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Creepy! A great ghost story with a disturbing twist.
This was heartbreaking and spooky. The end was incredibly depressing, but somewhat realistic in the fact that you don't always get justice.The art style was creepy and I liked the blend of pages of illustrations combined with diary entries.
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I received a copy of this book through Net galley. I loved the artwork and the combination of both stories being told through different mediums. It was also a relatively quick read and would be a great recommendation for a middle or YA reader that is more resistant to longer novels. The story is simple and doesn't provide a great deal of character development, but I didn't feel like it diminished the novel because of it. It's worth a read, but wouldn't be at the top of my list for recommendations. Though, it would be a great pick for a book club especially with the halloween season coming up.
dark
sad
The illustrations are what held this book together and is pretty much the reason for any stars. The story was so vague you could say it was like a ghost. Bad joke, I know -- but now you have an idea about the "plot."
Creepy, great combination of illustrations and text. Liked the switch between timelines.
Just finished this the day before Halloween and that feels appropriate as this is quite the eerie ghost story! This...this is for children? I guess this is for the ones that like getting the everliving crap scared out of them. The ones who enjoyed Coraline for instance, would be the perfect audience for this.
Thornhill is a black-and-white graphic novel/epistolary novel that follows poor, unfortunate Mary Baines and her neighbor, Ella Clarke. We meet Mary through her diary entries that begin in February of 1982 and go through August, and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that 1982 is a ROUGH year for Mary. We meet Ella in 2017 when she moves next door to Thornhill, next door to Mary.
The book switches back and forth from Mary's perspective and Ella's and it's an interesting juxtaposition. Mary's chapters are words, words, words she pours into her diary while Ella's chapters are wordless for the most part (we do occasionally see notes from absent Dad). At its heart, the book is about two lonely little girls, so lonely the unthinkable happens.
The book is Thornhill rather than Thornfield, but there's still a character named Jane, the "crazy" female in the attic, and the woes of a boarding school/orphanage. The book makes no secret of its inspirations, though, and Mary reads and references Jane Eyre and The Secret Garden.
Plenty of details up the creepy vibe of the book: the black-and-white illustrations, the semi-abandonment of vulnerable young girls by adults, the dolls/puppets Mary insists are her family and friends (sorry, Mary, this was not helping you in your quest to fit in!), the rundown Thornhill environment - it was all very effectively unsettling for me and I'm much older than the target audience (ages 10 - 14).
And can we talk about that ending, which I did not see coming??
Overall, I liked it.
Thornhill is a black-and-white graphic novel/epistolary novel that follows poor, unfortunate Mary Baines and her neighbor, Ella Clarke. We meet Mary through her diary entries that begin in February of 1982 and go through August, and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that 1982 is a ROUGH year for Mary. We meet Ella in 2017 when she moves next door to Thornhill, next door to Mary.
The book switches back and forth from Mary's perspective and Ella's and it's an interesting juxtaposition. Mary's chapters are words, words, words she pours into her diary while Ella's chapters are wordless for the most part (we do occasionally see notes from absent Dad). At its heart, the book is about two lonely little girls, so lonely the unthinkable happens.
The book is Thornhill rather than Thornfield, but there's still a character named Jane, the "crazy" female in the attic, and the woes of a boarding school/orphanage. The book makes no secret of its inspirations, though, and Mary reads and references Jane Eyre and The Secret Garden.
Plenty of details up the creepy vibe of the book: the black-and-white illustrations, the semi-abandonment of vulnerable young girls by adults, the dolls/puppets Mary insists are her family and friends (sorry, Mary, this was not helping you in your quest to fit in!), the rundown Thornhill environment - it was all very effectively unsettling for me and I'm much older than the target audience (ages 10 - 14).
And can we talk about that ending, which I did not see coming??
Spoiler
"Come be a ghost with me and we'll make dolls in the garden!" Did Ella willingly go to her death? Or was it a trap set by Mary so she would always have a friend? And are they going to trap new kid on the block, Jacob?Overall, I liked it.
3.5 stars, goodreads really needs to add the .5 option
I don't know how I feel about this one. This book has been marketed as a creepy book. And if you're going to market a book as creepy, deliver the creepy. I got something completely different than what I expected. However disappointed mainly because I assumed it is a creepy book, the story follows Mary who has chosen mutism and is driven to the heights of insanity by her bully. She is living around adults who don't care to listen to her, who don't care to understand her and only judge her. It portrayed how bullying can cause a person so much trauma and so much harm, that isolating another human being is so evil. All Mary wanted was a friend.
The illustrations were beautiful, the two different timelines of 1982 and 2017 had me confused in the beginning but I throughly enjoyed the story once I got the hang of it.
I don't know how I feel about this one. This book has been marketed as a creepy book. And if you're going to market a book as creepy, deliver the creepy. I got something completely different than what I expected. However disappointed mainly because I assumed it is a creepy book, the story follows Mary who has chosen mutism and is driven to the heights of insanity by her bully. She is living around adults who don't care to listen to her, who don't care to understand her and only judge her. It portrayed how bullying can cause a person so much trauma and so much harm, that isolating another human being is so evil. All Mary wanted was a friend.
The illustrations were beautiful, the two different timelines of 1982 and 2017 had me confused in the beginning but I throughly enjoyed the story once I got the hang of it.