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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Steven is a sensitive boy with a sick baby brother. His parents are usually at the hospital. When home, they're crying and whispering in another room. Steven hears words like 'congenital' and 'surgery' and tries to make sense of it all. He's having nightmares.
And then there's the wasps. Just a few at first, but Steven finds their nest under the eaves right outside the baby's window. These wasps are like none he's seen before and they're very busy.
Jon Klassen's illustrations elevate the tension and sense of foreboding. Oppel has written a story that is compelling and creepy but more than that, it looks at fear and bravery, family ties and accepting what's different in each of us.
The Nest is a novel that I won't soon forget, especially when I hear the buzzing of wasps next summer.
And then there's the wasps. Just a few at first, but Steven finds their nest under the eaves right outside the baby's window. These wasps are like none he's seen before and they're very busy.
Jon Klassen's illustrations elevate the tension and sense of foreboding. Oppel has written a story that is compelling and creepy but more than that, it looks at fear and bravery, family ties and accepting what's different in each of us.
The Nest is a novel that I won't soon forget, especially when I hear the buzzing of wasps next summer.
"-Hemos venido a ayudar -dijo-. Estamos aquí por lo del bebé. (...) Aparecemos cuando las personas están asustadas o tienen problemas. Aparecemos cuando hay tristeza y dolor."
El Nido nos cuenta la historia de un nene, Steven, que es hipocondríaco, misofóbico (fobia a gérmenes) y tiene problemas de ansiedad y ataques de pánico.
En el hogar hay un nuevo integrante, un bebé, que lamentablemente tiene un problema congénito y su vida básicamente está colgando de un hilo.
Los padres de la familia están super preocupados y volcando, por supuesto, toda su atención en el nuevo y frágil integrante de la familia, estando todo el día fuera de casa y pasando la mayor parte del tiempo visitando doctores. Es por esto que Steven, nuestro protagonista, para mucho tiempo con su niñera, Vanesa, una curiosa estudiante de biología, y su hermana menor llamada Nicole.
Steven, no solo preocupado por el estado del bebé sino también por la tristeza, preocupación y cansancio de sus padres, una noche sueña con avispas, a las que inicialmente llama "angeles". Estos "ángeles" prometen que pueden solucionar el problema que tiene el bebé por lo que Steven les toma la palabra, feliz y aliviado porque el bebé se pondrá bien.
Pero lamentablemente no todo es lo que parece...
"Alguien me dijo una vez que cuando a uno le preocupa haberse vuelto loco es precisamente porque no lo está."
Este es un libro middlegrade de realismo mágico que en goodreads también lo ven como horror. Comprendo el por qué, ya que es una historia oscura, con aspectos "sobrenaturales", podría decirse, además de un poco asquerosos (disculpenme pero a mi me picaba todo el cuerpo en las escenas de las avispas😅🙈)
Es un libro corto y fluido gracias a su prosa simple (narrada desde el punto de Steven) pero muy bonita. Es de esas lecturas que son simples pero duras y emotivas al mismo tiempo.
Y déjenme que fangirlee sobre la edición en español pero es que es preciosa😍 Es un libro ilustrado, con ilustraciones acorde al libro ya que son bastante simples pero bien oscuritas.
"Mis padres pensaban que yo era anormal, de eso estoy seguro. Decían que no, pero a uno no lo mandan a terapia cuando es normal."
Toca temas como la aceptación, el hecho de que nadie es perfecto qué es lo normal y lo anormal. También los miedos y las inseguridades, la tristeza y preocupación por los seres queridos. Creo que todos estos temas son super importantes en la literatura y sobre todo cuando es dirigida a un público específico como son los niños.
Habiendo pasado por problemas y enfermedades en la familia, hubo partes que me llegaban mucho. Y justamente por esto me parece una historia muy importante y necesaria.
Aun así, creo que es de esos libros que más se disfrutan si llegan en el momento exacto. También es de esos libros que cada lector puede comprenderlo o le puede llegar de distinta manera. Es de esos libros que son muy personales... .
"Tal vez pasamos demasiado tiempo pretendiendo ser algo que no somos."
La historia es perfecta para ser 4 estrellas por lo intenso y emotivo, y también la importancia de estos temas, pero lamentabmente el final me dejó un gusto amargo. No era lo que esperaba. Lo sentí algo brusco, como si fuese una resolución apresurada.
La historia venía con el ritmo y la emoción justa pero eso no se mantuvo en el final. Como que el final opaca bastante el resto de la historia al no estar a la misma altura que el resto del libro.
Por lo que finalmente le terminé dando una puntuación de 3,5 ⭐
-- Libroscon(té)
Perhaps a little too creepy for kids already scared of wasps and the like? I enjoyed the mystery about who, exactly, was talking to Steve in his dreams, the realistic way in which Steve was worried/scared about his brother and what could be done to "fix" things. When the story veers into horror, readers will go right along with it because by then, we're invested in figuring out what Steve will do and if it will work. Even better, this is longer than a short story but not so long that readers will start to get annoyed by the size - strong readers can finish it in a day or less.
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's been a while since I've been this creeped out by a book, and this is supposed to be a children's book. I can tell it's a children's book because it's pretty short and the words are simple, but this changeling story in reverse could very well be a short Stephen King work for all its subtle yet powerful cues and imagery mixed with magical realism.
Steve, the main character, has a precocious younger sister, and two parents who are overwrought by the health problems with their newborn baby, Theo. Steve has some issues of his own, as we find out, including bad dreams that we're never sure are real. We're told that dreams aren't reality, but what if they are and what if what you're seeing in those dreams begins to lead you and others into something terrifying?
I'm still working out who I'd recommend this to. The adults I know who've read it think it's seriously creepy and intense, and I'd be concerned that it might be too much for some younger readers and parents of young children.
Steve, the main character, has a precocious younger sister, and two parents who are overwrought by the health problems with their newborn baby, Theo. Steve has some issues of his own, as we find out, including bad dreams that we're never sure are real. We're told that dreams aren't reality, but what if they are and what if what you're seeing in those dreams begins to lead you and others into something terrifying?
I'm still working out who I'd recommend this to. The adults I know who've read it think it's seriously creepy and intense, and I'd be concerned that it might be too much for some younger readers and parents of young children.
Holy anxiety Batman! I listened to the audiobook of The Nest and it had me on edge nearly the whole time—definitely the creepiest MG book I've ever read. Steve's baby brother has been sick since birth and the future seems uncertain and bleak, until some strange sorts of angels appear to him in his dreams...
Magical realism at its eeriest; a good read for kids and adults who like to freak themselves out, though maybe not us scaredy-cats...
Magical realism at its eeriest; a good read for kids and adults who like to freak themselves out, though maybe not us scaredy-cats...
This book had some kind of weird hold on me. I had to know what was going to happen to Steven and the baby. It was weird . It was creepy. It was disturbing. But above all, it was a fascinating story. I'm not sure who I should recommend this to- it's probably more appropriate for MS kids. Although my library placed it in our junior collection. I think more sensitive kids could get creeped out by it.
Creeeeepy. And with a good message about loving who you are, even if you are broken. I haven't read a kids book with such a powerful but subtle message about anxiety.
Well written but disturbing, couldn't put it down but terrifying, great art but nightmares. I am all over the place on this one. I read all the great reviews and wondered if I had read the same book. Maybe I just scare to easy for this book.
I finished it, but it was the WEIRDEST book I've read in a very long time.