

For instance, her pet rat Tar ate some of the poisoned strawberries and then apparently died. But then he just jumped up and told her he had ten lives. She made a comment that he was gone. I thought maybe she was in denial and she made it up in her head that he jumped back to life, but both Gritting and the police officer at the end saw the rat at different points in the story. Also, her mom knew this dangerous man was in town because he had gotten into her car and stolen something of hers. So her solution to this was to go to the police and, not only leave her daughter behind, but not even tell her she was leaving..? That was bizarre and I could not understand the reasoning behind it. Although I suppose if she had taken her, Daisy would have probably gotten hurt or killed in the car accident. I get that she never wanted Daisy to leave because she had her in a giant box for safekeeping (the house), but wouldn't your mother instincts take over and her safety would be more important? Or at least tell her you're freaking leaving? I don't know... I'm judging though.

The writing and the story was enjoyable enough that I finished the book. I haven't been feeling middle grade lately, so that was a pleasant surprise. I would recommend this book if your child likes to have a little scary in their stories. It was a good time, except for

the part where he comes out of the lake and is banging the window in the kitchen. That's the part that scared me! haha I've seen too many scary movies and my imagination had no problem conjuring up that image.

Challenges:
2019 Goodreads Challenge
2019 Mount TBR
2019 OWLs Readathon - Herbology: Plant on the cover

libscote's review against another edition

4.0

Daisy Fitzjohn lives with her mother at Brightwood, an old manor house. For eleven years, she has never left the house, and she and her mother have had a particular routine. One Monday, her mother breaks the routine and she doesn't come back from a trip to the store. Instead, a man claiming to be a distant cousin shows up. Does he have good intentions?

This story touched on loss, mental illness, and a bit on hoarding. I'm not sure I really liked mental illness being called "The Crazy", but overall, it was a thriller with heart.

carolinetalton's review against another edition

3.0

full review up here!

3.5 stars for this thrilling middle grade read! I would definitely recommend giving it a try when it comes out in september :) thanks to netgalley and algonquin young readers for allowing me to read this one!