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kalkie 's review for:
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax
by Liz Jensen
I am struggling a bit on how to write a review on this book, as it's not your normal run-of-the-mill novel.
Louis Drax is an accident-prone 8 year old who has some behavioural "issues". The book charts his life a couple of months up to his 9 th birthday and gives background on his family, life, imaginary friends and why he is receiving therapy from his psychologist "Fat Perez" – who Louis seems to thrive on winding up!
On Louis' 9th birthday his mum and dad take him on a picnic where a family tragedy unfolds leaving Louis in a coma and his father missing.
The book unfolds to reveal the truth about his family, the truth about his own life and charts his time spent in the coma after the accident.
This is a confusing book to start reading, but once you figure out what's going on in Louis' head (or figure it out as best you can!) things start to slot into place a bit more and it ends up being a bit easier .
The main issue with this book is that there are very few "likeable" characters. Coupled with the fact you're never sure what's "real" and what's in Louis' imagination I found it difficult to get into the book. The character of Louis' mother doesn't seem to actually live up to the actions she's meant to be carrying out and the seemingly siren-like attraction the men in her life experience when she's around. It just wasn't believable enough for me to think she could have this kind of effect on others. Louis is confusing and rambling, and "Fat Perez" seems to be very one-dimensional and not really introduced sufficiently to feel he is a critical part of the story. Louis' doctor, Dr Dannachet, seems to be better written, but again his actions just didn't seem to tie up with the character and again, he seemed to be critically flawed.
Overall this book was "okay". I certainly don't think it lived up to the hype, and I struggled a bit to get into it properly or finish it. I'm glad I've read it, but I don't think I'll be seeking out any more books by Liz Jensen.
Louis Drax is an accident-prone 8 year old who has some behavioural "issues". The book charts his life a couple of months up to his 9 th birthday and gives background on his family, life, imaginary friends and why he is receiving therapy from his psychologist "Fat Perez" – who Louis seems to thrive on winding up!
On Louis' 9th birthday his mum and dad take him on a picnic where a family tragedy unfolds leaving Louis in a coma and his father missing.
The book unfolds to reveal the truth about his family, the truth about his own life and charts his time spent in the coma after the accident.
This is a confusing book to start reading, but once you figure out what's going on in Louis' head (or figure it out as best you can!) things start to slot into place a bit more and it ends up being a bit easier .
The main issue with this book is that there are very few "likeable" characters. Coupled with the fact you're never sure what's "real" and what's in Louis' imagination I found it difficult to get into the book. The character of Louis' mother doesn't seem to actually live up to the actions she's meant to be carrying out and the seemingly siren-like attraction the men in her life experience when she's around. It just wasn't believable enough for me to think she could have this kind of effect on others. Louis is confusing and rambling, and "Fat Perez" seems to be very one-dimensional and not really introduced sufficiently to feel he is a critical part of the story. Louis' doctor, Dr Dannachet, seems to be better written, but again his actions just didn't seem to tie up with the character and again, he seemed to be critically flawed.
Overall this book was "okay". I certainly don't think it lived up to the hype, and I struggled a bit to get into it properly or finish it. I'm glad I've read it, but I don't think I'll be seeking out any more books by Liz Jensen.