3 1/2 StarsI have a really hard time rating and classifying this. I think if it were written today it would be YA, since the main character starts out at age 7 (I think), stays around 10 years old for ages and finally in the last few pages reaches 14.
It's a good book but I'm not used to reading about such young characters. I think if I were of the YA age range I would have liked this a lot more than I did. Its a very sweet, gentle read but I kept wondering, "Where are we going with this?" and the answer was, "We're not. We're just enjoying the ride".
And for the most part you do enjoy it, although I couldn't help wondering why the author saw fit to kill off so many people. I think I counted nine deaths. That's quite a lot by any standards but pretty over the top for a book written for younger audiences. And yet I can't say it's morbid. Most of the characters that got killed off were pretty unmemorable cardboard-type figures, and I got the feeling that once they served their purpose the author was just as bored with them as we were so... POP goes the weasel.
The friendship/love between Ruan and David was probably one of the sweetest Ive read (although at one point I could have smacked him. I suppose he couldn't be completely perfect). The ending leaves you satisfied but wanting an epilogue.
Recommended for lovers of old fashioned, quaint, cozy reads. This is my second DES, and I have to say I enjoyed her book The Lovely Day a lot more.
CONTENT:
SEX: None
PROFANITY: Very mild (Ds)
VIOLENCE: None
PARANORMAL ELEMENTS: None
THEMATIC ELEMENTS: Death, family abandonment, unwed pregnancy vaguely hinted at
MY RATING: G
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