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A review by impybelle
A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin
4.0
Once upon a time I remembered reading fairly good things about this book along with the fact that it's sad. So my brain filed the sad but good (or good but sad, depending on your mood) and then I promptly did nothing with this knowledge because I've found that AMM's non-BSC books have a way of finding me. And find me this one did, at the top of a bag of books I was given to read.
I debated for a minute not reading this one first but my inner BSC fangirl insisted. And it opens a bit slow, as Hattie's vacation unfolds before her in the summer of 1960. The first couple of chapters really are slow and I can see why this might lose some people, but about the time Hattie learns of her ~secret uncle~ the story picks up and if not for the fact that this was my before bed book, I probably would have finished it in one sitting. But I parceled it out because my brain kept reminding me it was tagged sad.
Which it is. Adam, Hattie's uncle, is what some might've called a bit funny or not quite right back in the day. We're never given anything official as a diagnosis and I don't really think it's required. All we need to know is that Adam sees the world differently from his family and the vast majority of Millerton, the family's home town. He's spent most of his life at a special school that has just been shuttered and now is back at home with parents who very clearly don't quite know what to do with him. As a character, Adam is pretty interesting and it broke my heart when he killed himself. Part of it felt like it came completely out of left field and part of it was choreographed just well enough with a comment here and a look there so the reader feels the same way Hattie does about it. Sad but not entirely surprised once you think about it.
I'm guessing the blow-back for the book came from Hattie's comment about Adam's decision to take his life as being a type of bravery, even if it's not one she'd choose. And by guessing I mean I read the line and went "well, shit, there it is," and flipping through the lower rated reviews on page 1 kind of cemented that theory. I get why it would/does bug people, particularly in a book aimed at younger readers, and I also get why it's worded the way it is.
The combo of being on the fence about that and mostly the calendar trick giving me flashbacks to high school in the worst way knocked a star off, but overall I enjoyed the book quite a bit.
I debated for a minute not reading this one first but my inner BSC fangirl insisted. And it opens a bit slow, as Hattie's vacation unfolds before her in the summer of 1960. The first couple of chapters really are slow and I can see why this might lose some people, but about the time Hattie learns of her ~secret uncle~ the story picks up and if not for the fact that this was my before bed book, I probably would have finished it in one sitting. But I parceled it out because my brain kept reminding me it was tagged sad.
Which it is. Adam, Hattie's uncle, is what some might've called a bit funny or not quite right back in the day. We're never given anything official as a diagnosis and I don't really think it's required. All we need to know is that Adam sees the world differently from his family and the vast majority of Millerton, the family's home town. He's spent most of his life at a special school that has just been shuttered and now is back at home with parents who very clearly don't quite know what to do with him. As a character, Adam is pretty interesting and it broke my heart when he killed himself. Part of it felt like it came completely out of left field and part of it was choreographed just well enough with a comment here and a look there so the reader feels the same way Hattie does about it. Sad but not entirely surprised once you think about it.
I'm guessing the blow-back for the book came from Hattie's comment about Adam's decision to take his life as being a type of bravery, even if it's not one she'd choose. And by guessing I mean I read the line and went "well, shit, there it is," and flipping through the lower rated reviews on page 1 kind of cemented that theory. I get why it would/does bug people, particularly in a book aimed at younger readers, and I also get why it's worded the way it is.
The combo of being on the fence about that and mostly the calendar trick giving me flashbacks to high school in the worst way knocked a star off, but overall I enjoyed the book quite a bit.