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literatehedgehog 's review for:
The Nest
by Kenneth Oppel
What a strange little book. Dark and creepy with parts I didn't like to read alone at night, but also with a fairly complex child character with anxiety and a few other, carefully unlabeled behaviors, who has to make an important moral decision.
I am a bit conflicted on its handling of Steve's emotional and social difficulties. I think they were carefully detailed and mostly unlabeled for a reason, and are probably true and reflective of many anxious children's experiences. But on the other hand, it is a story that blurs the line between magic, horror, and reality, and it seems to vacillate between trusting that its character is telling the truth and seeing reality, and implying that the character is seeing the world through the lens of his disorder(s) and is thus an unreliable narrator. I think by the end it comes down on the side of believing its character and believing in magical realism, but those moments in between were a source of confusion for me, too.
All that in mind, still not sure who I would recommend this book to. Perhaps fans of Skellig, a younger reader than A Monster Calls, or Challenger Deep (though I haven't read it yet), but definitely not for those frightened of insects and scary things invading your home.
I am a bit conflicted on its handling of Steve's emotional and social difficulties. I think they were carefully detailed and mostly unlabeled for a reason, and are probably true and reflective of many anxious children's experiences. But on the other hand, it is a story that blurs the line between magic, horror, and reality, and it seems to vacillate between trusting that its character is telling the truth and seeing reality, and implying that the character is seeing the world through the lens of his disorder(s) and is thus an unreliable narrator. I think by the end it comes down on the side of believing its character and believing in magical realism, but those moments in between were a source of confusion for me, too.
All that in mind, still not sure who I would recommend this book to. Perhaps fans of Skellig, a younger reader than A Monster Calls, or Challenger Deep (though I haven't read it yet), but definitely not for those frightened of insects and scary things invading your home.