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katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
Captive's point of view, emotional and harrowing Room-esque narrator and story.
I immediately felt 'Room' was a fair comparison with Outside. Ele lives in a room with the Others, and until recently with Zeb. They are kept there by 'Him', who sends food and water in and regularly visits the teenage Ele.
Ele knows there is more to the world than Inside though. She's grown up reading a book of fairy tales that shows her a world of princesses, witches, ogres and princes on horseback ready to rescue. This is how she sees her world:
"But the Princess had no way down, for the door to the Tower was locked and graded by a fierce Witch."
We have to piece together an understanding of who these people are, how they got there. When the chance to escape rears its head, Ele will find that Outside is nothing like she expected.
I found the Inside chapters quite confusing, as I think we are meant to - Ele's perspective is disorderly and disorientating. It becomes hardly less as Ele enters Outside and sees it through her own fairy tale lens. Seeing Ele gradually begin to merge her understanding with real life also reminded me of Room, though Ele is much older than that young narrator.
Willow, the boy Ele meets who allows her to slowly become accustomed to Outside, seems too good to be true - a gentle soul, kind and patient, a musician with a father willing to allow a stranger into his home. This seemed very coincidental to me, but as I wanted to know the truth about Ele, I didn't really question it.
The story gives scope for closure and for everything to be made clear. There are revelations, a few twists and it's quite a harrowing journey with Ele.
With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.
I immediately felt 'Room' was a fair comparison with Outside. Ele lives in a room with the Others, and until recently with Zeb. They are kept there by 'Him', who sends food and water in and regularly visits the teenage Ele.
Ele knows there is more to the world than Inside though. She's grown up reading a book of fairy tales that shows her a world of princesses, witches, ogres and princes on horseback ready to rescue. This is how she sees her world:
"But the Princess had no way down, for the door to the Tower was locked and graded by a fierce Witch."
We have to piece together an understanding of who these people are, how they got there. When the chance to escape rears its head, Ele will find that Outside is nothing like she expected.
I found the Inside chapters quite confusing, as I think we are meant to - Ele's perspective is disorderly and disorientating. It becomes hardly less as Ele enters Outside and sees it through her own fairy tale lens. Seeing Ele gradually begin to merge her understanding with real life also reminded me of Room, though Ele is much older than that young narrator.
Willow, the boy Ele meets who allows her to slowly become accustomed to Outside, seems too good to be true - a gentle soul, kind and patient, a musician with a father willing to allow a stranger into his home. This seemed very coincidental to me, but as I wanted to know the truth about Ele, I didn't really question it.
The story gives scope for closure and for everything to be made clear. There are revelations, a few twists and it's quite a harrowing journey with Ele.
With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.
ameserole's review
4.0
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Outside was such a great book! It definitely reminded me of some other books that I read last year (or so), like Room. Haven't seen the movie yet but if it's like the book, then I'm sure I will love it.
In this, you will meet Ele. Now she was an interesting character to meet. She was different and unique.. but giving her circumstance - it's something that one would expect as well. Again, she was intriguing and definitely held my interest. The only thing I didn't like was how immature she was or at least her views on things. It kind of made me do some eye rolls and other stuff but then again, I still liked this book.
Now I love a good dark book every now and then - and this book definitely delivered. It's not only an eye opener for what Ele went through.. but it definitely shows what happens to people who go through this. Heck, are going through this. This book gave me some cringe-worthy moments. Good cringe-worthy moments because I was hooked for the entire book.
Overall, I'm glad that I got this ARC and took a chance on it. I enjoyed it immensely and will definitely look forward to dive into another book by this author.
Outside was such a great book! It definitely reminded me of some other books that I read last year (or so), like Room. Haven't seen the movie yet but if it's like the book, then I'm sure I will love it.
In this, you will meet Ele. Now she was an interesting character to meet. She was different and unique.. but giving her circumstance - it's something that one would expect as well. Again, she was intriguing and definitely held my interest. The only thing I didn't like was how immature she was or at least her views on things. It kind of made me do some eye rolls and other stuff but then again, I still liked this book.
Now I love a good dark book every now and then - and this book definitely delivered. It's not only an eye opener for what Ele went through.. but it definitely shows what happens to people who go through this. Heck, are going through this. This book gave me some cringe-worthy moments. Good cringe-worthy moments because I was hooked for the entire book.
Overall, I'm glad that I got this ARC and took a chance on it. I enjoyed it immensely and will definitely look forward to dive into another book by this author.
alongreader's review
3.0
I thought the premise of this sounded really interesting, but I couldn't get into the story at all. I see a lot of comparisons with Room, and it does share similarities, but where Jack had Ma to explain things to him, Ele seems to have become well versed in Outside without any help at all. I'm sure others will like it, but it wasn't for me, sadly. DNF at 15%.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
catrad's review
5.0
Gripping, devastating and utterly unputdownable. I think this book might have broken me
owls_rainbow's review
4.0
Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.
This was a hard book to rate, I hovered between 3 and 4 stars but eventually settled on 4 simply for how compelling it was.
We follow Ele who is held captive by someone known only as Him. She lives with some she calls the Others. I never figured out myself what they were initially, they were described so oddly. She used to have a brother, Zeb, but now he's a stain on the floor. She is obsessed with trees, fairytales and going Outside.
Eventually through a twist of luck Ele makes it Outside where she meets Willow and his dad, both struggling with the recent bereavement of Willow's mum. This section was the hardest to believe. How many people find a naked teenage-ish girl with a limited grasp of English e.g. lights are sun bars, and decide to keep her? Rural area or not most people would call the authorities.
The last quarter of the book was exceptionally emotional and I wish it hadn't have been so compressed, I wanted more of the aftermath. Overall a uniquely written, compelling novel.
This was a hard book to rate, I hovered between 3 and 4 stars but eventually settled on 4 simply for how compelling it was.
We follow Ele who is held captive by someone known only as Him. She lives with some she calls the Others. I never figured out myself what they were initially, they were described so oddly. She used to have a brother, Zeb, but now he's a stain on the floor. She is obsessed with trees, fairytales and going Outside.
Eventually through a twist of luck Ele makes it Outside where she meets Willow and his dad, both struggling with the recent bereavement of Willow's mum. This section was the hardest to believe. How many people find a naked teenage-ish girl with a limited grasp of English e.g. lights are sun bars, and decide to keep her? Rural area or not most people would call the authorities.
The last quarter of the book was exceptionally emotional and I wish it hadn't have been so compressed, I wanted more of the aftermath. Overall a uniquely written, compelling novel.
nannyf's review
3.0
I’m so undecided on this book if I’m being perfectly honest. To start with this was too much like Emma Donoghue’s story Room for my liking. It just didn’t have the unique feel that a story should have. However once the story got going it became harder for me to put down.
There are quite a few twists along the way, one happening near the end of the story, and these give an added dimension to the book. There are themes throughout which make for uneasy reading at times.
This was an okay read for me, I honestly wanted to like it more than I did. Although it had its moments I just couldn’t get away from the feeling that I wanted a more unique feel to the story.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.
There are quite a few twists along the way, one happening near the end of the story, and these give an added dimension to the book. There are themes throughout which make for uneasy reading at times.
This was an okay read for me, I honestly wanted to like it more than I did. Although it had its moments I just couldn’t get away from the feeling that I wanted a more unique feel to the story.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy.
brighid637's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.75
Beautifully written, I read it in a day. Appears as a slight fantasy but more real than you think, with a very good twist ending. Go into the book with an open mind - some harsh topics not often addressed in YA fiction. Overall, a brilliant read.
bigbeardedbookseller's review
4.0
Ele lives Inside with The Others and is visited by Him, but dreams of The Outside which she only knows from a few books that are in The Tower with them.
A tale of abuse, horror, fear, and redemption. Sarah Ann Juckes takes this tale into dark places that made it very difficult to read at times but Ele is such a strong character with a unique voice, I had to keep returning to it to find out what she did yet.
Ele sees The Outside through completely naive eyes and approaches everything with an innocent wonder that you begin to see our world through her eyes afresh.
Compelling story telling with a completely unexpected plot twist at the end.
Don't miss out on this if you liked 'Room'.
A tale of abuse, horror, fear, and redemption. Sarah Ann Juckes takes this tale into dark places that made it very difficult to read at times but Ele is such a strong character with a unique voice, I had to keep returning to it to find out what she did yet.
Ele sees The Outside through completely naive eyes and approaches everything with an innocent wonder that you begin to see our world through her eyes afresh.
Compelling story telling with a completely unexpected plot twist at the end.
Don't miss out on this if you liked 'Room'.
heathssm's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
juliette_d_03's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0