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A review by jameshousworth
Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
3.0
Great story, weak writing. The author made an intentional choice to write in short, choppy sentences with grammatical errors as a way of capturing the voice of Arn Chorn-Pond, but much of the time I felt like it limited the depth of the story rather than enhancing it.
It was also quite graphic for a novel intended to be read by young teens and preteens:
"Then, very quick, he slice the skin and pull out the liver...The kneeling guy, he's still living; his liver not inside of him anymore - in front of his face. Crying, only saying, 'No, no, no,' then he fall down."
"I hear, very quiet, wet, slicing sound, the bayonet going through the skin. One by one he kill the people, the mother, even the baby, always very quiet, with bayonet, or maybe just hit on the head with the rifle, silent, so no one can hear."
"I make him kneel on the ground, hand tie behind; and I have ax in my hand, and now this ax is hitting over and over, hitting this kid till now his head like only hamburger on the ground."
I will say that this book made me want to learn more about this crazy genocide that I'd hardly even heard of before, and toward the end I also thought she did a good job of showing the residual guilt, anger, and crisis of identity Arn underwent as an ex-child soldier. But it definitely left me wanting for more character and more story. I give it 2.5 stars.
It was also quite graphic for a novel intended to be read by young teens and preteens:
"Then, very quick, he slice the skin and pull out the liver...The kneeling guy, he's still living; his liver not inside of him anymore - in front of his face. Crying, only saying, 'No, no, no,' then he fall down."
"I hear, very quiet, wet, slicing sound, the bayonet going through the skin. One by one he kill the people, the mother, even the baby, always very quiet, with bayonet, or maybe just hit on the head with the rifle, silent, so no one can hear."
"I make him kneel on the ground, hand tie behind; and I have ax in my hand, and now this ax is hitting over and over, hitting this kid till now his head like only hamburger on the ground."
I will say that this book made me want to learn more about this crazy genocide that I'd hardly even heard of before, and toward the end I also thought she did a good job of showing the residual guilt, anger, and crisis of identity Arn underwent as an ex-child soldier. But it definitely left me wanting for more character and more story. I give it 2.5 stars.