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lias_little_book_shelf's review against another edition
4.0
I'm only giving this book a 4 out of 5. I don't usually like reading books based in the war or historical fictions in general. However I read this book thanks to my boyfriends suggestion. This book took a little while to capture my full attention and interest however due to its short and I mean REALLY SHORT chapters it was really easy to get through it quickly as I could read a quick chapter here and there. After about 1/4 of the book was done it started to get interesting. I enjoyed the ending and I somehow partially foreshadowed that was going to happen in the end! Fabulous book and I have already suggested it to others.
michellem92's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Death
w0lves_and_r4vens's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mehtahussain's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book way back when I was in 5th grade, so my star rating here should be taken with a grain of salt. Not sure what I would rate this if I were to read it now, I suppose only a re-read would be able to answer that.
thepiqht's review against another edition
5.0
Is there a good way to say I read this in under an hour at 2am without sounding a bit obsessive? I literally couldn't put it down.
I love all of Marcus Sedgwick's books so maybe I'm a bit bias on that count, although they are really really good. I think his target audience is for people slightly younger than me (maybe?) which could explain the easy going pace, which makes the book all the more readable for me. Yet despite the super short chapters and the pacing, it isn't simplified down to a cliche. He uses terminology like VAD which helps enhance the story.
His books always have a sort of eerie atmosphere to them, another reason why I love them so much. This time it was in the form of a raven, and the uncanny connection between the main character and Cassandra from the greek myths. The way that the wounds are described also have a hand in making the book seem very dreary and slightly unapproachable.
I love all of Marcus Sedgwick's books so maybe I'm a bit bias on that count, although they are really really good. I think his target audience is for people slightly younger than me (maybe?) which could explain the easy going pace, which makes the book all the more readable for me. Yet despite the super short chapters and the pacing, it isn't simplified down to a cliche. He uses terminology like VAD which helps enhance the story.
His books always have a sort of eerie atmosphere to them, another reason why I love them so much. This time it was in the form of a raven, and the uncanny connection between the main character and Cassandra from the greek myths. The way that the wounds are described also have a hand in making the book seem very dreary and slightly unapproachable.
gldnhaze's review against another edition
3.0
It's not a bad book but narrated too matter-of-factly so that it was impossible for me to empathise much with Sasha, the main character. I also think that the premonitions could have been explained more.
panikos's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
This was a miss for me. The premise is intriguing but the execution just didn't work - it takes so long for the plot to get going, feels very meandering, and Alexandra herself just isn't a particularly compelling protagonist. I understand that some of her passivity is necessary, because a woman of her age at that time wouldn't have had that much control over her own fate, but I think a cleverer writer could've still given her agency and made her more interesting to read about.
Some plot threads go unexplored and unanswered - I assumed that the shellshocked Welsh soldier would be a more important character, and that Alexandra's father might feature more, but the plot points surrounding them are abruptly dropped. It isn't really until the second half of the book that Alexandra has a goal in mind, and her plans are so wishy-washy and dependent on others that there never feels like there's much urgency. I found the writing and narration style quite bland, too.
I think the ending was quite clever, so I've added an extra half star for that. I do also love the way that the book counts down the chapters rather than up - it's a nice little touch. But overall, I didn't feel like this story did anything particularly new with the WW1 setting or the more supernatural elements, so most of the book felt rather half baked.
Some plot threads go unexplored and unanswered - I assumed that the shellshocked Welsh soldier would be a more important character, and that Alexandra's father might feature more, but the plot points surrounding them are abruptly dropped. It isn't really until the second half of the book that Alexandra has a goal in mind, and her plans are so wishy-washy and dependent on others that there never feels like there's much urgency. I found the writing and narration style quite bland, too.
I think the ending was quite clever, so I've added an extra half star for that. I do also love the way that the book counts down the chapters rather than up - it's a nice little touch. But overall, I didn't feel like this story did anything particularly new with the WW1 setting or the more supernatural elements, so most of the book felt rather half baked.
kiwi96's review against another edition
5.0
Thrilling and captivating throughout. Didn't think Alexandra would actually make it all the way to the (almost) front to see her brother but was pleasantly surprised. I guess this was because I find on the more unrealistic side that an eighteen year old girl would manage to get that far in the middle or World War One. But overall, I was intrigued by her determination-- as I think anybody would be if they had a chance to save a loved one, -- and willingness to go and save Tom.
eowyns_helmet's review against another edition
3.0
I'm a fan of Sedgwick's spare style and his always interesting stories. 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI, so I was interested in dipping into this story. Like some other reviewers, I wasn't sure I really knew Sasha, the main character, and what motivated her besides her brother. It's one of those books where, in the end, what really matters is what the men do and the female characters react to and reflect them, but don't have independent needs and wants. Though Sasha wants to be a nurse, when she finally becomes quite a skilled one, that achievement is always in the shadow of the dubious pursuit of saving her brother, Tom. The other brother, Edgar, is thoroughly dislikable, and a late attempt in the book to rehabilitate him really falls flat. A love interest at the end is a real deus ex machina, able to navigate what were likely completely unnavigable areas on the eve of the Battle of the Somme. I wish the story has made a little more sense, even with the "magic realism" of her ability to see people's deaths. Even with fantasy and magic, there has to be an internal logic. Sedgwick uses it when it serves him then ignores it when it doesn't. In terms of a child's view of WWI, Michael Morpugo's [b:War Horse|792161|War Horse (War Horse, #1)|Michael Morpurgo|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1360677423s/792161.jpg|1575365] is quite similar -- child finds a way to join up to save a loved one and succeeds despite the atrocities around him -- and is more effective as a novel.
That said, there is some really lovely writing here. Sasha and her dispatcher, frantically trying to find Tom, end up in the middle of the Somme fighting. He crashes his motorcycle.
That said, there is some really lovely writing here. Sasha and her dispatcher, frantically trying to find Tom, end up in the middle of the Somme fighting. He crashes his motorcycle.
Some Scots were passing. They laughed at me, but I didn't care. No one could recognize me, I thought, and two of them came over and lifted the bike free with Jack's help, but we had only made our way a little farther when it ran out of petrol. I was too tired even to cry now, and we stood staring at the useless bike, lying on its side like a dead animal in the mud. With a strangely unnatural speed, the mist began to clear, the sun burning it off in a matter of minutes, and we could see it was going to be a hot day after all. We saw we were surrounded by the dead. Bodies lay here and there, uncared for, unburied, almost unnoticed. I tried not to look at them, but couldn't help staring at the huge corpses of horses that lay among the human dead.