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A review by jodieworton
When God Was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is a book from my bookswap and I am so so glad I picked it up this month.
🔆When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman🔆
The story centres on the life of Elly, starting when she is young and further on in the book, her adult life. You are introduced to her family, her best friend Jenny Penny and her pet rabbit, given to her by her brother, called God (who also talks to her).
One of my favourite parts of the book is the description of each character. It is explained in a way you just ‘get’ the characters and understand their eccentricities. I loved reading about Jenny Penny and also Ellys love for her, she saw Jenny as fearless and aspired to be like her in many ways, I found that I thought of Jenny as magical.
You realise soon the book is about love and family, but mostly the love and relationship between the siblings, Elly and Joe. Joe holds a secret about Ellys childhood that he keeps well into their adult life. Only when he looses his memory and gradually gets it back does he break her trust.
This book focuses on the terror attack of 9/11, it kind of crept up on me. I realised I had watched a lot of docs/films about 9/11 but never read a story that could be construed as true. It was very well done, it was emotional and heart breaking.
I highly recommend this book, it was slow paced but I enjoyed that.
🔆When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman🔆
The story centres on the life of Elly, starting when she is young and further on in the book, her adult life. You are introduced to her family, her best friend Jenny Penny and her pet rabbit, given to her by her brother, called God (who also talks to her).
One of my favourite parts of the book is the description of each character. It is explained in a way you just ‘get’ the characters and understand their eccentricities. I loved reading about Jenny Penny and also Ellys love for her, she saw Jenny as fearless and aspired to be like her in many ways, I found that I thought of Jenny as magical.
You realise soon the book is about love and family, but mostly the love and relationship between the siblings, Elly and Joe. Joe holds a secret about Ellys childhood that he keeps well into their adult life. Only when he looses his memory and gradually gets it back does he break her trust.
This book focuses on the terror attack of 9/11, it kind of crept up on me. I realised I had watched a lot of docs/films about 9/11 but never read a story that could be construed as true. It was very well done, it was emotional and heart breaking.
I highly recommend this book, it was slow paced but I enjoyed that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia
9/11 attack is detailed