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amrap's review against another edition
5.0
Living on Hope Street is a beautiful novel that shows the true beating heart of Australia. It is the representation of the Australia I grew up in and live in with real Australians-refugees, those in inter-racial relationships, cultures that represent all the different waves of migration in Australia.
Demet has created such distinct voices for each of her characters, from seven-year-old Sam who is terrorised by his home-life to 70 year-old Mr Bailey who is a Vietnam vet and struggling with the changing face of Australia, and these are the people I known on my street. I fell in love with the characters and couldn't wait to read about their journey. I loved this book and the voices of its characters won't leave me any time soon.
So proud of friend for this beautiful offering to the world. We need more books like this for young readers to recognise themselves in and for those who don't live on a street like Hope Street to understand its residents.
Demet has created such distinct voices for each of her characters, from seven-year-old Sam who is terrorised by his home-life to 70 year-old Mr Bailey who is a Vietnam vet and struggling with the changing face of Australia, and these are the people I known on my street. I fell in love with the characters and couldn't wait to read about their journey. I loved this book and the voices of its characters won't leave me any time soon.
So proud of friend for this beautiful offering to the world. We need more books like this for young readers to recognise themselves in and for those who don't live on a street like Hope Street to understand its residents.
glaiza_echo's review against another edition
4.0
A gritty realistic read with hope built through diverse friendships and familial ties. TW Note: It explores domestic violence, post-traumatic stress disorder and racism.
ireadbooksnotminds's review against another edition
3.0
A gritty story about working-class marginalised people in the western suburbs of Melbourne. I had a soft spot in my heart for this book because I myself am an immigrant who lives in the western suburbs but have been privileged enough to be middle class, not be a refugee, attend a private school, and not live in an abusive household.
However, the story just never came together that well for me. It focused too much on some characters and not enough on others. Despite having an overall diverse set of characters--a Turkish Muslim woman (who arrived in Australia as a refugee) and her granddaughter, and a family of newly arrived refugees from Africa (the specific country was never disclosed)--the book still started, mostly focused on, and ended with the non-immigrant white characters. I would've liked for there to have been more of a balance. At times, I felt Kane and Sam's story dragged on a bit too much, which could have been pagetime for characters such as Gugu's family.
I also had a hard time figuring out exactly how old Sam was. Sometimes he would talk like he was 8 years old, sometimes like he was 5, and it was a bit confusing.
However, the story just never came together that well for me. It focused too much on some characters and not enough on others. Despite having an overall diverse set of characters--a Turkish Muslim woman (who arrived in Australia as a refugee) and her granddaughter, and a family of newly arrived refugees from Africa (the specific country was never disclosed)--the book still started, mostly focused on, and ended with the non-immigrant white characters. I would've liked for there to have been more of a balance. At times, I felt Kane and Sam's story dragged on a bit too much, which could have been pagetime for characters such as Gugu's family.
I also had a hard time figuring out exactly how old Sam was. Sometimes he would talk like he was 8 years old, sometimes like he was 5, and it was a bit confusing.
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