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xeyra1's review against another edition
4.0
I finished reading this book about a week ago. It was different, disturbing, a little sad, impressive and very engaging. I really couldn't put it down (except to actually get some sleep and some food in my stomach, because it's annoyingly necessary), and I enjoyed it very much. Been a while since I read a thriller but I really enjoyed this incursion into the human mind.
janelephant's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
chloeknight's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
cetoria's review against another edition
Loved the alternating POVs between Louis and his doctor and Jensen's prose is lovely.
diaadiary's review against another edition
4.0
“It’s a shameful thing for any parent to have to admit, but there are moments when the flesh of our flesh, the creatures we love most in the world, can fill us with passionate fury. Loathing, even” (70).
Summary:
Nine-year-old Louis Drax is an accident prone boy. Every year something violent happens to him but he manages to survive these accidents every time. On his ninth birthday, Louis and his parents go on a picnic and Louis falls off a cliff. He’s alive but deep in a coma and sent to Dr. Pascal Dannachet’s coma clinic.
This book is strange, sinister, vivid and freaking wild. It fools you once, twice and a third time. The writing is unsettling in that it’s both addicting and grotesque. The characters are so real and magnetic. They make you want to perform an autopsy of their thoughts and motives. Basically, this book is an adult version of a pop-up book.
Louis Drax is definitely not like any other character I’ve read about. His story consumes you from the start of the book, his words are so dark, and his voice literally snatches you by the collar and traps you into the chambers of his strange mind. On the other hand, Dr. Pasal Dannachet’s voice is like a shot of reality. The reader sympathizes with him and feels horrified alongside Dr. Dannachet as the mysteries of Louis’ birthday are gradually unraveled.
This book makes you question the people around you and what they are truly thinking. It makes you realize that there is so much information we don’t know about perception and what a human mind is capable of. There is so much to dissect from this novel and I think it n e e d s a reread.
Summary:
Nine-year-old Louis Drax is an accident prone boy. Every year something violent happens to him but he manages to survive these accidents every time. On his ninth birthday, Louis and his parents go on a picnic and Louis falls off a cliff. He’s alive but deep in a coma and sent to Dr. Pascal Dannachet’s coma clinic.
This book is strange, sinister, vivid and freaking wild. It fools you once, twice and a third time. The writing is unsettling in that it’s both addicting and grotesque. The characters are so real and magnetic. They make you want to perform an autopsy of their thoughts and motives. Basically, this book is an adult version of a pop-up book.
Louis Drax is definitely not like any other character I’ve read about. His story consumes you from the start of the book, his words are so dark, and his voice literally snatches you by the collar and traps you into the chambers of his strange mind. On the other hand, Dr. Pasal Dannachet’s voice is like a shot of reality. The reader sympathizes with him and feels horrified alongside Dr. Dannachet as the mysteries of Louis’ birthday are gradually unraveled.
This book makes you question the people around you and what they are truly thinking. It makes you realize that there is so much information we don’t know about perception and what a human mind is capable of. There is so much to dissect from this novel and I think it n e e d s a reread.
spookysoto's review against another edition
4.0
This is a weird book, I had it in my TBR because of a goodreads's recommendation but I have 1000+ books in it and I forgot it until Yesterday that I saw that a trailer for the movie came out (I didn't watch it then), and I went and read the synopsis and got this urge to read it, and so I did. I read this in two days, that's very rare for me, I'm not a fast reader and I usually read more than one book at a time, so this means I was really invested in the story, I just couldn't stop reading it.
I knew nothing about this book, only the small synopsis it has here in goodreads and I think this is the best way to experience it, going in blind. Basically it's the story of Louis Drax, a nine year old boy who is accident prone, an outcast and highly intelligent. On his ninth birthday he has another accident and is now in a coma, that's all I'm going to say.
The book is narrated from Louis and The doctor's point of view. I liked more the doctor's POV because I found Louis's voice and thoughts too weird and a bit creepy. The book has some twists and turns, that aren't too obvious and I think they're well done although I guessed them all, but that didn't detract me from enjoying it.
I liked the writing style, the dual perspectives, the fantastical elements and the pace of the book. It kept me intrigued all the way through.
I saw the movie trailer, there are some changes (the doctor is way younger) and some other weird things, but overall it looks like a good adaptation, we'll see.
I recommend it if you're looking for something different and a bit strange.
Louis ends the narrative by telling of the pleasure in being taken care of. Gustave, who, it is revealed, is actually the deceased Pierre, tells Louis to awaken from his coma.
Update: I saw the movie and, although the doctor is way younger, I liked it. I think it’s well adapted.
I knew nothing about this book, only the small synopsis it has here in goodreads and I think this is the best way to experience it, going in blind. Basically it's the story of Louis Drax, a nine year old boy who is accident prone, an outcast and highly intelligent. On his ninth birthday he has another accident and is now in a coma, that's all I'm going to say.
The book is narrated from Louis and The doctor's point of view. I liked more the doctor's POV because I found Louis's voice and thoughts too weird and a bit creepy. The book has some twists and turns, that aren't too obvious and I think they're well done although I guessed them all, but that didn't detract me from enjoying it.
I liked the writing style, the dual perspectives, the fantastical elements and the pace of the book. It kept me intrigued all the way through.
I saw the movie trailer, there are some changes (the doctor is way younger) and some other weird things, but overall it looks like a good adaptation, we'll see.
I recommend it if you're looking for something different and a bit strange.
Spoiler
Dannachet begins to suspect that Natalie was responsible for Louis’ injury when her story to the police is different and when Louis’ grandmother indicates that she was never raped. In an experiment, trying to get Louis to use the doctor as a channel again, Dannachet tells the real story of what happened at the picnic near the ravine. Pierre had found that Louis was taking Natalie’s birth control pills to ward off the possibility of becoming a rapist and Pierre threatened to take Louis away, which led the boy to deliberately walk off the cliff in order to let his mother be heroic. Louis tells this story through the doctor and then dies; he is revived, but still remains comatose.Louis ends the narrative by telling of the pleasure in being taken care of. Gustave, who, it is revealed, is actually the deceased Pierre, tells Louis to awaken from his coma.
Update: I saw the movie and, although the doctor is way younger, I liked it. I think it’s well adapted.
andintothetrees's review against another edition
2.0
I was about to open this by saying “Liz Jensen is one of the best authors I’ve discovered in 2012″, but let’s be honest, she’s not. Yes, I’ve also read The Rapture and My Dirty Little Book Of Stolen Time this year, and gave them 4 and 3 star reviews respectively, and yes, she does consistently deliver quirky plots and intriguing main characters, but Liz Jensen’s novels are sadly not up there with the likes of Kate Atkinson – certainly my best discovery of 2012 (and yes, I realise I’m very late to the party with finding her work!). I do still intend to read through Liz Jensen’s entire back catologue as there are aspects of her work I relish, and I wish more authors dared to be as original and wide-ranging in their narratives/subject matter, but all three of her books that I have read have fallen shy of being truly special.
... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/the-ninth-life-of-louis-drax-by-liz-jensen/]
... [Read the rest of my review here: https://whathannahread.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/the-ninth-life-of-louis-drax-by-liz-jensen/]
balibee146's review against another edition
5.0
The third Liz Jensen I've read.......she is a wonderful writer.
bunnieslikediamonds's review against another edition
4.0
Having read my first Liz Jensen (The Uninvited) recently, I expected The Ninth Life of Louis Drax to be equally difficult to categorize. It is definitely original, but more conventional in regard to the story than I anticipated. The answer to the mystery of why a nine-year-old boy is lying in a coma is just a matter of connecting the dots. I did that early on, but figured Jensen would turn everything upside down and present me with a totally unexpected mind-bending alternative. When she didn't, I grumbled a little and felt let down. But that says more about my preconceptions than it says about the novel. It's a very good book, if you can get past the parts where Louis yammers on in his vegetative state. Suspenseful, interesting, imaginative and quite the page-turner. One thing bothered me though. Suddenly there is a lot of philosophizing about women, women's nature, women's thinking and women's wily tricks, all based on one particular woman. One character even has to reassure another that not ALL women are conniving bitches. Where the frak did that come from?