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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a story of what might have been.
It's about five lives that never had a chance to be lived.
In 1944, Germany dropped a bomb, which hit a Woolworth's in London, killing about 170 people. Some of them were children. This was a true event, and this book asks the question: what if five of those kids had not been killed by that bomb?
I am always drawn to books about fate, books about small events in history, books about how seemingly small events can make big impacts. I love the idea of how one life can affect many, and how a ripple effect occurs when people step into (and out of) our lives. I enjoyed this book, but I think it would have worked better with a dual storyline; here's what happened when the kids died, and here's what might have happened had they lived, here's the lives they would have touched. That would have complicated things, certainly. It's a character-driven novel about lives, which I am certainly fine with, but because the story is being told through this particular lens, that of a "what if" scenario, I feel it would have benefited from a if-things-went-another-way perspective. But this is the jumping off point the author chose, and it is a unique and interesting perspective. Of course, some of the side characters wouldn't exist if the kids had been killed back in 1944. Some of this book was incredibly moving, some of it less so, but I guess in the end it's about life, and that's what life is like. I kept reminding myself that part of the plot and point of this book is that these people never got a chance to grow up and live their full lives.
Still, I do love the idea of this. Of course, things like this event happen often, all over the world, lives lost too soon. It's mind-boggling to think of all people who have been lost in this kind of tragedy, where their lives might have gone had that not happened. We're all just a blip in the end, and life is precious. And that's the point.
This is an English book takes place in London, and I had to look up some of the slang and terms, but I love that London was the backdrop.
{library, kindle}
It's about five lives that never had a chance to be lived.
In 1944, Germany dropped a bomb, which hit a Woolworth's in London, killing about 170 people. Some of them were children. This was a true event, and this book asks the question: what if five of those kids had not been killed by that bomb?
I am always drawn to books about fate, books about small events in history, books about how seemingly small events can make big impacts. I love the idea of how one life can affect many, and how a ripple effect occurs when people step into (and out of) our lives. I enjoyed this book, but I think it would have worked better with a dual storyline; here's what happened when the kids died, and here's what might have happened had they lived, here's the lives they would have touched. That would have complicated things, certainly. It's a character-driven novel about lives, which I am certainly fine with, but because the story is being told through this particular lens, that of a "what if" scenario, I feel it would have benefited from a if-things-went-another-way perspective. But this is the jumping off point the author chose, and it is a unique and interesting perspective. Of course, some of the side characters wouldn't exist if the kids had been killed back in 1944. Some of this book was incredibly moving, some of it less so, but I guess in the end it's about life, and that's what life is like. I kept reminding myself that part of the plot and point of this book is that these people never got a chance to grow up and live their full lives.
Still, I do love the idea of this. Of course, things like this event happen often, all over the world, lives lost too soon. It's mind-boggling to think of all people who have been lost in this kind of tragedy, where their lives might have gone had that not happened. We're all just a blip in the end, and life is precious. And that's the point.
This is an English book takes place in London, and I had to look up some of the slang and terms, but I love that London was the backdrop.
{library, kindle}
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated