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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I liked this book so much I would have read another 300 pages. The main character is a disaster but very understandable if you can get past the kidnapping. Well written with cute book and library themes.
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
an interesting tale of a children's library who happens to "kidnap" a young boy. Full of humorous connections/interpretations of children's stories woven into this humorous tale.
I couldn't with this one. The MC is unpleasant to spend so much time with, the plotting is off, and the overall premise, I just couldn't buy into. You can see glimpses of future Makkai in the sentence structure, but this story doesn't shine.
Emily bought me this book for my birthday, thinking (rightly) that it was up my alley. It features the following: a quirky young child, a road trip, a children's librarian, literary allusions, parents with secrets, and skepticism about Christian extremism. ALL THINGS I LIKE!
It did not disappoint. I can see lots of people I like enjoying this book and specifically want to put it in a couple friends' hands. I will admit that one has to suspend disbelief a bit -- really, she let it get this far? -- but I found myself eager to see how it'd all end, how Lucy would get out of the pickle of having kinda-sorta-mostly abducted a child (who himself ran away). Also, I particularly appreciated the demystification of Ian toward the end of the book. Was he really as brilliant and misunderstood as she'd believed, or was she projecting on him all along?
Oh, and way to throw in a religious relic in for laughs. GOD I love religious relics.
This is a terrible review of a great book. Forgive me, I'm tired...and also, I never write good reviews (I don't aim to). I write these blurbs so I'll remember what I liked or didn't like about books, as I am Forgetful Jones. So Heather, remember this: You liked the idea of an unqualified woman getting to work as a children's librarian, because you'd secretly love to switch places with her. You liked the strange, well-read boy with the oppressive religious parents, and you liked that the librarian found ways to sneak him the best books. You liked taking a vicarious roadtrip and you liked ending it sort of anticlimactically. You also liked that it ended with a thread of hope. And a reading list.
It did not disappoint. I can see lots of people I like enjoying this book and specifically want to put it in a couple friends' hands. I will admit that one has to suspend disbelief a bit -- really, she let it get this far? -- but I found myself eager to see how it'd all end, how Lucy would get out of the pickle of having kinda-sorta-mostly abducted a child (who himself ran away). Also, I particularly appreciated the demystification of Ian toward the end of the book. Was he really as brilliant and misunderstood as she'd believed, or was she projecting on him all along?
Oh, and way to throw in a religious relic in for laughs. GOD I love religious relics.
This is a terrible review of a great book. Forgive me, I'm tired...and also, I never write good reviews (I don't aim to). I write these blurbs so I'll remember what I liked or didn't like about books, as I am Forgetful Jones. So Heather, remember this: You liked the idea of an unqualified woman getting to work as a children's librarian, because you'd secretly love to switch places with her. You liked the strange, well-read boy with the oppressive religious parents, and you liked that the librarian found ways to sneak him the best books. You liked taking a vicarious roadtrip and you liked ending it sort of anticlimactically. You also liked that it ended with a thread of hope. And a reading list.
Librarian Lucy is an unreliable narrator, and that's actually a major theme in the book - the stories we think we know are not always true.
I work with kids, and every now and then I find myself wishing I could just take a certain kid home for a week or two, to straighten them out or give them a loving environment or whatever. Lucy actually makes off with a kid. Without permission. Because, although he's only 10, she's pretty sure that Ian is gay, and his parents are conservative Christians who are already taking him to classes to make sure he grows up straight. And they won't let him read hardly anything good.
Lucy's also coming to terms with her own past and family history, which she finds out is not quite what she thought.
There are references to children's literature throughout the book, and bits of the story that are written in the style of well-known children's books. There's even a Choose Your Own Adventure chapter!
Lucy sounds like an authentic 26-year-old -- still trying to separate herself from her family, and still unsure of what she's doing with her life (although she does end up staying in the library business).
Ian's a great character -- he's simultaneously a wonderful kid who loves to read, but also a boy who doesn't like his parents controlling him, and isn't above throwing a fit to get his way. I'd be very interested in reading a novel told from Ian's point of view, too. One thing that niggled at me -- the adult characters were all sure that Ian was gay, and I get that -- but they really never say WHY. "Loves books" doesn't really do it. I know sometimes you just KNOW, but still.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and actually took it along to a movie theater in order to finish it before the movie started, because I couldn't wait until we got back.
I work with kids, and every now and then I find myself wishing I could just take a certain kid home for a week or two, to straighten them out or give them a loving environment or whatever. Lucy actually makes off with a kid. Without permission. Because, although he's only 10, she's pretty sure that Ian is gay, and his parents are conservative Christians who are already taking him to classes to make sure he grows up straight. And they won't let him read hardly anything good.
Lucy's also coming to terms with her own past and family history, which she finds out is not quite what she thought.
There are references to children's literature throughout the book, and bits of the story that are written in the style of well-known children's books. There's even a Choose Your Own Adventure chapter!
Lucy sounds like an authentic 26-year-old -- still trying to separate herself from her family, and still unsure of what she's doing with her life (although she does end up staying in the library business).
Ian's a great character -- he's simultaneously a wonderful kid who loves to read, but also a boy who doesn't like his parents controlling him, and isn't above throwing a fit to get his way. I'd be very interested in reading a novel told from Ian's point of view, too. One thing that niggled at me -- the adult characters were all sure that Ian was gay, and I get that -- but they really never say WHY. "Loves books" doesn't really do it. I know sometimes you just KNOW, but still.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and actually took it along to a movie theater in order to finish it before the movie started, because I couldn't wait until we got back.
I absolutely loved the first few chapters of this book. Obviously written after an unforgivable act, which you were left to only guess at, this book was gripping. However, as the plot unfurled, the protagonist became the problematic center of a boring and drawn-out plot decorated with splatters of her immature thinking. My feeling of being disconnected from the plot was likely due to my sense of disconnect between the main two characters, who rarely had a tender moment.
Wasn't sure how to rate this - the writing was good, but the plot never really pulled me in. It seemed the further I got into the book, the less sense it made. Its full of fun mentions of books, literary passages, etc, that was nice for the librarian in me. I guess I was hoping for a little more common sense in place of some of the (literal) escapism.
The audio version of this book was more entertaining than I had anticipated. Some sections--especially the beginning--drag a bit. But overall a fun listening experience.
I love this book. It’s weird and silly, and a bit alarming in places. There are some dead ends (Rocky) but it’s overall good I think.