folklorehistory 's review for:

The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams

4.0

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Loved the book, but didn't like the ending. It seemed too rushed

(I would have liked to see Peggy's process finally getting into college)

and I have a personal gripe with it; the main character struggles with something very similar to me, and the way it ended signaled a lack of understanding from the author's part.

At the start, I thought, finally, a book with a main character with a disabled sibling they have to take care of. Then in the end, the sibling didn't need taking care of at all because she learned how to take better care of herself very easily. It just seemed too easy. What if Maude actually did need Peggy's support? Would she still have been able to become a Sommerville girl? I was very disappointed; it felt like the only way for people like me to achieve their dreams is if the person they need to support suddenly doesn't need all that suppport. But what if they do? It's like the author didn't want to struggle with that question, and instead gave an unsatisfying and unrealistic answer. It honestly really upset me.