excessively complicated for the memories of children

For a story that begins with memories of children, the language is far too complex and flowery. The sentences tangle and even the simplest things are described in such complicated ways as to make it very strange that these are children's memories. It's just confusing.

I also don't like the cover. I'm not sure why, except that I find it incredibly off-putting and definitely would not pick it up off the shelf.