Helpful Score: 15
This is the third book of hers I have read and I am not sure I would waste the money to read another one. I found this story to be dull, a slow read and more rambling than anything. The book is broke up into three parts; to me each part seemed like a mini story, they didn't flow together well. The main girl Lutie was horrible and after the third or fourth chapter I was tired of her selfish whiny ways. I loved the book Honk and Holler opening soon, I guess I was hopeing this book would be just as good but I was let down. I wouldn't buy this book, I would wait to get it free from this site or a friend. Hoenstly this has to be one of the slowest most painful stories I have read in a long time. I kept reading on hopeing it would pick up and go but it never did :(
Helpful Score: 4
I found this slow in the beginning, but suddenly I couldn't wait to get back to it, then it just lost its bang. A good book for sure, far far grittier than her others, but even though I can see why the heroine had such an attitude, the author did not generate enough sympathy for a reader to really feel for her. I loved the kid brother, though as he was much more developed and sympathetic. I do wish more had been done with the circus and her practice on the wires. Too much was just glossed over in this novel for it to be a keeper.
Helpful Score: 3
I literally could not pry this book from my fingers. I read the entire thing in a day from start to finish. The characters are real but not perfect, which I like. You can tell the author put a lot of thought into who Lutie and Fate McFee are as people and how they would act in certain situations. They make mistakes, but as a 13 year old girl and an 11 year old boy, their characters are more than believeable - they are real. Her characterization of Lutie McFee is spot on. She is sassy, headstrong, and yet innocent in the ways that only experience can age you.
I'm the type of reader where characters that always 'DO THE RIGHT THING' bug me, because they seem fake. Good characters make or break a story for me, and these characters are so lifelike, I fell like I know them personally. The main characters react the way most kids would, given the responsibility they are thrust into at such an early age.
Ulitmately, it's a story dealing with the good and the bad that the real world throws at us. An excellent, excellent book. I plan on rereading this, and picking up Letts' other books as well.
I'm the type of reader where characters that always 'DO THE RIGHT THING' bug me, because they seem fake. Good characters make or break a story for me, and these characters are so lifelike, I fell like I know them personally. The main characters react the way most kids would, given the responsibility they are thrust into at such an early age.
Ulitmately, it's a story dealing with the good and the bad that the real world throws at us. An excellent, excellent book. I plan on rereading this, and picking up Letts' other books as well.
Helpful Score: 3
This book has a more adult content than other Letts books, or perhaps just more dark. I did not find very much humor in this book. Story delves into the underworld of the forgotten children in our culture.
Helpful Score: 2
You ever read a book SOOOO good that you purposefully avoid finishing it because you hate to see it end. THIS IS THAT KIND OF BOOK! The kids in this story are so lifelike and their heartaches and heartbreaks so real I didn't want to finish the book because I wanted to keep them with me forever. This book will make you cry, laugh, cheer and cry some more, and eventually it will make you a better person for having read it.
