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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This is a really lovely book, rich with imagery of a rural French village, and the ending was a bit of a surprise that I really didn't see coming. I love Claude's gentleness with the girls, and felt as if I too were running through the low field, past the donkeys, and up to the girl nest, with Merlin the dog barking my arrival. I could feel the despair of the mother as seen through a child's eyes, and ended up reading this book in three days.
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a lovely, easy read. It was interesting written from a 5 year old's perspective.
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Since reading “Room”, I’ve wondered if there is a book that comes close to capturing a child’s imagination. Then I stumbled on this beautiful book!
The way Claire king describes the world through a child’s eyes is a hard trick to pull off, and is by turns very funny and incredibly moving. I loved the strange logic the 5 year old heroine uses to make sense of her circumstances, with rules and explanations for things that no adult will explain.
A beautiful picture of a child’s imagination, and the potential effects of grief and neglect.
The way Claire king describes the world through a child’s eyes is a hard trick to pull off, and is by turns very funny and incredibly moving. I loved the strange logic the 5 year old heroine uses to make sense of her circumstances, with rules and explanations for things that no adult will explain.
A beautiful picture of a child’s imagination, and the potential effects of grief and neglect.
I'm torn between giving this 3 1/2 to 4 stars really. The setting for the book is southern france and the descriptions of the landscape and the food really make you feel you are there with the main character Pea. Pea is a five year old and the book is told from her perspective. her father has died and her mother is heavily pregnant and withdrawn from the world and Pea. Pea tries to make her mother happy by cleaning and doing things she thinks are right, but a five years old what really is the right thing. While out walking across the low meadow and windy hill Pea meets Claude a neighbour and they form a friendship. now this is where i have some issues with the book, Pea is five years old and she talks and acts sometimes like an adult which for me at times makes the book a bit jarring. that being said as the book progressed and certain things became apparent (i don't want to give anything away) this sort of explained some things that a first didn't seem right. all in all i enjoyed the book its written beautifully and emotionally and for a first book the author has achieved heartfelt book and so would search out other books by this author.
adventurous
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A very sweet book, sad, poignant but ultimately insubstantial. I was moved, and I believed in most of the characters, although Joanna's complete disregard and her occasional exhibitions of extreme callousness made her hard to forgive, despite her circumstances and, in my experience, grief is not an acceptable excuse for the abuse a child by neglect no matter how much you would like the world to go away and your own sadness with it. Poor Margot did not get the exit she deserved when the book drew to a close, and it is rare for me to gasp whilst reading as I did at the end of one of the last chapters. I liked Pea.
This book was the most recent Book Buddy Box book and I hadn't heard of it before receiving it for my box. I definitely think this has some wonderful elements to it, but for me it felt a little bit predictable and also a bit longer than necessary. I think this would have been an excellent novella, but as a novel it did stretch on for a bit longer than I really felt necessary.
As always, with the BookBuddyBox books, this book had added annotations from Elena with her thoughts and ideas on the story. I really enjoyed seeing her thoughts and if I was rating the service of the Book Buddy Box I would always give it 5*s. However, judging it by the book alone I would give the book a 3*s becuase this one just didn't quite work entirely for me...
This is the story of Pea and Margot. Pea is a young girl with a dead father and a fairly absent, grief-stricken and heavily pregnant mother. Her sister Margot and she run wild in the meadows of their farm and they meet strangers, dogs and have all sorts of adventures. Alongside the fun and dangers of being outside all day, they have to deal with the adults around them grieving, overlooking them, and being angry. This truly is a sad little tale of a young child not knowing what to do to help her mother, and a mother not knowing how to cope.
I think the language in some sections of this book and the themes it tried to tackle are all great. I wish it had been a shorter story as it moved pretty slow for my liking and I did see some things coming early on, but as a novel it was definitely an engaging story and one I liked in the end. 3*s from me :)
As always, with the BookBuddyBox books, this book had added annotations from Elena with her thoughts and ideas on the story. I really enjoyed seeing her thoughts and if I was rating the service of the Book Buddy Box I would always give it 5*s. However, judging it by the book alone I would give the book a 3*s becuase this one just didn't quite work entirely for me...
This is the story of Pea and Margot. Pea is a young girl with a dead father and a fairly absent, grief-stricken and heavily pregnant mother. Her sister Margot and she run wild in the meadows of their farm and they meet strangers, dogs and have all sorts of adventures. Alongside the fun and dangers of being outside all day, they have to deal with the adults around them grieving, overlooking them, and being angry. This truly is a sad little tale of a young child not knowing what to do to help her mother, and a mother not knowing how to cope.
I think the language in some sections of this book and the themes it tried to tackle are all great. I wish it had been a shorter story as it moved pretty slow for my liking and I did see some things coming early on, but as a novel it was definitely an engaging story and one I liked in the end. 3*s from me :)
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
This was a little bumpy to start, but eventually it grew into a very strong, well-written, and heart-breaking story. I stayed up late crying my eyes out to finish this.