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A review by wylanslcve
The Unadoptables by Hana Tooke
3.0
First off, is everyone here? By everyone, I mean readers who either 1) loved this book, 2) hated it because of the story itself or 3) those who think it's problematic, offensive and disgusting.
Oh, and there's also me - someone who's kind of in the middle of all of this.
I stumbled across this book whilst watching one of Ruby Granger's vlogs on YouTube and was immediately intrigued. I looked a bit more into the book before finding it in Dymocks about a month later - and I knew I just HAD to pick this book up.
In [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909], we follow five children (who all have terrible names, mind you - it kind of raises a few red flags) who are considered . . . well, unadoptable due to their differences: Egg is of East-Asian heritage; Fenna is mute; Lotta has twelve fingers; Sem is implied to be a tall and gangly boy with supposedly large ears; and Milou (pronounced Mil-oo apparently - seriously, who named this child?) is outspoken - something that wasn't seen as appropriate for females to be.
The title already sends a bunch of warning signs. The reasons why these children are unadoptable sends a bunch of warning signs. Even their names mean that something's not right with this book. However, while [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909] is in desperate need of a title change, it's set in the late 1800s - and the perception of people who weren't white or people with disabilities was very different to what it is now. However, this is a middle grade book, and I don't think little kids who barely know the history of their own country would be able to determine that these values were different. This is why I think this should NOT have been a children's book.
Just be reading the description, I could tell that this was going to be a story about found families (which I have no issues with) - however, I was also expecting to see if the children would ever find out that they were still "adoptable" regardless of their differences.
Spoiler alert: it did not work out the way I'd hoped.
And yet . . . this didn't have a very huge impact on whether or not I liked the book itself - in short, it was a fun little story that explores what it means to have a family. However, the author should have also explored that any child can be adopted, because any child CAN be adopted.
Now, what about the actual story?
First off, the positives: there is no doubt that [a:Hana Tooke|19473508|Hana Tooke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1566126762p2/19473508.jpg] can write. Her writing style is beautiful but not too over-the-top that it overwhelms the target audience. The dynamic between the five children was purely adorable and I absolutely loved it. The atmosphere that Tooke created in Amsterdam (and I've never read a book that is set in the Netherlands - unless you count [b:The Fault in Our Stars|11870085|The Fault in Our Stars|John Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360206420l/11870085._SY75_.jpg|16827462], but we won't) was gorgeous even though the worldbuilding wasn't all that great.
Now, onto the negatives: Milou was annoying as heck. She was selfish and annoying (not because she was outspoken) and basically told the others that she needs to do what she needs to before anyone else can *tries not to spoil* - for example, "you guys can't find out anything about your families until I do". And she felt slightly underdeveloped by the end of the novel - actually, all the characters were kind of underdeveloped. It would have been nice if the story was told from ALL of their perspectives rather than just Milou's - that way, we could have had some insight into how the others struggle with accepting who they are.
The worldbuilding could have been better (I know, it's a middle grade, but I wanted to learn a bit more about the orphanage than just brief recounts from the children and the click, clack of the matron's heels) in terms of developing the orphanage. This is just a personal preference and nothing that would impact the story itself if it weren't there.
And, of course, there's the matter with Tooke not exploring that every child is "adoptable" that wouldn't have made her look like a racist and ableist author to many readers.
I'm still giving this book 3 stars because, overall, it was a decent book. It was a fun little story with beautiful writing and a decent premise that could have had better execution. However, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not you should read it.
Oh, and there's also me - someone who's kind of in the middle of all of this.
I stumbled across this book whilst watching one of Ruby Granger's vlogs on YouTube and was immediately intrigued. I looked a bit more into the book before finding it in Dymocks about a month later - and I knew I just HAD to pick this book up.
In [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909], we follow five children (who all have terrible names, mind you - it kind of raises a few red flags) who are considered . . . well, unadoptable due to their differences: Egg is of East-Asian heritage; Fenna is mute; Lotta has twelve fingers; Sem is implied to be a tall and gangly boy with supposedly large ears; and Milou (pronounced Mil-oo apparently - seriously, who named this child?) is outspoken - something that wasn't seen as appropriate for females to be.
The title already sends a bunch of warning signs. The reasons why these children are unadoptable sends a bunch of warning signs. Even their names mean that something's not right with this book. However, while [b:The Unadoptables|51838643|The Unadoptables|Hana Tooke|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1583882431l/51838643._SX50_.jpg|72922909] is in desperate need of a title change, it's set in the late 1800s - and the perception of people who weren't white or people with disabilities was very different to what it is now. However, this is a middle grade book, and I don't think little kids who barely know the history of their own country would be able to determine that these values were different. This is why I think this should NOT have been a children's book.
Just be reading the description, I could tell that this was going to be a story about found families (which I have no issues with) - however, I was also expecting to see if the children would ever find out that they were still "adoptable" regardless of their differences.
Spoiler alert: it did not work out the way I'd hoped.
And yet . . . this didn't have a very huge impact on whether or not I liked the book itself - in short, it was a fun little story that explores what it means to have a family. However, the author should have also explored that any child can be adopted, because any child CAN be adopted.
Now, what about the actual story?
First off, the positives: there is no doubt that [a:Hana Tooke|19473508|Hana Tooke|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1566126762p2/19473508.jpg] can write. Her writing style is beautiful but not too over-the-top that it overwhelms the target audience. The dynamic between the five children was purely adorable and I absolutely loved it. The atmosphere that Tooke created in Amsterdam (and I've never read a book that is set in the Netherlands - unless you count [b:The Fault in Our Stars|11870085|The Fault in Our Stars|John Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360206420l/11870085._SY75_.jpg|16827462], but we won't) was gorgeous even though the worldbuilding wasn't all that great.
Now, onto the negatives: Milou was annoying as heck. She was selfish and annoying (not because she was outspoken) and basically told the others that she needs to do what she needs to before anyone else can *tries not to spoil* - for example, "you guys can't find out anything about your families until I do". And she felt slightly underdeveloped by the end of the novel - actually, all the characters were kind of underdeveloped. It would have been nice if the story was told from ALL of their perspectives rather than just Milou's - that way, we could have had some insight into how the others struggle with accepting who they are.
The worldbuilding could have been better (I know, it's a middle grade, but I wanted to learn a bit more about the orphanage than just brief recounts from the children and the click, clack of the matron's heels) in terms of developing the orphanage. This is just a personal preference and nothing that would impact the story itself if it weren't there.
And, of course, there's the matter with Tooke not exploring that every child is "adoptable" that wouldn't have made her look like a racist and ableist author to many readers.
I'm still giving this book 3 stars because, overall, it was a decent book. It was a fun little story with beautiful writing and a decent premise that could have had better execution. However, I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not you should read it.