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A review by bianca89279
What Milo Saw by Virgina MacGregor
4.0
I've received this novel via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to rate this novel.
It's got all the ingredients that usually work on/for me: a precocious child, family problems, older people, a refugee, unexpected acts of kindness and it's even written in the third person.
In many ways, it's very similar to one of my favourite books- My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman. But I didn't like it as much as the one mentioned above.
Milo, our protagonist, is 9 years-old and he suffers from a degenerative eye disease, that will eventually render him blind.He's a bit of a loner; he lives with his unhappy, recently separated mum, and his father's 92-year-old grandmother, whom Milo loves dearly, but who's not easy to look after. After a fire incident, Sandy, Milo's mum decides to put Gran into a nursing home.
Things start to unravel from them on, as Milo misses his Gran very much and is determined to bring her back home. His eyesight may be diminishing, but he's very good at noticing things that most people don't. And he notices that things weren't quite as they seemed at Forget Me Not - the nursery home where Gran was living. Will Milo be able to get Gran back home?
I thought the writing was strong and very competent. The narration alternates between Milo, who's the main storyteller and Gran, Milo's mum, Sandy and Tripi, the Syrian refugee cook at Forget Me Not.In my opinion, Sandy and Gran's POVs didn't add too much to the story and weren't terribly insightful. I think, if taken out, the pace of the story would have been a bit better, as at times, it felt a bit sluggish.
A couple of times I did think that Milo sounded way too grown-up. I also had a bit of an issue with the pet pig, as I didn't find it very believable that Milo would be able to get away with hiding it under his coat without anyone noticing at the nursing home. Also, he leaves Hamlet, the pig, with Gran and for a couple of days nobody notices anything? A bit hard to believe. How about its bodily functions? How about food, don't they eat a lot? Hamlet sounded more like a cat. It's probably just me, I'm sure many won't have any issues with the pet pig.
While visiting Gran, Milo meets Tripi, the cook. A friendship of sorts ensues. Other secondary characters come on board, one of them being Al/Clouds, a relative from Scotland, who's an undercover journalist and who's paying rent to live in Gran's room in Milo and his mum's place.
Things get worse before they get better.
This is a good novel.Many will find it heart-warming and emotional. But that's just the thing. Given the plot and the characters, I should have been an emotional wreck, because it really had themes that really tug at my heartstrings, but "What Milo Saw" didn't quite manage to do that.
Nevertheless, it's still a 3.5 - 4 stars novel.
Looking forward to seeing other readers' opinion.
Recommended: If you liked [b: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry|23604559|My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry|Fredrik Backman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1427161168s/23604559.jpg|25003015] and if you like feel good stories with precocious kids.
Cover: 5 stars
Honestly, I'm not quite sure how to rate this novel.
It's got all the ingredients that usually work on/for me: a precocious child, family problems, older people, a refugee, unexpected acts of kindness and it's even written in the third person.
In many ways, it's very similar to one of my favourite books- My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman. But I didn't like it as much as the one mentioned above.
Milo, our protagonist, is 9 years-old and he suffers from a degenerative eye disease, that will eventually render him blind.He's a bit of a loner; he lives with his unhappy, recently separated mum, and his father's 92-year-old grandmother, whom Milo loves dearly, but who's not easy to look after. After a fire incident, Sandy, Milo's mum decides to put Gran into a nursing home.
Things start to unravel from them on, as Milo misses his Gran very much and is determined to bring her back home. His eyesight may be diminishing, but he's very good at noticing things that most people don't. And he notices that things weren't quite as they seemed at Forget Me Not - the nursery home where Gran was living. Will Milo be able to get Gran back home?
I thought the writing was strong and very competent. The narration alternates between Milo, who's the main storyteller and Gran, Milo's mum, Sandy and Tripi, the Syrian refugee cook at Forget Me Not.In my opinion, Sandy and Gran's POVs didn't add too much to the story and weren't terribly insightful. I think, if taken out, the pace of the story would have been a bit better, as at times, it felt a bit sluggish.
A couple of times I did think that Milo sounded way too grown-up. I also had a bit of an issue with the pet pig, as I didn't find it very believable that Milo would be able to get away with hiding it under his coat without anyone noticing at the nursing home. Also, he leaves Hamlet, the pig, with Gran and for a couple of days nobody notices anything? A bit hard to believe. How about its bodily functions? How about food, don't they eat a lot? Hamlet sounded more like a cat. It's probably just me, I'm sure many won't have any issues with the pet pig.
While visiting Gran, Milo meets Tripi, the cook. A friendship of sorts ensues. Other secondary characters come on board, one of them being Al/Clouds, a relative from Scotland, who's an undercover journalist and who's paying rent to live in Gran's room in Milo and his mum's place.
Things get worse before they get better.
This is a good novel.Many will find it heart-warming and emotional. But that's just the thing. Given the plot and the characters, I should have been an emotional wreck, because it really had themes that really tug at my heartstrings, but "What Milo Saw" didn't quite manage to do that.
Nevertheless, it's still a 3.5 - 4 stars novel.
Looking forward to seeing other readers' opinion.
Recommended: If you liked [b: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry|23604559|My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry|Fredrik Backman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1427161168s/23604559.jpg|25003015] and if you like feel good stories with precocious kids.
Cover: 5 stars