You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
This book has a message to adults as much as it has for children. When life is too much we need to connect instead of distract or disconnect. I needed to hear that.
Disclaimer: I bought this book for book club. All opinions are my own.
Book: Olivetti
Author: Allie Millington
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 5/5
Diversity: Brazillian side character
Recommended For...: Fiction readers, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Contemporary
Publication Date: March 26, 2024
Genre: Magical Realism Fiction
Age Relevance: 13+ (Suicide Attempt, Cancer)
Explanation of Above: There is a vague scene showing an attempt at suicide. There are mentions and scenes involving cancer.
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 253
Synopsis: Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindle family—the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from 12-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. The least they could do was remember Olivetti once in a while, since he remembers every word they’ve typed on him. It’s a thankless job, keeping memories alive. Olivetti gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest’s mom, Beatrice--his used-to-be most frequent visitor—only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him helplessly behind. When Olivetti learns Beatrice has mysteriously gone missing afterward, he believes he can help find her. He breaks the only rule of the “typewriterly code” and types back to Ernest, divulging Beatrice’s memories stored inside him. Their search takes them across San Francisco—chasing clues, maybe committing a few misdemeanors. As Olivetti spills out the past, Ernest is forced to face what he and his family have been running from, The Everything That Happened. Only by working together will they find Beatrice, belonging, and the parts of themselves they’ve lost.
Review: I thought this was a fascinating little book. The book takes place from multiple viewpoints but one of them is a typewriter. This typewriter has been with this family for decades and has seen this family all through different stages of life and it is entrapped in a mystery when one day it ends up at a pawn shop. I really like the premise of the novel and throughout the book I was really enthralled by how the typewriter spoke versus the other characters in the book. I thought that they had really distinct voices and that the author did really good in writing them. I also really liked the world building of the book and the Toy Story aspect of this book. The book even answered the very important question of “who uses typewriters anyways?”. It’s got it all!
The only thing I can really fault the book for was that there were a couple of little pacing moments but also there was a part in the book where we did a big time jump and I was a little confused for a little bit until I figured out where we were again. Beyond that, I really like the book.
Verdict: I loved this little book.
Book: Olivetti
Author: Allie Millington
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 5/5
Diversity: Brazillian side character
Recommended For...: Fiction readers, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Contemporary
Publication Date: March 26, 2024
Genre: Magical Realism Fiction
Age Relevance: 13+ (Suicide Attempt, Cancer)
Explanation of Above: There is a vague scene showing an attempt at suicide. There are mentions and scenes involving cancer.
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pages: 253
Synopsis: Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindle family—the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from 12-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. The least they could do was remember Olivetti once in a while, since he remembers every word they’ve typed on him. It’s a thankless job, keeping memories alive. Olivetti gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest’s mom, Beatrice--his used-to-be most frequent visitor—only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him helplessly behind. When Olivetti learns Beatrice has mysteriously gone missing afterward, he believes he can help find her. He breaks the only rule of the “typewriterly code” and types back to Ernest, divulging Beatrice’s memories stored inside him. Their search takes them across San Francisco—chasing clues, maybe committing a few misdemeanors. As Olivetti spills out the past, Ernest is forced to face what he and his family have been running from, The Everything That Happened. Only by working together will they find Beatrice, belonging, and the parts of themselves they’ve lost.
Review: I thought this was a fascinating little book. The book takes place from multiple viewpoints but one of them is a typewriter. This typewriter has been with this family for decades and has seen this family all through different stages of life and it is entrapped in a mystery when one day it ends up at a pawn shop. I really like the premise of the novel and throughout the book I was really enthralled by how the typewriter spoke versus the other characters in the book. I thought that they had really distinct voices and that the author did really good in writing them. I also really liked the world building of the book and the Toy Story aspect of this book. The book even answered the very important question of “who uses typewriters anyways?”. It’s got it all!
The only thing I can really fault the book for was that there were a couple of little pacing moments but also there was a part in the book where we did a big time jump and I was a little confused for a little bit until I figured out where we were again. Beyond that, I really like the book.
Verdict: I loved this little book.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
Gorgeous cover of a middle school book. So mixed on this one. I laughed out loud but I also cried. Big TW’s I think. Made me crazy that an adolescent could be so unsupervised.
A book of Magical realism — for middle graders — listened to as an audiobook — where the narrators of the story were enjoyable and easy to listen to as the story unfolds.
A young boy ( who is possibly neurodivergent ) `s mother goes missing and with the help of a sentient typewriter they search together to find where his mother has gone.
This is a heartfelt , heartrending, moving storyline and plot geared towards middle graders age group. I did have a hard time relating to most of the characters — my favourite was the typewriter which I was most invested in the outcome. — The concept of using the typewriter as a perspective is unique and creative.
This book at its depth is really about dealing with grief , uncontrollable change and life struggles— and how everyone deals with or reacts differently to coping with these things. The most important point of the book though is how communication is important in relationships of any kind.
Thank-you to Netgalley and RB Media for this ARC. This is my honest review.
A young boy ( who is possibly neurodivergent ) `s mother goes missing and with the help of a sentient typewriter they search together to find where his mother has gone.
This is a heartfelt , heartrending, moving storyline and plot geared towards middle graders age group. I did have a hard time relating to most of the characters — my favourite was the typewriter which I was most invested in the outcome. — The concept of using the typewriter as a perspective is unique and creative.
This book at its depth is really about dealing with grief , uncontrollable change and life struggles— and how everyone deals with or reacts differently to coping with these things. The most important point of the book though is how communication is important in relationships of any kind.
Thank-you to Netgalley and RB Media for this ARC. This is my honest review.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
super cute. didn't resonate with me for some reason? but loved the concept and love olivetti as a character. been looking at my typewriter differently since reading this.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Abandonment
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
Loveable characters:
Yes