I have never read anything by Nina LaCour, though I have seen her books everywhere.
Nina has a really good writing style. It flows smoothly and she managed to piece, almost, everything together in the end. Most of this book takes place on, what sounds like, a huge farm. There are very little animals (cats and two goats), but there is enough room for a barn (turned school house) and a few cabins. Not to mention a main house where other children are housed. The detail made me feel like I was really there on the farm. When she writes about how cold it is in the mornings, I could feel it. I even had to bundle up and make some hot chocolate!
Despite that, the books pace was exceptionally slow. For something that wasn’t on the long side to begin with it felt like it was just dragging. I didn’t connect to the book. The idea behind her story is a good one! Emotionally I couldn’t get on board with this. It just felt like there was not enough detail and there were some significant things left unanswered for me regarding Mila’s mother.
There was only one character here that I actually liked and he was my favorite, not just by default. A nine year old boy named Lee! The relationship Nina wrote between Mila and Lee was heart warming. Mila quickly takes a protective stance when she meets Lee. She feels a kindred connection to him and also see’s some of herself in him. She recognizes his fear. For a younger child he displays a lot of bravery and compassion. He’s also cute!
When it came to all of the characters, Nina did a wonderful job of including great diversity. Mila herself is White (obviously from the cover), Lee is Asian, Terry (farm owner and basically new adoptive father) is Black. I don’t remember there being a description regarding skin color of the other characters but that’s also very likely just me forgetting or not paying close enough attention. It made my heart pleasantly happy to imagine a place like the farm with so many loving people, all of different backgrounds.
Other than that I felt no connection to the characters what so ever. Not even to Lee. Sure he was my favorite but I didn’t feel connected. Where was his background story? It was so briefly told! In like two sentences, then nothing else. I also didn’t even know he was Asian until close to the end. There was simply not enough there for me to feel anything tangible. What about his ghost? What happened??? That whole incident is never explained, it’s just glossed over. Maybe its because there were too many characters? Either way there simply simply simply was not enough here.
Thinking about it now I also really appreciated the symbolism Nina put into the ghosts. It seems a misfortune that I didn’t really understand the purpose of the ghosts until the end. I don’t want to give anything away (and fear that I kind of already have) but for most of the book the ghosts are just there. The characters will just sit back and watch them as they appear (only at night) and then it doesn’t go anywhere. At least not until the last twenty or so pages. When it does finally come together though, it’s really neat! The idea of what they are is unique!
Nina also touches a bit on some LGBT+…….I think? In all honesty I’m not sure. It was so brief that it made me wonder if I was just reading into something that wasn’t there. It’s a misfortune that I even have to struggle with that. It would have been really nice to see where that was going to go for Mila and the others involved.
In the end, I read it but well……I didn’t like it. The only reason I didn’t DNF it was for all the reasons I mentioned. It was enough to keep me going. Though it didn’t stay my disappointment. Hey that cover though! Am I right? Great job there.
If you’re already a fan of Nina LaCour than I recommend reading this book. You’ll probably love it as much as you love the others. If, like me, you haven’t yet read her books than I would probably pass this one up and try another of her (more popular) books first.
Nina has a really good writing style. It flows smoothly and she managed to piece, almost, everything together in the end. Most of this book takes place on, what sounds like, a huge farm. There are very little animals (cats and two goats), but there is enough room for a barn (turned school house) and a few cabins. Not to mention a main house where other children are housed. The detail made me feel like I was really there on the farm. When she writes about how cold it is in the mornings, I could feel it. I even had to bundle up and make some hot chocolate!
Despite that, the books pace was exceptionally slow. For something that wasn’t on the long side to begin with it felt like it was just dragging. I didn’t connect to the book. The idea behind her story is a good one! Emotionally I couldn’t get on board with this. It just felt like there was not enough detail and there were some significant things left unanswered for me regarding Mila’s mother.
There was only one character here that I actually liked and he was my favorite, not just by default. A nine year old boy named Lee! The relationship Nina wrote between Mila and Lee was heart warming. Mila quickly takes a protective stance when she meets Lee. She feels a kindred connection to him and also see’s some of herself in him. She recognizes his fear. For a younger child he displays a lot of bravery and compassion. He’s also cute!
When it came to all of the characters, Nina did a wonderful job of including great diversity. Mila herself is White (obviously from the cover), Lee is Asian, Terry (farm owner and basically new adoptive father) is Black. I don’t remember there being a description regarding skin color of the other characters but that’s also very likely just me forgetting or not paying close enough attention. It made my heart pleasantly happy to imagine a place like the farm with so many loving people, all of different backgrounds.
Other than that I felt no connection to the characters what so ever. Not even to Lee. Sure he was my favorite but I didn’t feel connected. Where was his background story? It was so briefly told! In like two sentences, then nothing else. I also didn’t even know he was Asian until close to the end. There was simply not enough there for me to feel anything tangible. What about his ghost? What happened??? That whole incident is never explained, it’s just glossed over. Maybe its because there were too many characters? Either way there simply simply simply was not enough here.
Thinking about it now I also really appreciated the symbolism Nina put into the ghosts. It seems a misfortune that I didn’t really understand the purpose of the ghosts until the end. I don’t want to give anything away (and fear that I kind of already have) but for most of the book the ghosts are just there. The characters will just sit back and watch them as they appear (only at night) and then it doesn’t go anywhere. At least not until the last twenty or so pages. When it does finally come together though, it’s really neat! The idea of what they are is unique!
Nina also touches a bit on some LGBT+…….I think? In all honesty I’m not sure. It was so brief that it made me wonder if I was just reading into something that wasn’t there. It’s a misfortune that I even have to struggle with that. It would have been really nice to see where that was going to go for Mila and the others involved.
In the end, I read it but well……I didn’t like it. The only reason I didn’t DNF it was for all the reasons I mentioned. It was enough to keep me going. Though it didn’t stay my disappointment. Hey that cover though! Am I right? Great job there.
If you’re already a fan of Nina LaCour than I recommend reading this book. You’ll probably love it as much as you love the others. If, like me, you haven’t yet read her books than I would probably pass this one up and try another of her (more popular) books first.