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julshakespeare 's review for:
Thornhill
by Pam Smy
All I wanted was a friend.
4/5 stars
Plot: 4/5 - This story is told alternately between diary entries of Mary, a young girl in the foster system in 1982 and wordless illustrations of Ella, a girl in 2017, who moves into the house behind where Mary used to live. In many ways their lives parallel one another- they are both lonely, rather neglected children, who seek comfort in what they can create. Which is puppets, by the way, so if you're one of those people who gets super creeped out by dolls this is not the book for you. It was absolutely heartbreaking to read about the bullying Mary faced, but much like Ella I couldn't resist the mystery surrounding Thornhill. I'm not entirely satisfied by the ending but it certainly gave me chills.
Characters: 3/5 - This is a tough one to score because while I only got impressions of Ella being a likeable and sympathetic character, the reader only gets to experience her side of the story through the illustrations, so it feels like we spend less time with her. Alternately, the diary entries let us right inside Mary's head, but this puts us at a disadvantage in that we see every other character only from her point of view. It's easy to see why she alienates herself when everyone else seems so purely awful. It's frustrating to read from her point of view because she's so powerless in her situation... the one instance in which she stood up for herself was so satisfying that it actually relieved the tension in my chest that the rest of the book had given me.
Pacing: 5/5 - I flew through this. It's a perfect balance between the epistolary parts and the illustrated parts. Plus with all those full-page pictures it feels great to read a big, chunky book so quickly.
Writing: 3/5 - This doesn't feel like a fair rating because the only writing is all first person POV of a young girl's diary, so naturally it's not going to be the epitome of written word. However, I will say it was definitely effective in making the reader feel as hopeless as Mary did, and her emotions were conveyed very convincingly.
Enjoyment: 5/5 - This book is deeply unsettling in a way that speaks to the success of it. I read the entire thing in one sitting, engrossed by the mystery of Mary and wanting to see Ella succeed in solving it. It's very sad and dark for a middle-grade novel, but I don't believe those are things we need to shy away from in children's literature. I hope that this book sparks conversations about bullying and speaking up for others, because Mary's situation was incredibly thought-provoking and heartbreaking. As an adult I think it's even more tragic, because you see all of the adults around her who didn't help her or couldn't even see that she needed help. Definitely a story that is going to linger in my thoughts long after reading it.