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ana_04's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
magicmarc's review against another edition
3.0
3.75/5 estrellas.
Hasta que seamos viejos-nuevos.
Edito:
Los Chicos del Hambre, por David Arnold, nos mete de lleno en el misterio de un asesinato, en donde dos de nuestros protagonistas, Vic y Mad, están siendo interrogados por la policía en habitaciones separadas.
Intentan ser evasivos, respondiendo con certeza, sin mentir, pero de todos modos escondiendo algo bajo un propósito mayor: ganar tiempo.
Y luego la escritura nos lleva hasta una semana atrás, en donde nuestro protagonista Victor, un adolescente de dieciséis años con el síndrome de Moebius —una condición que no le permite sonreír ni pestañear—, aún no se siente preparado para dejar ir a su padre, quien falleció hace dos años, ni soportar el hecho de ver que su madre, poco a poco, comienza a adentrarse en una nueva relación con un tipo cuyos hijos no hacen más de hostigarlo por su apariencia, al igual que varios de sus pares.
Y un día, luego de un propuesta de matrimonio, Victor no puede soportarlo más y escapa de casa, llevándose consigo la urna funeraria, la cual contiene las cenizas y, para su sorpresa, una foto de sus padres y una carta escrita. Con la conocida letra de su padre en sus manos, Vic deberá pensar en cómo llevar a cabo la lista de deseos allí escrita, en la cual está señalado cada sitio en donde las cenizas deben ser esparcidas, pero, ¿podrá nuestro chico resolver todas las pistas y sobrellevar el hecho de cumplir con el último deseo de su padre, así signifique dejarlo ir?
Pueden leer mi opinión y el resto de la reseña en mi bookstagram: Whenimetabook
Hasta que seamos viejos-nuevos.
Edito:
Los Chicos del Hambre, por David Arnold, nos mete de lleno en el misterio de un asesinato, en donde dos de nuestros protagonistas, Vic y Mad, están siendo interrogados por la policía en habitaciones separadas.
Intentan ser evasivos, respondiendo con certeza, sin mentir, pero de todos modos escondiendo algo bajo un propósito mayor: ganar tiempo.
Y luego la escritura nos lleva hasta una semana atrás, en donde nuestro protagonista Victor, un adolescente de dieciséis años con el síndrome de Moebius —una condición que no le permite sonreír ni pestañear—, aún no se siente preparado para dejar ir a su padre, quien falleció hace dos años, ni soportar el hecho de ver que su madre, poco a poco, comienza a adentrarse en una nueva relación con un tipo cuyos hijos no hacen más de hostigarlo por su apariencia, al igual que varios de sus pares.
Y un día, luego de un propuesta de matrimonio, Victor no puede soportarlo más y escapa de casa, llevándose consigo la urna funeraria, la cual contiene las cenizas y, para su sorpresa, una foto de sus padres y una carta escrita. Con la conocida letra de su padre en sus manos, Vic deberá pensar en cómo llevar a cabo la lista de deseos allí escrita, en la cual está señalado cada sitio en donde las cenizas deben ser esparcidas, pero, ¿podrá nuestro chico resolver todas las pistas y sobrellevar el hecho de cumplir con el último deseo de su padre, así signifique dejarlo ir?
Pueden leer mi opinión y el resto de la reseña en mi bookstagram: Whenimetabook
yvo_about_books's review
2.0
Finished reading: July 29th 2018
“The kids were more than just a gaggle. They were puzzle pieces, a well-packed trunk, as improbably organized as the improbable shelves in their improbable habitat.”
Spoiler
I absolutely adored Mosquitoland last year, so I had high hopes for Kids Of Appetite as well. It took me longer than expected to finally get to it... And sadly it wasn't the experience I was hoping for. I'm actually still surprised and I bit shocked by my reaction to be honest... Because I have to be sincere here and I'm not sure how I made it past the 20% without giving in to the urge to DNF. Do I feel sad? Yes. But unfortunately Kids Of Appetite just wasn't for me. I have seen this story has pretty extreme reactions, people either loving or strongly disliking it, so definitely don't give up on it yet if you enjoy stories with unique characters and writing style. Because that's the main struggle here: the writing. While unique and original, it is something that either works for you and makes you want to sing out loud, OR makes you want to throw things at the wall in frustration. Not that my singing would actually make anyone happy in the first place, but sadly my walls might have taken a hit or two here. I personally really struggled with it all and this made it just really hard both to get a proper feel for things and understand what is exactly going on in the first place. David Arnold is a master in greating unique characters though. Kuddos to him for introducing us to Victor and giving Moebius a spotlight; the other characters definitely weren't bland either. I'm not sure everything in the plot was actually credible though. In short, Kids Of Appetite is a book of extremes and therefore will provoke strong emotions... So even though this book didn't work for me, you might just love it instead.
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
charmaineac's review
1.0
This book was just... too pretentious for me. The lead up was kind of long-winded. The Kids of Appetite didn't resonate with me. They were a wandering bunch of misfits, and I can't even comprehend a childhood/young-adulthood like theirs. In some ways, they lived admirably. But at other times, I was kinda over their schtick. Does that make me a bad person?
I also don't think the link between the two deaths was all that significant. In fact, they felt like two very separate incidents. One could argue that the second would have happened regardless of whether the first did. They probably would have been better off — no "hat for evidence," no DNA on the antlers... but everything else still could have happened.
Also, I found it hard to suspend my disbelief with a lot of these characters. The diner situation was kind of ridiculous. And what was up with Vic's mother? Why would she waste so much money waiting somewhere with no cell service? If she knew what Vic was up to, and considering she was in contact with the police, wouldn't it have made 10x more sense if the police went searching for this missing child? Especially since she pretty much knew what he was planning to do, but couldn't catch up to him in time. Rationally, how would Vic even make his way from Hackensack to Manhattan? Her actions really didn't make much sense.
A lot of the characters didn't have many redeeming qualities to them. I wish we got some closure on Frank's kids, who seemed just awful. And I felt uncomfortable with the Coco storyline. I know we "don't have to know," but it still felt like such a loose end.
I also don't think the link between the two deaths was all that significant. In fact, they felt like two very separate incidents. One could argue that the second would have happened regardless of whether the first did. They probably would have been better off — no "hat for evidence," no DNA on the antlers... but everything else still could have happened.
Also, I found it hard to suspend my disbelief with a lot of these characters. The diner situation was kind of ridiculous. And what was up with Vic's mother? Why would she waste so much money waiting somewhere with no cell service? If she knew what Vic was up to, and considering she was in contact with the police, wouldn't it have made 10x more sense if the police went searching for this missing child? Especially since she pretty much knew what he was planning to do, but couldn't catch up to him in time. Rationally, how would Vic even make his way from Hackensack to Manhattan? Her actions really didn't make much sense.
A lot of the characters didn't have many redeeming qualities to them. I wish we got some closure on Frank's kids, who seemed just awful. And I felt uncomfortable with the Coco storyline. I know we "don't have to know," but it still felt like such a loose end.
ktcarlston's review
4.0
I want to be a Super Racehorse. I also want to be just like Baz where I ask people "do you need help?" "have you hurt anyone?" - this YA book reminded me a bit of "Wonder" (in a great way). Things wrapped up a little bit too tightly for me but still a fun book.
biteintobooks's review
4.0
Thanks to Marlieke for doing this Buddyread with me. I've had Kids of Appetite on my shelves for a very long time, when it came with a Bookbox. I was excited to start reading it. Even though I saw a lot of mixed reviews among my Goodreads friends, I went in neutral and actually liked it from the very start!
Full review can be found at BiteIntoBooks
I can't say I recommend this book to everyone, because I've seen so many mixed reviews of people who thought they would love it and ended up giving the book 2 stars. I just know I loved it and I'm very happy and proud to have this book on my shelves. It's, in my opinion, a beautiful and important book and I would love for all of you, to just try it!
Full review can be found at BiteIntoBooks
I can't say I recommend this book to everyone, because I've seen so many mixed reviews of people who thought they would love it and ended up giving the book 2 stars. I just know I loved it and I'm very happy and proud to have this book on my shelves. It's, in my opinion, a beautiful and important book and I would love for all of you, to just try it!
annabella82's review
5.0
I can't wait to pass this book along...I loved, loved, loved, loved this book. It was probably one of my favourite reads so far this year. David Arnold does such a good job of writing such an intelligent and emotional story about love/loss and friendship/family.
The plot is revealed slowly by alternating between the past and present…this was a great move.
The characters in this novel are great. They are each unique and interesting and you can’t help but want to know more about them all.
"And they saw that it was good."
This was a Goodreads giveaway.
The plot is revealed slowly by alternating between the past and present…this was a great move.
The characters in this novel are great. They are each unique and interesting and you can’t help but want to know more about them all.
"And they saw that it was good."
This was a Goodreads giveaway.
mlatrece's review
4.0
I have yet to read MOSQUITOLAND, so this is my first book read from David Arnold. This book was an interesting read. It was very enjoyable and made me laugh many times. However, it was a slow read for me (partly because while this book had humor there was some parts of the book that was somber). I finished this book in two days. What I did love was the diversity that was displayed in the book and the characters personalities (especially CoCo). Arnold's writing style is something I never read before, but his storytelling ability is fantastic.
paigelm's review
2.0
I found the beginning of this book intriguing, opening in an interrogation room and two kids who know how a murder played out, but they have to stall. Pretty interesting, right? I also really liked Victor's, who was the main male protagonist, voice in this story and his relationship with his deceased father. However, certain aspects of this story seem to unbelievable. A bunch of kids living on their own in a greenhouse? Victor leaves his mom for days and no one knows where he is and there is not an all out manhunt for him? I mean he is under the age of 18 and gone for a week. Then Arnold can't resist but tie up everything neatly in a bow, and actually Victor and his new stepdad will get along, and Mad's uncle's murder will not be a big deal, and also there are two brothers from a country in Africa, Uganda, Rwanda? who escaped, but there whole family died, and then were adopted, but the older brother is going to write a book and collects people as chapters...Too much