I think it's the story being from the perspective of an eight year old that is throwing me off, but he definitely doesn't read like an eight year old boy. I know he's mature for his age, smart, and was forced to grow up early because of his station in life, but it wasn't convincing to me. I also felt the first pages to move really slowly and take a while to get to the point about his departure. I'm not interesting in reading more based on this first look. I think the cover fits the atmosphere the story creates really well.