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candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
5.0
I would discourage readers from looking at too many reviews before reading "A Ladder to the Sky" so as not to destroy the pleasure of the luscious way John Boyne rolls this novel out. That was my experience--I just saw that he had a new book and knew I wanted to read and review, without quite knowing what it was about.
What a treat to experience this novel fresh with no ideas of what to expect. Boyne creates such a rich reading experience, a page turner from start to finish, adding a new level to his already varied career. As well as loving "The Heart's Invisible Furies," I also was a big fan of his "House of Special Purpose." He has that gift of creating immediately arresting characters of any place or time and pulling the reader into the story to the point that it's hard to pull focus for the regular day.
So good. Don't miss.
What a treat to experience this novel fresh with no ideas of what to expect. Boyne creates such a rich reading experience, a page turner from start to finish, adding a new level to his already varied career. As well as loving "The Heart's Invisible Furies," I also was a big fan of his "House of Special Purpose." He has that gift of creating immediately arresting characters of any place or time and pulling the reader into the story to the point that it's hard to pull focus for the regular day.
So good. Don't miss.
caterinaanna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
dani_1405's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This is one fucked up book. Maurice Swift you will pay for your crimes. That being said I think this book is a well-written, deeply gripping story. I think that it is really testament to the writing that we don't get the perspective of the central character until the last third of the book and yet it kept me engaged the entire time. I also think the way that Maurice's psychopathy develops is fascinating with it starting as ruining someone's career to someone that loved him committing suicide and then to direct acts of violence in him murdering his wife and son. We also at the end then see that even when Maurice is arrested and in prison this cycle of violence doesn't end because he does the same thing he's always done, steals someone else's story, and publishes it. The only odd thing I felt was that obviously Boyne's 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' has been subject to controversy with people rightly pointing out that it seems to drive for sympathy towards the Nazi family who's patriarch runs one of the concentration camps, and in this book we have a slightly similar thing. Maurice's first victim Erich Ackerman is a German man who tells Maurice all about this boy he was in love with during the Nazi regime, he talks about his immense jealousy and the internal chaos he suffered being a gay man in 1940s Germany. We later learn that Erich in a fit of jealousy reported the boy's Jewish girlfriend and her family to the Nazis when the boy he loved planned on moving away with them. While in the book this is framed as a bad thing to do, Erich's reputation is ruined and he loses all future work, yet it is later postulated whether people should have been so hard on Erich given the context of what he did. And while I agree that comparing a envious gay man confused about his feelings and a literal Nazi officer is probably a bit much, it felt like an odd trend to Boyne's work. Ultimately I liked the way the tension built in this book and also the fact that we mainly got this from the point of view of his victims, I thought that was a great choice.
kristine8446's review against another edition
5.0
What is better than a novel that makes you hate the main character, then hate yourself for silently rooting for him? What is better than a novel that blurs the lines between right and wrong? Boyne delivers with extraordinary writing, control of pace, and phenomenal character development. The setting and time fall away as you read and you are left with the innermost thoughts & emotions of his characters. I have never read novels with more genuine, complex, REAL characters than those created by John Boyne. Highly recommended.
ashlyn_rae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
aoifemoore's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
bmleaman's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-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
4.25
carolinerd's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Maurice Swift wants to become a successful writer and will do whatever it takes to achieve this. He ingratiates himself with influential people in the literary world, exploiting and manipulating them then callously casting them aside when they have served their purpose. He steals other writers' stories and passes them off as his own. He is a fascinatingly loathsome sociopath who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. His behaviour becomes more and more twisted as the novel progresses. Just when you think you have seen it all, he shocks you again.
It paints an interesting picture of the literary/publishing world, capturing the rivalries and bitchiness, the pretentiousnes and snobbery and the obsession with literary prizes. The cutting exchanges between Maurice and the other characters are quite funny at times.
Actually, Maurice isn't the most horrible character in the book. Watch out for Rebecca, his sister-in-law, who is even more hateful and toxic. Then there is Maja, a particularly unpleasant creative writing student and Erich, the elderly author who grew up in Nazi Germany and has a chilling secret. I can't remember the last time I read a book with so many unlikeable characters in.
It is certainly a dark, disturbing read but also utterly compelling.
It paints an interesting picture of the literary/publishing world, capturing the rivalries and bitchiness, the pretentiousnes and snobbery and the obsession with literary prizes. The cutting exchanges between Maurice and the other characters are quite funny at times.
Actually, Maurice isn't the most horrible character in the book. Watch out for Rebecca, his sister-in-law, who is even more hateful and toxic. Then there is Maja, a particularly unpleasant creative writing student and Erich, the elderly author who grew up in Nazi Germany and has a chilling secret. I can't remember the last time I read a book with so many unlikeable characters in.
It is certainly a dark, disturbing read but also utterly compelling.
melmac79's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5