I don't know if I've ever found it harder to write a review. And the reason is because I'm not sure how I can do this book justice. I want to go back to some of the books I've given five stars and take a star away as I will now judge all books against this one. Amanda Berriman has managed something amazing - she has created the voice of a four and a half year old girl, made it credible, made it funny, made it real and made it so that her telling of the story breaks your heart then mends it in so many ways. This is Britain in the underclass where the home you have is a mouldy flat which makes your baby brother cough and the landlord won't fix the broken window. The small community created around the family takes the place of "family" and "society" and Jesika is quite happy. She knows nothing else.

When she briefly stays with a foster family or visits her friend Paige, Jesika's amazement at the number of rooms and size of the garden, is quite a lump in the throat moment.

Jesika tells the story in beautiful innocence, the smelly stairs to the street, the woman next door with the bad teeth, the women who run her nursery. It is all so well told, but there is a darkness here that Jesika doesn't understand, but we do and that is the reason you can't stop reading. This isn't an "easy" read but it is hugely rewarding and recommended. You will get drawn in by Jesika and then will keep reading because you have to know what happens.

I loved this book and I will measure all other books against it. I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

When I read the blurb for Home I knew that I wanted to read it, I then started to hear from others who had read it and they all seemed to love it so I was even more determined to read it. And I’m so pleased that I did.

From literally the very first page I was hooked. The book is narrated by Jesika, a four year old who lives with her Mummy and little brother Toby after her Father moved to Poland, never to be heard from again. Jesika’s Mum is struggling with life, she doesn’t have enough money and they live in a flat that’s got many things wrong with it, including mold. As a result Toby and their Mum both have a bad cough that won’t go away. Life is about to get very difficult for Jesika.

A book narrated by such a young child could easily be awful but thankfully that is not the case here, not even close. It is written in a simple language but I really liked that. From the very start Jesika worked her way into my heart, she was such a wonderful little girl who felt so very real. Her innocence was wonderful and I loved seeing her world through her eyes, but this isn’t always an easy book to read.

Home gives a brilliant example of how grooming happens, the subtleties and ways in which an adult will convince a child to keep secrets for them. While it is not easy to read I thought that Amanda Berriman handled it sensitively and realistically, something that is impressive for any author, let along a debut author. But some will find this very difficult to read so be warned.

But despite this darkness, there is much light in the book. The love that Jesika has for her Mother is wonderful, but also for her little brother Toby. Jesika really is a special little girl who unknowingly brings out the best in people.

Home had me going to bed early so that I could read and check in on Jesika because I’d be worried about her and how she was doing, that is how real that she felt to me. When I finished the book at 2am I felt as though my heart had been shattered by little Jesika and what she went through, but filled with hope that her life was going to get better. The most upsetting thing? That I won’t get to check in on Jesika again and see how she is doing. Home really is a special book and for a debut author it is nothing short of brilliant.

This book is a difficult read, and I didn’t realise it at first. By the time I did, I felt like I couldn’t put it down. It’s like Room - not necessarily in content, but in the way that it’s told by a child, a child who is so vulnerable and confused and who seems so real. I’ve read the other reviews for this book (only 3 so far), and they’ve said the same thing: by the time you realise what it’s about, you can’t stop reading because you owe it to Jesika to find out what happens. I know it’s a work of fiction, but there are so many real-life stories like this. It’s a heart-breaking but important read. Would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed (as much as you can enjoy) Room.

I liked the way this book was told by 4 year old Jesika and loved the way lots of the words were spelt as a child would say them. It seemed a bit slow in parts but It’s one of those books that you just have to keep reading although it was very distressing in places.

I have read a lot of overwhelming positive reviews of this book, and whilst I don’t disagree with them, I was not as captivated as I hoped to be. I have recently finished another novel written in a similar style (Only Child) and perhaps it is unfair to read the two so close together. This novel came up just slightly short of that. The narrative perspective certainly made some of the issues tackled even more poignant however, I was far more engaged by the main family unit tha the problems of the narrator’s friend. Certainly a lot of issues to discuss and I’ sure it would raise a number of engaging points for book club discussions, but I just felt it lacked the emotive pull I was expecting. The fact that I skimmed through the last pages is telling. Clearly a novel many will love, for me, there was just that certain something missing.

A story told from a four year old's perspective. I found it upsetting and it left me feeling very uncomfortable

This is a beautifully written book. The narrator is 4 year old Jesika and the story is told from her perspective. There are some really harrowing issues dealt with. This makes it hard to read in places. The issues are handled really well and sympathetically. I laughed and I cried at this book. It is a pull at the heartstrings read that I would highly recommend.

Heartbreaking but compelling! Told through the eyes of Jesika, aged 4, this story is overwhelming! I literally couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting. This book will stick in my mind for a long time

What does the word “home” conjure up for you? For four year old Jessika Petrowski, this book’s narrator and star, it's less about bricks and mortar and more about those she has given her heart to. Despite her fractured life experiences, her sense of home and family remain strong.

She lives in a dilapidated flat with her single-mother, Tina, and younger brother, Toby. They are plagued by damp and mould. While Jessika play with the “moles” on the walls, Tina and Toby have to be hospitalised with chest infections. Unfolding circumstances are strange and confusing to her.

The adults who step in to take care of Jessika are a poor substitute for her own family. With her stability and routine shattered, she is subject to stress that manifests itself in fighting to achieve a sense of normality. Life is suddenly scary and events soon reveal that she cannot fully trust all the adults stepping in to take care of her.

The longing to see her family intensifies and she will not be satisfied until they are reunited again. Poverty itself is no huge obstacle from Jessika’s perspective. She cares far more about family, friendship and issues of love and trust than she does about the way they have been forced to live.

This is a riveting, highly recommended and heartrending read that doesn’t avoid life’s hardships and dark side but focuses most on adjusting to them. Because, seen through a young child's eyes, the bare necessities that make up a home and family become the key components of personal happiness. And that’s true for the rest of us, no matter what our circumstances might be.

This is a heartbreaking ache of a book: it explores some harrowing themes, opens doors to experiences we should all be aware of, and is gripping and terrifyingly tense. But there’s a joy glowing at the heart of Home that elevates it above your average tear-jerker or page-turner. A joy that belongs to four (and-a-half) year-old Jesika.

The story is told through little Jesika’s eyes. Words and facts are presented as she perceives them, rather than how they are. So the ‘mould’ on the wall becomes ‘moles,’ a ‘chest infection’ a ‘chesty fecshun,’ and one of the opening lines reads: “My fayvrit green pen is on the windysill, where I hided it from Toby, and I take it and squeeze ahind the telly to get to the peeling-paper.”

It takes a little while to adjust to this idiosyncratic narration. At first some of the characters felt unsubtly drawn — larger-than-life caricatures. But as I settled into Jesika’s viewpoint, I realised that, seen through her eyes, they were perfectly portrayed. In the end, the narration is nothing but charming, and it’s impossible not to fall for this little girl’s heart and bravery.

Her viewpoint also serves two very useful functions. Crucially, the naive perspective allows a grim subject matter to be explored delicately. When a pre-school friend tells her a disturbing secret Jesika doesn’t really understand what’s going on, so we get to witness alongside her, always a step removed from the brutal truth. As I read, I was constantly a little worried the storyline would tip over into gratuitousness, but thankfully the painful themes were covered elegantly throughout, thanks largely to the use of Jesika’s limited understanding.

I mainly enjoyed the delightful insight into the mind of a four-year-old child. The empathy in these pages is really quite humbling. Amanda Berriman shows such depth of understanding, such tenderness and patience with her character, that I have no doubt she’s captured how pre-schoolers really think. In a world where grown-ups frame ‘not making things harder’ as being ‘helpful,’ Jesika feels deep pride and validation in what a helpful girl she is, despite being too little to actually help at all.

At another point, Jesika’s mum is frustrated at her slowness walking home in the rain, but Jesika has let go of her brother’s buggy because she’s spotted the rainbow made by some oil in a puddle: “I know a rainbow puddle is something so special and Mummy needs to see it.” The thought of this scene has made me bite my tongue with my own little ones more than once since reading it — the whole book serves as a handy tract on compassionate parenting.

There are other things Home does exceptionally well. The way Jesika grows and learns through the course of the book is at once heartbreaking and inspiring. And I love how her mother, Tina, acts perfectly, despite all the challenges of ill health, no income or support and a dangerously inadequate rental. Echoes of Emma Donoghue’s Room are strong. Not just the child-centred language, but also the mother trying to be kind, and succeeding, from deep pit of despair. Wherever the blame lies for this family’s desperate situation, it is decidedly not at Tina’s door. She is a model for all of us.

Home deals with heavy themes, but the central tragedy of Jesika’s life isn’t the housing crisis she doesn’t know she’s at the centre of, or the dark adult things she doesn’t understand; it’s simply being four. Trying to understand the world, and get the world to understand her. The trials of crossing that huge gulf are the ones that preoccupy Jesika, and that loomed largest in the book for me.

And that tragedy is tempered throughout by the joy I mentioned. An innocent, hopeful, bittersweet joy that lights up this book from within. Not the horribleness, but the happiness that leaches through despite itself.

I’ve seen many review-column mentions of the terrible childhood Jesika endures, but, in actual fact, all Jesika really wants is her family. Jesika’s mum has set her up well, and her priorities are good. We glimpse how impossible her mum’s life is, but we inhabit Jesika’s world. She sees the joy in the things grown-ups find unbearable — a peeling, mouldy corner of wallpaper is her special place where she can draw. Faced with the unknown pleasures of kids TV on DVD, she just wants to watch a video clip of her little brother. While her mum negotiates the social shame of accepting charity, Jesika just sees kindness and friends. She doesn’t crave the bigger houses she visits, despite her awe at their trampolines and bird tables, she just wants to go back ‘home.’

Interesting narrative. Comes from the perspective of a 4 year old. Found it hard to get in to but once did it was hard to put down

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book as an arc. I was slightly apprehensive starting this book, as it is narrated by 4 year old Jesika and I thought her voice might come over as precocious or annoying, however it was written extremely well and the reader could really empathise with her. I felt so sorry for the poor wee soul with all the situations she had to face. At times this was a heartbreaking read and seeing things from a child's perspective was fascinating.
Well worth a read, I would recommend this book.

Geez to be honest I’m gonna struggle to convey in the review just how good but sad but amazing this book actually is. It’s gonna stay with me for a very long time and in my opinion is a must read for everyone!

Jesika is four and a half and lives in a flat with her mum Tina and her baby brother Toby, they live in squalor & awful conditions and their mum does her best but there’s not much more she can do to improve their situation.

It’s an awfully sad story and little Jesika is far older than her years, she’s seen and heard far too much for her age and she is so endearing you just want to take her home and keep her warm and love her forever.

What’s said it you know all over the U.K. there’s plenty of Tobys & Jesikas....a sad but beautiful read

I found Home a little tricky to get into, but once the story began to develop, I finished the book in one sitting. Like a British re-imagining of Room (albeit without the kidnapping), we view the world through the eyes of Jesika, a four year old voice that is capable of carrying the narrative and pulling at the heart strings.

Absolutely amazing I wish I could give this more than 5 stars. So wonderfully and cleverly written. I laughed and cried throughout this book I have no doubt it's going to be huge. I can't stop raving about it.

A cleverly written book with the story being told from the perspective of a 4 year old child. The innocence of youth and the language used leave the reader to interpret what is happening. It is a soft way to examine some of the difficult challenges of life which we face as adults and a stark reminder of the need to protect our children and their childhood.

I really enjoyed this book. It's very different because it's written from the point of view of a 4 year old girl. Jesika lives in a grotty flat with her mummy and baby brother. She goes to preschool in the afternoons. She makes a new friend called Paige, and it soon becomes evident to the reader that something untoward is happening between Paige and her uncle. When Jesika's mummy and brother are kept in hospital with pneumonia caused by their damp flat, she ends up staying at Paige's house. I really recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.

An unusual and disturbing story told from the point of view of a four year old girl as she experiences her life.

She is a very bright little girl but her understanding of events is, of course, limited by her experience, and what her mother has told her. Her life has been difficult as her father abandoned her mother when she was pregnant with their second child and went back to Poland. He doesn't provide any  support and this leaves them living in a rented flat in a rather unsavoury building. a flat that is damp, lacks reliable reliable heating and maintenance with doors and windows that don't fit properly and up several flights of stairs. the owner of the flat also is inclined to request services rather than cash for rent from her mother...

Our little heroine has a friend, Paige, and gradually as the friendship between them develops as it also does with their mothers, we begin to work out just what is really happening in Paige's life.

I was initially unsure about this story as it was tricky reading a story told in the voice of a child - but it was not written in a sentimental manner and indeed her voice was very poignant. i got hooked and found it excellent.

Disturbing but compelling narrative told from the perspective of a 4 year old girl. Didn't quite have the same depth as "Room" - reached rather a tidy conclusion - but the story of poverty and how a single parent manages under those circumstances is heart breaking.

Home is a story written from the perspective of 4 year old Jesika who lives with her Mum and her little brother. This book takes you on an emotional journey of a 4 year old and reminds you that children don't always process information the way that we do, that they trust people because we tell them too and that as adults we don't always remember to stop and listen to what our children are trying to tell us but might not have the words to formulate what they are trying to say.

I absolutely loved the way this book was written, at the offset I was dubious about the narrative being from a 4 year olds perspective but once I was a few pages in I was hooked and could not put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and look forward to seeing its success.