Reviews

De Godden broers by Meg Rosoff

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izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition

1.0

1/5

I was hesitant going in because it reminded me of We Were Liars. Because of that knowledge, I found the book to be boring. I hate saying it but I did not enjoy the romance or plot as much as I thought.

celiacs's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

wynnie_reads's review against another edition

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3.0

Although I enjoyed reading this book there were a few elements that puzzled me.
The first being that we are never fully introduced to the main character/narrator. Neither their name, age or gender is revealed. This confused me for a lot of the book. Had I forgotten their name? I actually had to flick back to the start where each of the other siblings are introduced to make sure I hadn’t missed it. For me the character was female and the oldest of her siblings. I have read reviews where others read this character as male or non binary. They will have had a completely different experience reading this book than I did which I guess is very clever of the author, but a little infuriating for the reader. I couldn’t stop wondering who the character was or if/when we would find out, which I found that quite distracting.

I felt the plot went through peaks and troughs of pace which made it a bit stilted at times and rushed at others. The climax of the story was surprising but again felt a little rushed and came completely out of the blue so left me feeling a bit confused again. Family life was depicted fairly well, everyone off doing what they wanted for the summer.

Overall it was a pleasant enough read full of teenage emotion with a couple of twists and turns. If you can brush away the confusion then it’s an enjoyable beach book.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of the book for an open and honest review.

oliviaaschmitz's review against another edition

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1.0

if “the summer i turned pretty” was boring

foraging_pages's review against another edition

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3.0

For a day or two the world heaved with fun-house mirrors and distortions, betrayals, uncertainties, false motives, smoke screens. Villains who smiled. Weeping mad girls.

This really gave We Were Liars: British Edition complete with…
* Shakespeare motifs
* somewhat oblivious/absent parents
* summer turned upside down
* secrets and mysterious people
* character studies
* manipulation

gracepowell's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The book was definitely not what I was expecting, and not in a good way. I enjoyed some parts of the story, but overwhelmingly I was confused and annoyed by how some of the characters behaved. I was more interested in the younger siblings than the main characters storyline and I feel like there could have been so much more to it if the characters were a bit more developed. The ending was so fast and confusing that I couldn't get my head around what was going on, and it seemed so unbelievable.