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ellaarose's review against another edition
1.0
I`m so confused?
I guess if you like one dimensional characters, prose switching to script format for no apparent reason and "twatting, cock, I sound so gay" being repeated a million times you`d give it five stars?
I guess if you like one dimensional characters, prose switching to script format for no apparent reason and "twatting, cock, I sound so gay" being repeated a million times you`d give it five stars?
toffee_coffee's review against another edition
4.0
[b:The Drowning of Arthur Braxton|17701852|The Drowning of Arthur Braxton|Caroline Smailes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1364606497s/17701852.jpg|24747434]
[a:Caroline Smailes|1188248|Caroline Smailes|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png]
Originally posted on ashleyroberts5693.wordpress.com
The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton, by Caroline Smailes, is easily one of the best books I have ever read. I loved everything about it – the writing style, the story… Everything!
I first heard of The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton when it was reviewed by a couple of youtubers I watch, a couple months later (of waiting for it to be restocked) and I have the book and read it within three days. As you can see I powered through this book, I’m not entirely sure why, I think it just had a certain charm to it and I loved the concept of the story. The book has been described as a dark and brooding modern fairy tale – and I agree quite a lot with this description of the story. Unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure how to describe this book myself, without giving away any spoilers, so here is the blurb on the back of the book:
Arthur Braxton runs away from school.
He hides out in an abandoned building, an old Edwardian bathhouse.
He discovers a naked woman swimming in the pool.
From this point on, nothing will ever be the same.
One of the things that drew me to this book is that the blurb and the reviews I have heard haven’t really given much away, and I’m not going to give too much away in this blog either! But some things that I will tell you are the things that I especially loved about this book: the writing style, the story, and the fact that the more you read of it the more the amount of mystery increases and you can start to work out what’s going on.
I really liked the way The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton was written because it is written from multiple points of view, and switches between them throughout the book. As well as this, each person’s perspective is written in a different way… Some perspectives are written with short chapters, others with longer ones, another with no chapters, and one written like a script. I loved the way this was done because it suits the story and keeps the read interesting – even though the story itself is gripping enough!
There’s not really much else I want to say about this book because I don’t want to spoil it for you – it really is the kind of book where it’s best to go in not knowing much about it. Just go and buy the book, read it, and you’ll probably love it!
[a:Caroline Smailes|1188248|Caroline Smailes|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png]
Originally posted on ashleyroberts5693.wordpress.com
The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton, by Caroline Smailes, is easily one of the best books I have ever read. I loved everything about it – the writing style, the story… Everything!
I first heard of The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton when it was reviewed by a couple of youtubers I watch, a couple months later (of waiting for it to be restocked) and I have the book and read it within three days. As you can see I powered through this book, I’m not entirely sure why, I think it just had a certain charm to it and I loved the concept of the story. The book has been described as a dark and brooding modern fairy tale – and I agree quite a lot with this description of the story. Unfortunately, I’m not entirely sure how to describe this book myself, without giving away any spoilers, so here is the blurb on the back of the book:
Arthur Braxton runs away from school.
He hides out in an abandoned building, an old Edwardian bathhouse.
He discovers a naked woman swimming in the pool.
From this point on, nothing will ever be the same.
One of the things that drew me to this book is that the blurb and the reviews I have heard haven’t really given much away, and I’m not going to give too much away in this blog either! But some things that I will tell you are the things that I especially loved about this book: the writing style, the story, and the fact that the more you read of it the more the amount of mystery increases and you can start to work out what’s going on.
I really liked the way The Drowning Of Arthur Braxton was written because it is written from multiple points of view, and switches between them throughout the book. As well as this, each person’s perspective is written in a different way… Some perspectives are written with short chapters, others with longer ones, another with no chapters, and one written like a script. I loved the way this was done because it suits the story and keeps the read interesting – even though the story itself is gripping enough!
There’s not really much else I want to say about this book because I don’t want to spoil it for you – it really is the kind of book where it’s best to go in not knowing much about it. Just go and buy the book, read it, and you’ll probably love it!
powisamy's review against another edition
RTC
It's sure to say that back in 2015, this book was all the hype. Everyone was reading it, it was being made into a film and more importantly, everyone loved it.
So when I picked it on a whim as I had the audiobook I was surprised because the book was not good. I could say that 2015 was a different time but I don't think I would have liked this in 2015 too. It's safe to say that I am glad that people loved this book because I was not one of them.
First off I am going to say this book is weird. I really don't mind weird books or films but this was so different. It was weird in a way that made me uncomfortable with people being naked all of the time and it involving teenagers.
I think that the main reason why I didn't like it was there was so much misogyny to Laurel and Delphina especially from Arthur, a character we are meant to be rooting for. I also just in general hated so many of the male characters.
The book just got too weird, like it got so unbelievable that I just couldn't connect with it. All of this just was not the best and I just didn't like the story. The only reason that I finished it was because I had the audiobook.
It's safe to say that I am really disappointed although I do have another of Caroline Smailes's book so I may give that one a go. Who knows!
It's sure to say that back in 2015, this book was all the hype. Everyone was reading it, it was being made into a film and more importantly, everyone loved it.
So when I picked it on a whim as I had the audiobook I was surprised because the book was not good. I could say that 2015 was a different time but I don't think I would have liked this in 2015 too. It's safe to say that I am glad that people loved this book because I was not one of them.
First off I am going to say this book is weird. I really don't mind weird books or films but this was so different. It was weird in a way that made me uncomfortable with people being naked all of the time and it involving teenagers.
I think that the main reason why I didn't like it was there was so much misogyny to Laurel and Delphina especially from Arthur, a character we are meant to be rooting for. I also just in general hated so many of the male characters.
The book just got too weird, like it got so unbelievable that I just couldn't connect with it. All of this just was not the best and I just didn't like the story. The only reason that I finished it was because I had the audiobook.
It's safe to say that I am really disappointed although I do have another of Caroline Smailes's book so I may give that one a go. Who knows!
booksnpunks's review against another edition
5.0
I thought this book was amazing. There such a mix of themes here - coming of age, fairytales, magical realism. Smailes puts them all together in a way which means they aren't mismatched, and I instead it becomes a compelling, very Northern novel that I had to give five stars.
It is about a boy called Arthur Braxton who one day finds a girl swimming in an abandoned pool, and that's all I'm going to say. It's one of those stories best gone into blind, because the more confused you are at the beginning, the more you benefit from the way everything ties together at the end.
The characters were brilliant, and matched with the prose they embodied a very Northern voice. Smails also uses different forms to speak for each character which shows she has thought a lot about how she wants this story to be told.
Overall, I just loved reading this. It was written so well that I couldn't wait to get back to it and read about Arthur and his angsty teenage life. This is a must for anyone who likes fairytales and teenage fiction.
It is about a boy called Arthur Braxton who one day finds a girl swimming in an abandoned pool, and that's all I'm going to say. It's one of those stories best gone into blind, because the more confused you are at the beginning, the more you benefit from the way everything ties together at the end.
The characters were brilliant, and matched with the prose they embodied a very Northern voice. Smails also uses different forms to speak for each character which shows she has thought a lot about how she wants this story to be told.
Overall, I just loved reading this. It was written so well that I couldn't wait to get back to it and read about Arthur and his angsty teenage life. This is a must for anyone who likes fairytales and teenage fiction.
okitavia's review
3.0
This book was interesting, I found it quite confusing at first but I managed to get through it and see what was going on. After seeing several 5 star reviews I thought I should give it a try. I am happy I've read it but I couldn't help getting quite bored in some areas as personally I thought the whole thing quite repetitive. All in all it was a good read and you shouldn't be put off it by bad reviews.
sianyreads's review against another edition
5.0
My favourite book. Read years ago and cannot wait to reread
bookishgoblin's review against another edition
5.0
This book is truly incredible. The writing style, the experimenting with forms represents each different character beautifully. The use of language alone really sets the scene, and though the ending was abrupt the building of relationships was lovely, though there were a few loose ends it was a really enjoyable read and a wonderful insight into mythology
sarahlord0110's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
titanic's review against another edition
3.0
tw for this book: rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, infanticide, cheating, death, murder, slurs.
i didn’t really have any idea of what the book was going to be about going in, and still i was left scratching my head.
i didn’t really have any idea of what the book was going to be about going in, and still i was left scratching my head.