Reviews

The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith

stephee's review

3.0

I'm afraid I read this at the wrong time. I was going through a bit of a reading funk - and anything by Andrew Smith requires more attention than I was able to give. Will definitely be reading this again when I'm feeling a bit more with it!

annabi's review against another edition

4.0

!!!! THAT WAS SO STRANGE AND SO MUCH MORE SAD THAN I WAS EXPECTING!!! ! I really love Ariel. he is so sweet and did not deserve anything that happened to him. I still dont quite understand the purpose of the Alex Division, etc after the whole book though. not a favorite, but I still thought it was crazy and a classic andrew smith kind of novel

beebeewin's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

2.0

I would say that I just don't think I am the right audience for the book. The humor and plot points just really didn't connect with me. I felt like as though sex, gore, and masturbation where just tools for the story but not really acknowledged that these were children experiencing them. The main character acting just like an adult and just seemed to one traumatic story to the next with us just accepting that was part of the plot. But there wasn't even really a plot for that to support. There was all this build up to a ending that felt lack luster. There was potential here and it was throughly missed. Not the worst but did have to force myself to finish a little.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

railyuhreads's review against another edition

4.0

This books reminds me of Vonnegut.

nobodyatall's review against another edition

3.0

Wifey brought this home, amongst a huge pile of other books, from the YA Literature festival. I've ignored it since then until, at a loose end for a light read, I googled some of the titles and this one was described as the "Kurt Vonnegut of YA". That was me interested...

Initially this appeared to be just a puerile string of loosely connected masturbation jokes (some of which were admittedly excellent). But by the time I'd finished it I discovered that I really cared about the characters and was quite moved by it all.

Somewhat surreal and very wanky, it's quite an enjoyable book. On the downside there are no decent female characters and certainly none with any depth (though it is set in a boys camp) and, whilst not openly sexist it doesn't really have anything positive to say about women. It's all a bit "boys being boys" banter which I was tempted to give up on a few times before my curiosity overcame me and then enough stuff happened that I started to care.

noahsingh's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Child abuse

anniemariek's review against another edition

4.0

Well, that was one weird roller coaster of strange with a surprising amount of emotion in the ending.

Review to come.

Pre-review: Oh, hold up. What's this?



Schizophrenic bomber? Failed arctic expedition?

Depressed bionic reincarnated crow?

OH HECK YES.

finchwing's review against another edition

4.0

This book was interesting, if a little creepy. I really liked the way Ariel's voice was constructed, and the way everything tied together at the end. The schizophrenic character was a bit disturbing(which was likely the intention).

nerfherder86's review against another edition

4.0

Another good but weird book from Andrew Smith. There are several plotlines and characters to follow, which eventually interconnect in interesting ways; sometimes with Smith's books I get frustrated waiting for those connections to show up, because it's like you're reading three different books at first, and he's forcing you to change gears so often. This one wasn't too bad on that account, with a little bit of patience. In present day, 15 year old Ariel tells his new adoptive American brother Max the story of Ariel's rescue from a wartorn European country and his life in a refugee camp. Ariel also is narrating to us, the reader, his and Max's experiences at Camp Merrie-Seymour for Boys. We also get the third person story of the "Melting Man" and his bizarre drive across country. And, there's the journal entries of Dr. Alexander Merrie on his Arctic expedition at the turn of the 20th century. Whew! Oh yeah, and there is a resurrected crow called Alex and some weird science. But all of this juggling of characters and time periods starts to make more sense as the puzzle pieces fall into place, and it's kinda cool in the end. There are some pretty funny scenes, especially at camp, with Max's adolescent male vocabulary obsession (if you've read it you know what I mean!) and pranks the boys play on their annoying counselor. But also some pretty serious stuff in the war scenes. Anyway, very unique book.

justmisguidedghosts's review against another edition

5.0

We're all these stories that we collect throughout life. We share them. We take them. We lose them. We all have stories and a lot of them are the same or different. They connect and disconnect.

This may make no sense but this isn't really a review. Just thoughts swirling in my head. Something I've taken with me from The Alex Crow.