Reviews

The Godless Boys by Naomi Wood

hisdarkmaterials's review against another edition

3.0

What really annoyed me about this was the fact it had SO much potential and Ms. Wood simply didn't live up to it. The plot is excellent, I was gripped. I enjoy the story for the most part and felt Ms. Wood have a fairly decent portrayal of how lonely life can be without community, stuck in the middle of nowhere. How perceived freedoms can be just the opposite. There were a lot of threads put into this novel and I just didn't feel Ms. Wood managed to make a knot out of them.

Do. Not. Get me started on the ending. I detest endings like that. We only really got a bit of Jake's side towards the very end so it was all a bit of a shock and a bit silly for me!

lucychen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

5.0

Usually when reading books with multiple perspectives I find the narration to be boring as I want to skip ahead to the section that I most want to read. However, I loved all the different characters and plots here and enjoyed reading all of them - especially Eliza's. Really surprised me that I enjoyed it as much as I did!

hey_laura_mc's review against another edition

3.0

I read this because I'd read Mrs Hemingway and adored it. The Godless Boys, however, isn't beautifully written and the characters and plot line isn't very credible - the complete opposite of Mrs Hemingway! It reads very much like a book where a young writer is finding her feet, which I suppose it is. Sad to think, though, that if I'd read this first I wouldn't have bothered with Mrs H. The Northern language is cringeworthy and the Malades gang-speak a weak rip-off of A Clockwork Orange. My advice would be give this a miss and read Mrs Hemingway instead.