Publisher: Razorbill
Publication date: September 2010
ISBN: 9781595143372
Source: Library
Mackie Doyle is allergic to iron, steel, and blood. He is anything but normal. But in the town of Gentry, you don't talk about those kinds of things. You don't talk about the fact that a little girl just died and about the horrible things that have been replacing children for decades. Those are the kinds of things you accept in exchange for luck and avoiding disaster. But Mackie doesn't know if he can accept those things anymore.
Things I Liked:
It was a really unique book - it felt original and different and also just plain weird. The creepy setting and story was perfectly written to inspire spine tingles. I liked Mackie, the kid who doesn't seem to fit in anywhere and who wants to acknowledge what is wrong with his town (well, eventually he does). There is a lot of good stuff on accepting different kinds of people and also not ignoring things that are important simply because we don't want to talk about them. Ugly things happen and they matter. It was a crazy reading experience, but also quite thought-provoking.
Things I Didn't Like:
The biggest problem I had was that it was too odd for my liking. The story and sometimes what people said just didn't make sense to me. I had a hard time getting into the story and relating to the characters because I couldn't figure them out. I believe this is entirely me and not a reflection of the author or her writing even. Another minor problem was there seemed to be an abnormal amount of grammar problems - missing words or incorrect choices. I was pretty surprised it had so many problems; it almost made me feel like I was reading the ARC. Anyway, overall, I think this is just not the book for me. Others have really enjoyed it though, so check out what others' had to say.
Read-alikes:
A little like Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater
BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@#
lots, some quite strong
mrg-factor: XX
one or two incidents
v-factor: ->->->
some very disturbing images and gore
Overall rating: **
Am I the only one who didn't get this book?
If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage
Posts
Good review. I've been meaning to check this story out.
ReplyDeleteWhat?! Don't tell me that! Grammar problems are such a slap in the face! What's up with editors lately?
ReplyDeleteS.J., I'd be interested to know what you think when you get a chance to read it.
ReplyDeleteJenny, it was a bit surprising to me. Probably not that many, but still I remember being bugged by it. I think maybe I'm becoming more attuned to them too. It was a bummer.
I cheated and read spoilers for the book. Of what little I know, I will say that I was a bit shocked.
ReplyDeleteLauren, it really did have an interesting ending. I think I'd have been ok with just reading a good spoiler-y review.
ReplyDelete