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libraryam's review against another edition
3.0
Was this well-written? Yes. Am I glad I picked it? Not sure.
Emotionally tough read full of unflinching truth. Children are capable of terrible cruelty. Parents of well-intentioned (?), emotionally unintelligent, self-preserving oblivion.
Sometimes life is more about questions than answers. I'll be navel-gazing over this one for a while.
Emotionally tough read full of unflinching truth. Children are capable of terrible cruelty. Parents of well-intentioned (?), emotionally unintelligent, self-preserving oblivion.
Sometimes life is more about questions than answers. I'll be navel-gazing over this one for a while.
inesm_92's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
joebendun's review against another edition
4.75
You know when you find a theory interesting and then you see everything through that lens for ages? Well, I am currently on a "phenomenology" fix, and I can't help but feel that about every aspect of this book. It's rather good.
carolineroche's review against another edition
4.0
Well crafted like all Susan Hill novels. The book moves towards its inevitable, tragic conclusion. The book is a study of cruelty and bullying; of the blindness of adults and the power of one child over another. A great read.
tjits's review against another edition
3.0
Very emotional book, it made me angry + sad at the same time
skyemacdonald's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
many mixed feelings about this book. It put me in a reading slump for a couple of weeks as I read a few pages a night.
Just 200 pages of a kid bullying another kid, quite exhausting and mentally draining to read. It did provoke very deep emotions within me, but there wasn't really any level of enjoyment or connection to the characters at all. Kingshaw, for example, while he gets bullied, isn't exactly lovable himself.
The parents' complete blindness/ lack of acknowledgement of everything going on just felt completely unrealistic and annoying.
I liked the tragic ending, and it was the vivid imagery and quite perfect descriptions of certain scenarios that kept me reading, even though it was up there as one of my least favourites of the year. Though I will still read Susan Hill as she is supreme at creepy writing- this just wasn't creepy, but rather, irritating and daft. I am using it for examples of well written characters in an s2 class, however!
many mixed feelings about this book. It put me in a reading slump for a couple of weeks as I read a few pages a night.
Just 200 pages of a kid bullying another kid, quite exhausting and mentally draining to read. It did provoke very deep emotions within me, but there wasn't really any level of enjoyment or connection to the characters at all. Kingshaw, for example, while he gets bullied, isn't exactly lovable himself.
The parents' complete blindness/ lack of acknowledgement of everything going on just felt completely unrealistic and annoying.
I liked the tragic ending, and it was the vivid imagery and quite perfect descriptions of certain scenarios that kept me reading, even though it was up there as one of my least favourites of the year. Though I will still read Susan Hill as she is supreme at creepy writing- this just wasn't creepy, but rather, irritating and daft. I am using it for examples of well written characters in an s2 class, however!