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A review by alistairlowe
Petrichor by Melanie Rees
4.0
Thank you to Hague Publishing for providing me with this ARC. The book will be released in October of 2021.
“Sometimes to help those we love we need to hurt them.”
This is a story about a boy named Clayton who’s dealing with the aftermath of his brother’s death which deeply affected his family. The story has certain “magical” elements to it such as a spirit in the shape of a fox communicating with Clayton and sending him on a mission, which I would say can be understood metaphorically. The emphasis of the book is mainly around grief and learning to heal and forgive yourself after a tragedy. It’s a very short book and not something meant for my age range so I’m taking that into account while giving my thoughts on it.
Overall, I think this was a nice and unique story. What I noticed right away was the atmosphere. The book does a great job of portraying a rural place hit by drought as well as desperation that people caught up in such situation feel. While majority of story reads as something for younger audience there are certain parts which I found more serious and something that’s maybe meant for more mature readers.
I only wish that the story took more time to explore the complex family dynamic that was built. Clayton’s father is quite a tempered man who patronizies his son a lot, so I would have loved if the process of him realizing how his actions have affected both Clayton and his brother were a little more gradual. The resolution of it was good, but I would just prefer more communication between characters.
Nevertheless, I did like the writing and the book was quite fast paced and an easy read so I think younger audience would enjoy it. I’ve also read that 15% revenue from the sales of this book will be donated to the charities Rural Aid and Beyond Blue which is amazing.
“Sometimes to help those we love we need to hurt them.”
This is a story about a boy named Clayton who’s dealing with the aftermath of his brother’s death which deeply affected his family. The story has certain “magical” elements to it such as a spirit in the shape of a fox communicating with Clayton and sending him on a mission, which I would say can be understood metaphorically. The emphasis of the book is mainly around grief and learning to heal and forgive yourself after a tragedy. It’s a very short book and not something meant for my age range so I’m taking that into account while giving my thoughts on it.
Overall, I think this was a nice and unique story. What I noticed right away was the atmosphere. The book does a great job of portraying a rural place hit by drought as well as desperation that people caught up in such situation feel. While majority of story reads as something for younger audience there are certain parts which I found more serious and something that’s maybe meant for more mature readers.
I only wish that the story took more time to explore the complex family dynamic that was built. Clayton’s father is quite a tempered man who patronizies his son a lot, so I would have loved if the process of him realizing how his actions have affected both Clayton and his brother were a little more gradual. The resolution of it was good, but I would just prefer more communication between characters.
Nevertheless, I did like the writing and the book was quite fast paced and an easy read so I think younger audience would enjoy it. I’ve also read that 15% revenue from the sales of this book will be donated to the charities Rural Aid and Beyond Blue which is amazing.