Unspeakable things

Was OK. A little bland. There could have been more focus on the boys rather than the protagonist who's connection in the grand scheme of things seemed a little tenuous.

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Disappointing

Sloppy ending. Too many loose ends. Aunt Jen is a pointless distraction. Annoying voice. Avoid.

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As Must Read

My first book by this Author, I can say that it is just brilliant. I was tensed up until the last page. The end is not predictable. But great. But it if you love nail biting , psychological thrillers,. Patricia Welsh

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Not really a thriller but...

This is described very much in terms of being suspense or thriller territory, and it really isn't. It is a beautiful, evocative novel seen through the eyes of an innocent child on the cusp of her teenage years desperately trying to make sense of a threatening adult world around her. She's not safe at home: frightened of her moody alcoholic father and despairing of her weary overworked mother, she doesn't trust adults in general and in particular those who should offer sanctuary. Rumours circulate in half overheard adult exchanges and urgent but puzzled conversations with her peers so that gradually she can only really trust herself.

The performance is great: the child's voice clearly differentiated from the many unreliable and sometimes threatening adults, and her friends and schoolmates each endowed with their own character.

Approach this as a coming of age tale against a gathering storm threatening a whole community and you'll really enjoy it. You will be disappointed if you're expecting a gory true-crime thriller.

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1 person found this helpful

Dark and darker still

Like another review has already prefaced, you will enjoy this book if you come in expecting a coming-of-age story, you will likely not if you’re looking for a who-done-it. The criminal incidents in the book mostly act as a sinister and foreboding metaphor for the loss of the naivety of childhood which is written exceptionally well through the eyes of a 12yo. This is a very very dark book, but it handles its source material with care, mindful to not sensationalise trauma, abuse and violence.

The narrator does this work such justice and really made child narrators (something I normally avoid) enjoyable, so much so that I would seek out the readers’ other work on audible.

The only star I have to knock off is for the ending which I feel is a publisher do-over so I’d recommend anyone seek out the Epilogue on the author’s personal website for a much more satisfying conclusion that keeps the same tone as the rest of the book.

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2 people found this helpful

Love the writing style

I liked having a young main character. The narrator is excellent It’s very character driven, found it slow to get fully invested, but once I was hooked it kept me engrossed. The themes are dark, but not graphic, in fact somethings are only alluded to do you have to be fully tuned in, and not all threads are fully closed again only suggested- I liked that though.

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Very well written but..

The end is somewhat stumped and we never fully learn the entire story of the who and why these things happened. Kind of a shame seeing as it is very detailed from a child's perspective yet leaves out questions that an adult would expect to have answered in a well rounded story.

I liked this novel a lot but the faults as stated above leave me no choice but to give a four star review instead of a five.

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disappointed

disappointed. the write up was better than the whole book. half of the story was taken up with pointless long winded explanations of irrelevant details...

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