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A review by lawbooks600
Eloise & the Bucket of Stars by Janeen Brian
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Representation: N/A
Score: Five points out of ten.
First off, I tried to find any representation in this novel, but it turns out that I couldn't find any. What a shame. Fortunately, at least the book I'm reading now at the time of writing this has so much representation, which I appreciate. Now with that out of way, I still didn't enjoy this book, and I will refrain from reading books from this author if she doesn't improve her writing. She released a new book, it might be good. It might not. It starts with the main character, Eloise Pail, or Eloise for short, living in an orphanage since someone dumped her in a bucket at birth, hence the surname. She was trying to find her birth certificate when she got caught by a nun (that orphanage is Christian after all) and got a scolding. From then on, the book slowed significantly which dampened my reading experience, considering that I didn't like or connect to Eloise. She's not well written enough and can even come off as cold, maybe if she was someone I could root for and like I would have given the story a higher rating. Alas. I did not. The book continues to drag right until the end when after Eloise was researching such ideas like the moon, forbidden concepts (like unicorns), she discovered something, but honestly? I. Did. Not. Care. Nor did I care if another orphan came to the orphanage and formed a somewhat tenuous connection with Eloise, she wasn't an outstanding character either. The ending was a talk between the two remaining nuns and that's it. Wow. It fizzled out. Come on.
Score: Five points out of ten.
First off, I tried to find any representation in this novel, but it turns out that I couldn't find any. What a shame. Fortunately, at least the book I'm reading now at the time of writing this has so much representation, which I appreciate. Now with that out of way, I still didn't enjoy this book, and I will refrain from reading books from this author if she doesn't improve her writing. She released a new book, it might be good. It might not. It starts with the main character, Eloise Pail, or Eloise for short, living in an orphanage since someone dumped her in a bucket at birth, hence the surname. She was trying to find her birth certificate when she got caught by a nun (that orphanage is Christian after all) and got a scolding. From then on, the book slowed significantly which dampened my reading experience, considering that I didn't like or connect to Eloise. She's not well written enough and can even come off as cold, maybe if she was someone I could root for and like I would have given the story a higher rating. Alas. I did not. The book continues to drag right until the end when after Eloise was researching such ideas like the moon, forbidden concepts (like unicorns), she discovered something, but honestly? I. Did. Not. Care. Nor did I care if another orphan came to the orphanage and formed a somewhat tenuous connection with Eloise, she wasn't an outstanding character either. The ending was a talk between the two remaining nuns and that's it. Wow. It fizzled out. Come on.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent
Full trigger warnings: Implied disappearance or death of parents, abandonment of a child, physical injury and assault, blood depiction, death of another person