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scrollsofdragons's review
3.0
I'm on the dad's side, true what he did was selfish but I understand him way more then I do the mother. She's never there and the dad was the one who pratically raised them but because of mental health issues she wants to cut his time with the children to basically nothing.
What we see of her gives me this distant figure and like the kids when thier dad is like it's either me or your mom like this is your choice and they're so quick and so easy to pick thier dad because they're closer to him and like the decision is hardly a struggle to just leave thier mom behind and that speaks volumes for how crappy of a parent she is if her kids barely find it a struggle to choose staying with the dad who just kidnapped them.
The fact that the dad wanted split custody despite having been there more for his children and she just wanted full custody all because he fucked up that one time.
I really feel Louis is not going back for his mom either but is going back because in France he can make dancing an career while on the run with his father he could not. Like yeah his mom is part of the reason but I feel she was a smaller part of his overall decision.
I get why the book ended on him leaving but still I would have preferred the epilogue to be in the future when they're reunited to give some answers.
What we see of her gives me this distant figure and like the kids when thier dad is like it's either me or your mom like this is your choice and they're so quick and so easy to pick thier dad because they're closer to him and like the decision is hardly a struggle to just leave thier mom behind and that speaks volumes for how crappy of a parent she is if her kids barely find it a struggle to choose staying with the dad who just kidnapped them.
The fact that the dad wanted split custody despite having been there more for his children and she just wanted full custody all because he fucked up that one time.
I really feel Louis is not going back for his mom either but is going back because in France he can make dancing an career while on the run with his father he could not. Like yeah his mom is part of the reason but I feel she was a smaller part of his overall decision.
I get why the book ended on him leaving but still I would have preferred the epilogue to be in the future when they're reunited to give some answers.
neenor's review
5.0
Suzuma is definitely becoming one of my favourite authors. This is the second book of hers that I have read, and although I preferred the other one a little bit more, I still utterly loved this one. The thing I really like about her books is that she deals with topics that we all know and think about, but barely ever read about - well, in teenage books, anyway. This novel was about a depressed father taking his three children away from France to Paris after he lost the custody battle with his ex-wife. From the beginning, the reader knows about them being abducted, and for the first half of the book you are just sat waiting for one of them to find out. And they do halfway through the story, just like I said - which confused me. All I could think of was, what is going to happen for the rest of the book? I don't want to spoil what happens, but I thought it was an excellent twist to what I was expecting, and the ending was fantastic - again, totally unexpected but perfect. Suzuma shows in this novel that situations like these are far more complicated than we can understand, and she shows this so beautifully. As you read, you really become attached to the characters of Louis, Max and Millie - and even their kidnapping Father. At the end I could feel tears welling up in m eyes , and I just wish there had been one more chapter, because it kind of ends on a cliffhanger. You want to find out what happens to the family - do they get caught, or do they get away with it? What does Max do when he hits sixteen? What does Louis do when he hits sixteen? However, a sequel just wouldn't be good for this book - it is so amazing and moving as it is. My praise for Suzuma is endless and I hope to read some of her other books in the future.
cewhisenant's review
3.0
Not the author’s best, but I devoured and loved it nonetheless. Amazing concept and decent execution. On to the next Suzuma novel!
Full review to come.
Full review to come.
owlwaysbookish's review
3.0
I have never read a book like this before, I was so interesting. It helps you get an entirely different perspective for all this kind of thing seen in the news. A lot of it was really shocking, the kind of things like the divorce, the court case it was all very realistic reasons why this happened. Their dad decided to kidnap Louis, Max and Millie across the country as he wanted his kids. Which yeah everyone wants their kids but it's obviously not right how it happened. Their mother was putting up wanted posters and had no idea where they were but their entire appearance had changed from hair style, colour, contacts.
For a few months they began to settle down, start clubs, go to school and make friends. Louis got close with another girl who danced, I was sensing a love element beginning and really didn't want anything to happen. She kisses his brother Max, he's older and it all felt very unnecessary to me, this book would have worked fine without any love story parts.
It was clever to see how each child reacted to the situation and having to remember their names, make new friends and live in an entirely new place compared to Paris.
They got very close to being caught several times, the police came as she wrote about this in her diary and they ran, got on a plane. But Louis made the decision that he wanted to go back to his mother. His father didn't stop him and he phoned his other and the booked ended.
I would have really liked to have seen what happened after, or in the future, I felt so let down by not knowing what happened after, which I think would have been a major plot point and could have been such a good epilogue. Did they all return home after? Did the father go to jail? How did the mother react? How were Louis' friends? etc. So many questions.
Overall this book was very interesting and had a unique perspective about real world issue.
For a few months they began to settle down, start clubs, go to school and make friends. Louis got close with another girl who danced, I was sensing a love element beginning and really didn't want anything to happen. She kisses his brother Max, he's older and it all felt very unnecessary to me, this book would have worked fine without any love story parts.
It was clever to see how each child reacted to the situation and having to remember their names, make new friends and live in an entirely new place compared to Paris.
They got very close to being caught several times, the police came as she wrote about this in her diary and they ran, got on a plane. But Louis made the decision that he wanted to go back to his mother. His father didn't stop him and he phoned his other and the booked ended.
I would have really liked to have seen what happened after, or in the future, I felt so let down by not knowing what happened after, which I think would have been a major plot point and could have been such a good epilogue. Did they all return home after? Did the father go to jail? How did the mother react? How were Louis' friends? etc. So many questions.
Overall this book was very interesting and had a unique perspective about real world issue.
emilyg's review
2.0
The idea behind this story was a good one. Louis is 12 and from Paris. He has an older brother and younger sister and his parents are currently going through a custody battle. When things don’t turn out the way his dad wants them he takes them away for their last weekend together. However he is acting strange and the Louis especially is worried about missing out on school and his beloved dancing. They eventually make it to England and start doing up a home they believe to be their Dad’s new home or holiday home but on the way back from a lovely trip to the beach Louis discovers the truth. He see’s a poster in a train station saying that him and his sibling’s are missing and his mum is looking for them, When he confronts his Dad about this he is honest and gives all the children the option to go home. The problem for Louis is that he wants to go home whilst he sibling’s don’t. So he stays and gets back into his dancing making a good friend. Little did he know however that this would lead to him getting his freedom.
I feel like her other books Tabitha has gone for a controversial issue that is very interesting to read about. It is an interesting thing to think about as a child as what would you do if one of your parent’s kidnaps you? Although I did enjoy this book though I did feel like there was always that little bit missing. He could have been more controversial but for a younger teen I think it is a suitable way to explore and a private about issue.
I feel like her other books Tabitha has gone for a controversial issue that is very interesting to read about. It is an interesting thing to think about as a child as what would you do if one of your parent’s kidnaps you? Although I did enjoy this book though I did feel like there was always that little bit missing. He could have been more controversial but for a younger teen I think it is a suitable way to explore and a private about issue.
tasneemlovebooks's review
2.0
it's my least favourite book that has written by Miss suzuma.
I can't write much about this book
I can't write much about this book
kiwireader's review
3.0
This book had a lot of potential. It was good, but just not quite there in my opinion.
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