233 reviews for:

Caging Skies

Christine Leunens

2.94 AVERAGE


the movie was great, the book…not so much
dark informative sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I thought the beginning was amazing. The little boy having the complete opposite views of his family because of how he was taught at school. It really made me believe how Hitler was able to gain power. Then I book got a bit samey and the characters became unlikable. I never felt sympathy for Elsa, which I think is a major flaw. 
adventurous dark reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Een zeldzaamheid dat de film beter is dan het boek.

In het begin las het snel en vond ik het fijn. Hoe verder het verhaal zich ontplooide, hoe langzamer het was om te lezen. Een hoofdpersonage die verschrikkelijk is en niet verbetert, het was heel vermoeiend om in zijn hoofd te blijven zitten. Anticlimactisch einde.

Als ik de film niet has gezien vond ik het misschien beter.
emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Honestly, I think it’s generally an okay book, but I cannot stand the main character and don’t agree with him at all!
dark informative slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was adapted by Taika Waititi into the award winning film JoJo Rabbit.
Now I am going to say something controversial... I liked the movie better than the book. This I feel was due to Taika’s decision to make the main character younger and thus much more innocent and sympathetic than his book counterpart. The movie also only covered the first half of the book, which was a good choice as some of the things Johannes does in the second half made me despise him.
Putting the movie aside... this book was good to read for context during these trying times. Being isolated to your house is a luxury compared to the inner lining of a wall/under the floor boards for years at a time like the Jews had to do to avoid death. By the end of the book Johannes ends up losing everything as he is disabled in the war so he cannot get a job, you go through periods of hating the way he treats Elsa (especially lying to her for years that the Germans won the war so he can keep her to himself) to feeling pity for what he has to suffer through due to his country looking down on his disability.
This is a brilliant book, especially worth the read if you need some perspective right now. My rating
emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Easy read with a solid plot and character development

1 ⭐

It's a bit hard for me to collect my thoughts. I was expecting myself to like it and enjoy reading it, but sadly that did not happen. I liked the first part of the story, when the parents where still very much present. After they passed the story quickly went downhill for me. I absolutely cannot stand Johannes... all the lies and keeping Elsa quite literally in prisonment made my blood boil. Reading the second half of the book i skipped paragraphs and whole pages... plus the end didn't really give me anything! Honestly, a tad bit disappointed in this one.
dark emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes