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A review by ireadbooksnotminds
Living on Hope Street by Demet Divaroren
3.0
A gritty story about working-class marginalised people in the western suburbs of Melbourne. I had a soft spot in my heart for this book because I myself am an immigrant who lives in the western suburbs but have been privileged enough to be middle class, not be a refugee, attend a private school, and not live in an abusive household.
However, the story just never came together that well for me. It focused too much on some characters and not enough on others. Despite having an overall diverse set of characters--a Turkish Muslim woman (who arrived in Australia as a refugee) and her granddaughter, and a family of newly arrived refugees from Africa (the specific country was never disclosed)--the book still started, mostly focused on, and ended with the non-immigrant white characters. I would've liked for there to have been more of a balance. At times, I felt Kane and Sam's story dragged on a bit too much, which could have been pagetime for characters such as Gugu's family.
I also had a hard time figuring out exactly how old Sam was. Sometimes he would talk like he was 8 years old, sometimes like he was 5, and it was a bit confusing.
However, the story just never came together that well for me. It focused too much on some characters and not enough on others. Despite having an overall diverse set of characters--a Turkish Muslim woman (who arrived in Australia as a refugee) and her granddaughter, and a family of newly arrived refugees from Africa (the specific country was never disclosed)--the book still started, mostly focused on, and ended with the non-immigrant white characters. I would've liked for there to have been more of a balance. At times, I felt Kane and Sam's story dragged on a bit too much, which could have been pagetime for characters such as Gugu's family.
I also had a hard time figuring out exactly how old Sam was. Sometimes he would talk like he was 8 years old, sometimes like he was 5, and it was a bit confusing.