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buecherfuechsin's review
5.0
OH MY GOUDA, this book! It tells the story of five orphans in 19th century Amsterdam who are thrown into an adventure when they are forced to escape their orphanage one night.
I fell in love with Lotta, Sem, Fenna, Egg and Milou and was sad to let them go after I finished reading.
I fell in love with Lotta, Sem, Fenna, Egg and Milou and was sad to let them go after I finished reading.
therewasanattempt's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I loved this. There's more talk about death than I expected but it feels so cosy and heartfelt and I loved all the characters. The only drawback in my opinion is that the ending felt kind of rushed in comparison to the rest of the book. We spent so long searching for answers that I wish we'd sat a bit longer when we got them. It also could get a bit difficult to keep track of all of the characters sometimes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
Moderate: Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Slavery
zoe_94's review against another edition
4.0
Very pleasant read set in an unusual and delightful setting.
wylanslcve's review against another edition
3.0
First off, is everyone here? By everyone, I mean readers who either 1) loved this book, 2) hated it because of the story itself or 3) those who think it's problematic, offensive and disgusting.
Oh, and there's also me - someone who's kind of in the middle of all of this.
I stumbled across this book whilst watching one of Ruby Granger's vlogs on YouTube and was immediately intrigued. I looked a bit more into the book before finding it in Dymocks about a month later - and I knew I just HAD to pick this book up.
In [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909], we follow five children (who all have terrible names, mind you - it kind of raises a few red flags) who are considered . . . well, unadoptable due to their differences: Egg is of East-Asian heritage; Fenna is mute; Lotta has twelve fingers; Sem is implied to be a tall and gangly boy with supposedly large ears; and Milou (pronounced Mil-oo apparently - seriously, who named this child?) is outspoken - something that wasn't seen as appropriate for females to be.
The title already sends a bunch of warning signs. The reasons why these children are unadoptable sends a bunch of warning signs. Even their names mean that something's not right with this book. However, while [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909] is in desperate need of a title change, it's set in the late 1800s - and the perception of people who weren't white or people with disabilities was very different to what it is now. However, this is a middle grade book, and I don't think little kids who barely know the history of their own country would be able to determine that these values were different. This is why I think this should NOT have been a children's book.
Just be reading the description, I could tell that this was going to be a story about found families (which I have no issues with) - however, I was also expecting to see if the children would ever find out that they were still "adoptable" regardless of their differences.
Spoiler alert: it did not work out the way I'd hoped.
And yet . . . this didn't have a very huge impact on whether or not I liked the book itself - in short, it was a fun little story that explores what it means to have a family. However, the author should have also explored that any child can be adopted, because any child CAN be adopted.
Now, what about the actual story?
First off, the positives: there is no doubt that [a:Hana Tooke|19473508|Hana Tooke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1566126762p2/19473508.jpg] can write. Her writing style is beautiful but not too over-the-top that it overwhelms the target audience. The dynamic between the five children was purely adorable and I absolutely loved it. The atmosphere that Tooke created in Amsterdam (and I've never read a book that is set in the Netherlands - unless you count [b:The Fault in Our Stars|11870085|The Fault in Our Stars|John Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360206420l/11870085._SY75_.jpg|16827462], but we won't) was gorgeous even though the worldbuilding wasn't all that great.
Now, onto the negatives: Milou was annoying as heck. She was selfish and annoying (not because she was outspoken) and basically told the others that she needs to do what she needs to before anyone else can *tries not to spoil* - for example, "you guys can't find out anything about your families until I do". And she felt slightly underdeveloped by the end of the novel - actually, all the characters were kind of underdeveloped. It would have been nice if the story was told from ALL of their perspectives rather than just Milou's - that way, we could have had some insight into how the others struggle with accepting who they are.
The worldbuilding could have been better (I know, it's a middle grade, but I wanted to learn a bit more about the orphanage than just brief recounts from the children and the click, clack of the matron's heels) in terms of developing the orphanage. This is just a personal preference and nothing that would impact the story itself if it weren't there.
And, of course, there's the matter with Tooke not exploring that every child is "adoptable" that wouldn't have made her look like a racist and ableist author to many readers.
I'm still giving this book 3 stars because, overall, it was a decent book. It was a fun little story with beautiful writing and a decent premise that could have had better execution. However, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not you should read it.
Oh, and there's also me - someone who's kind of in the middle of all of this.
I stumbled across this book whilst watching one of Ruby Granger's vlogs on YouTube and was immediately intrigued. I looked a bit more into the book before finding it in Dymocks about a month later - and I knew I just HAD to pick this book up.
In [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909], we follow five children (who all have terrible names, mind you - it kind of raises a few red flags) who are considered . . . well, unadoptable due to their differences: Egg is of East-Asian heritage; Fenna is mute; Lotta has twelve fingers; Sem is implied to be a tall and gangly boy with supposedly large ears; and Milou (pronounced Mil-oo apparently - seriously, who named this child?) is outspoken - something that wasn't seen as appropriate for females to be.
The title already sends a bunch of warning signs. The reasons why these children are unadoptable sends a bunch of warning signs. Even their names mean that something's not right with this book. However, while [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909] is in desperate need of a title change, it's set in the late 1800s - and the perception of people who weren't white or people with disabilities was very different to what it is now. However, this is a middle grade book, and I don't think little kids who barely know the history of their own country would be able to determine that these values were different. This is why I think this should NOT have been a children's book.
Just be reading the description, I could tell that this was going to be a story about found families (which I have no issues with) - however, I was also expecting to see if the children would ever find out that they were still "adoptable" regardless of their differences.
Spoiler alert: it did not work out the way I'd hoped.
And yet . . . this didn't have a very huge impact on whether or not I liked the book itself - in short, it was a fun little story that explores what it means to have a family. However, the author should have also explored that any child can be adopted, because any child CAN be adopted.
Now, what about the actual story?
First off, the positives: there is no doubt that [a:Hana Tooke|19473508|Hana Tooke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1566126762p2/19473508.jpg] can write. Her writing style is beautiful but not too over-the-top that it overwhelms the target audience. The dynamic between the five children was purely adorable and I absolutely loved it. The atmosphere that Tooke created in Amsterdam (and I've never read a book that is set in the Netherlands - unless you count [b:The Fault in Our Stars|11870085|The Fault in Our Stars|John Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360206420l/11870085._SY75_.jpg|16827462], but we won't) was gorgeous even though the worldbuilding wasn't all that great.
Now, onto the negatives: Milou was annoying as heck. She was selfish and annoying (not because she was outspoken) and basically told the others that she needs to do what she needs to before anyone else can *tries not to spoil* - for example, "you guys can't find out anything about your families until I do". And she felt slightly underdeveloped by the end of the novel - actually, all the characters were kind of underdeveloped. It would have been nice if the story was told from ALL of their perspectives rather than just Milou's - that way, we could have had some insight into how the others struggle with accepting who they are.
The worldbuilding could have been better (I know, it's a middle grade, but I wanted to learn a bit more about the orphanage than just brief recounts from the children and the click, clack of the matron's heels) in terms of developing the orphanage. This is just a personal preference and nothing that would impact the story itself if it weren't there.
And, of course, there's the matter with Tooke not exploring that every child is "adoptable" that wouldn't have made her look like a racist and ableist author to many readers.
I'm still giving this book 3 stars because, overall, it was a decent book. It was a fun little story with beautiful writing and a decent premise that could have had better execution. However, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not you should read it.
robin_figliaunica's review against another edition
5.0
Gli inadottabili
Hana Tooke, illustrazioni di Ayesha L. Rubio
edito @rizzolilibri
Amsterdam, 1892.
Cinque strani neonati arrivano all’orfanotrofio del Piccolo Tulipano.
Milou, Dita, Oval, Finny e Sem vengono definiti “inadottabili, casi disperati di cui l’arcigna direttrice, la signora Gassbeek, non riesce a liberarsi.
Loro però sono uniti come fratelli e nell’amicizia hanno trovato la forza di resistere alle dure mansioni che vengono assegnate.
Si avvicina un commerciante di zucchero in abiti eleganti e baffi che non ispirano fiducia, propone di adottarli in gruppo, potrebbe essere la loro occasione di diventare una famiglia ma… è qui che inizia l’avventura tra i canali e i mulini a vento della città.
Per saperne come va a finire, non vi resta che leggerlo!
È un romanzo per ragazzi, una storia ben scritta, con piccoli personaggi ma grandi personalità. Ci sono suspence, colpi di scena e un pizzico di fantasy, adatto ai giovani lettori.
Hana Tooke, illustrazioni di Ayesha L. Rubio
edito @rizzolilibri
Amsterdam, 1892.
Cinque strani neonati arrivano all’orfanotrofio del Piccolo Tulipano.
Milou, Dita, Oval, Finny e Sem vengono definiti “inadottabili, casi disperati di cui l’arcigna direttrice, la signora Gassbeek, non riesce a liberarsi.
Loro però sono uniti come fratelli e nell’amicizia hanno trovato la forza di resistere alle dure mansioni che vengono assegnate.
Si avvicina un commerciante di zucchero in abiti eleganti e baffi che non ispirano fiducia, propone di adottarli in gruppo, potrebbe essere la loro occasione di diventare una famiglia ma… è qui che inizia l’avventura tra i canali e i mulini a vento della città.
Per saperne come va a finire, non vi resta che leggerlo!
È un romanzo per ragazzi, una storia ben scritta, con piccoli personaggi ma grandi personalità. Ci sono suspence, colpi di scena e un pizzico di fantasy, adatto ai giovani lettori.
jacquelinecg's review against another edition
5.0
《5/5》
Una historia muy tierna y llena de emociones para un grupo de niños que busca un lugar para vivir y ser felices.
Una historia muy tierna y llena de emociones para un grupo de niños que busca un lugar para vivir y ser felices.
augustfairy's review
4.0
A lot of people criticizing this book don’t seem to realize that a lot of kids in the system don’t get adopted. Just because someone writes a book about them, doesn’t mean it’s harmful, if done correctly, which in my opinion, this book was.
The message of this story is that the things that make you unique are also the things that you can make use of. That these things don’t necessarily define you (Lotta’s smartness was more important than her fingers, Milou’s imagination and storytelling abilities were more important than her unruliness etc etc). That found family can be anything and it doesn’t have to be a traditional one, just people who love you and wouldn’t leave you.
(And someone did adopt all of them in the end especially because of their outside the box thinking and skillfulness.)
When it comes to the plot, yes, there were plot holes and at times I felt some things were described in too much detail while other things were left vague. Note, that this is a children’s book and some of the things that kids enjoy reading, adults might not and vice versa so I attributed this to the genre.
Overall, the prose was beautifully written, the story was interesting and well thought out and the message of the book was good.
(I don’t know if people who didn’t get it just didn’t make it to the end - some admittedly said so - or just got too offended in the beginning to see the big picture without that negative attitude. Admittedly, I was also skeptical in the beginning about the representation of orphans but in the end I do think the writer did a great job.)
The message of this story is that the things that make you unique are also the things that you can make use of. That these things don’t necessarily define you (Lotta’s smartness was more important than her fingers, Milou’s imagination and storytelling abilities were more important than her unruliness etc etc). That found family can be anything and it doesn’t have to be a traditional one, just people who love you and wouldn’t leave you.
(And someone did adopt all of them in the end especially because of their outside the box thinking and skillfulness.)
When it comes to the plot, yes, there were plot holes and at times I felt some things were described in too much detail while other things were left vague. Note, that this is a children’s book and some of the things that kids enjoy reading, adults might not and vice versa so I attributed this to the genre.
Overall, the prose was beautifully written, the story was interesting and well thought out and the message of the book was good.
(I don’t know if people who didn’t get it just didn’t make it to the end - some admittedly said so - or just got too offended in the beginning to see the big picture without that negative attitude. Admittedly, I was also skeptical in the beginning about the representation of orphans but in the end I do think the writer did a great job.)
dutchie84's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5