Read November 2020

This was a hard book to rate, I hovered between 3 and 4 stars but eventually settled on 4 simply for how compelling it was.

We follow Ele who is held captive by someone known only as Him. She lives with some she calls the Others. I never figured out myself what they were initially, they were described so oddly. She used to have a brother, Zeb, but now he's a stain on the floor. She is obsessed with trees, fairytales and going Outside.

Eventually through a twist of luck Ele makes it Outside where she meets Willow and his dad, both struggling with the recent bereavement of Willow's mum. This section was the hardest to believe. How many people find a naked teenage-ish girl with a limited grasp of English e.g. lights are sun bars, and decide to keep her? Rural area or not most people would call the authorities.

The last quarter of the book was exceptionally emotional and I wish it hadn't have been so compressed, I wanted more of the aftermath. Overall a uniquely written, compelling novel.

After numerous attempts I have had to admit defeat and put this book as dnf. A real shame as the premise sounded great but unfortunately for me it just didn't deliver.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one. I really struggled to get into it and struggled with the format.

A really engaging book about a difficult story line. I could not put this down and needed to know how this was going to end.  I look forward to reading more by this author.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one. I really struggled to get into it and struggled with the format.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley. 

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. 
Natalie.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review. 

Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a Tower...

I read this book in 2 days. It reminded me of Emma Donoghues 'Room', which is one of my favourites, just a bit different. Ele doesn't know much, only has a few books, and doesn't know a lot of words, or what things are. I felt this made the book a bit more real than I thought it would, the made up words etc.

It was a good short book, quite eerie in its own way. 

3 and half to 4 stars from me.

Unfortunately I read this book a while ago and seem to have missed it when writing reviews. - sadly I cant remember enough detail to give a full review.
However, thanks to NetGalley for the ARC :-)

This really was not for me and the only reason I did not DNF it was because it was such a quick read.  I couldn’t get on with the writing style although I do understand why it was written like that as she would have had limited vocabulary skills. Just not for me.

Went through a phase of getting "read now" books that sounded vaguely interesting. Never got around to reading this one.

I struggled to get into this book and so did not finish it.  Though I am sure there is a readership it will appeal to.  Sadly not for me.

Another book about someone being raised in isolation, but this time it's for the YA market. I would say it's Young YA, it has very dark topic but the way it's handled is almost middle-grade. I guess if you're not a 12 year watching True Crime Docs but that was me.

Ele has not been properly socialised so she doesn't know the words for basic objects and only has access to four books to frame her world. She speaks in a confusing way and it took me a while to figure out whether the word she kept using was meant to positive or negative. I got used it to eventually but I don't think it helps that I started this book while in a waiting room and didn't read it for hours later. Probably better to read the first fifty pages in one go.

Another language choice that is uncomfortable is the way she describes the character, Willow, whose mixed raced with a dead Jamaican Mother and ginger Scottish father. Yeah, it's does get minus points for stereotypes. Having diverse characters is a plus but the some of the descriptions of Willow by Ele are oddly racist; not in the racist way in that she been locked in a room entire life so doesn't know the connotation of the things she says; more in what the hell does that mean? "His head hair ain't like no truths in no books. It's all together and bouncy." I think Juckes is trying to be poetic, but it's more what? This could just be a me thing.

This book tries to have twists, but if you know true crime then it obvious what they'll be and you won't be shocked.  It's also a very Juvenile Happy Ending way, I mean the characters literally say we don't why, it just is, which is realistic of life, but the way it's said doesn't help. I do say this Young Ya, and to clarify is not a bad thing. A young side to YA is needed, so this book might be good for Young teen wanting to step their toes into something darker but safe in that there will be Happy ending for the characters.

This book is set in Scotland, but where in Scotland? Fantasy Scotland probably. So I was born in Scotland, I was raised in Scotland. I went to school in Scotland. Okay, I'm probably overkilling this. There's just a lot of questionable things in this book that makes me think that Juckes has never been to Scotland or had her book proofread properly. She checked with someone's mum that the dialogue was correct. There's odd things referring to potatoes as Tatties and potatoes: " brown spotted balls called 'potatoes' - once Willow also called them 'Tatties'' and this not something someone would do unless they were questioned. Frankly, it should be the other way if you wanted to point out that Scottish people called them that. You either use that word or you don't. The Scots was, of course, wrote very touristy, but this book is obviously meant for a non-Scottish audience. The thing that made me really go what?, is this scene: When he’s done with the slow song, he starts playing something else. Something fast.  Something that has him dancing from left to right as his arm swoops from side to side and up and down. The music bounces off the walls and has me sitting up, smiling, my feet bouncing along like they’re running on music.‘Come on!’Willow shouts, spinning round in a circle and bouncing from foot to foot. I get up and copy him, though it’s difficult without a violin to play myself. I hop from one foot to the other. Spin round. [dance till collapsing] ‘Phew! Ah, that’s a fun one.’I pull my head to the side so I can see him. He’s smiling wide at the ceiling, pulling in breaths from his inhaler. ‘Irish,’he says, catching my eye. ‘They know how to dance."

So this is the thing called Ceilidh in Scotland, and if you had gone to a Scottish School you would know from the age of 8, we are all taught Scottish Group dancing and this continues until we were finally free of P.E. (in 6th year in my case) but still would make us do them at the Christmas Dance (at least my school did), we were made to do them at Christmas Dances during Primary. The Gay Gordons are drilled into my head. My point is there is a scene where a Scottish person plays a fiddle fast and does a dance that can't wrap my head around at being like anything that exists. Is he meant to be 'Riverdancing' with a violin? Maybe the targeted audience won't be old enough to immediately think of that Irish Scene in Titanic and all those dead Irish people. There are really fast Scottish dances and that type of music would be associated with Scottish dancing, if you were Scottish. There are other questionable things like Ele somehow never seeing trees on her way outside, or not being eaten alive by midges. This isn't really a big deal, just in the back of mind, where the hell in Scotland is this meant to be? I think Highlands but a lot of Scotland has middle of nowheres. Basically, all the questionable Scottish stuff just becomes really distracting and I don't get the choice.

I mean if you're not from Scotland, then I don't know why you would do it. The setting is never really described in detail, there's a lack of houses so I know it must be in the countryside but that's it. It could be anywhere.

Another big problem is the unquestioning nature of the characters, I guess spoils for after the 30% of the book. Ele gets outside and through a series of events ends up staying in this boy's, Willow, house and his dad doesn't question anything. Even with this going on for several days, with this girl who doesn't understand the basic things of the world and it's obvious that this is a case where the police should be called. She is also magically toilet trained and she learns everything really easily.

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for Dead Trees. This is a book with serious topics that is unrealistic in its execution. This is on the Younger side of YA (which they has been lack of in recent years and they should be more published), with the protagonist being thirteen and the push for a happy ending. Maybe I'm just to jaded to be really touched by this story especially there are several books with similar topics. This is okay but not story that will stick with me.

A captivating read from the beginning, I found this book hard to put down and very different from anything I've ever read. The authorial voice is so unique and consistent and the characters are vivid and relatable. The storyline is harrowing and intense and the relationships between characters are written absolutely beautifully. One of the best books I've read this year, an outstanding debut.

Read clever book, told from the view of a child. Difficult to read in parts but you could feel her pain and her anxiety. Good read

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me have a copy of this book. 

I had heard good things about this book when I requested it so I was really excited when I was given the opportunity to be able to read this book. 

Sadly I was disappointed and struggled to get through it. It is very slow to begin and I found that the story did not grip me. I found the narrative quite confusing, I understand the want to be unique which might be why I found it difficult however I'm not sure I was a fan of it. 

I really couldn't get on with any of the characters, I found them underdeveloped and they got on my nerves. However I did find it easy to connect with Ele and her strives and ambitions. Whilst I didn't particularly favour her as a character she was easy to build a relationship with. 

I think this book is aimed at a certain audience and I am not one of those people unfortunately. I think you should sample this book before you read it to make sure you can connect and understand the plot. For me it was disjointed and I didn't really understand what was happening most of the time. 

I do recommend that you read this book if you think it is for you. Give it a go!

I struggled with Outside from the start, felt it was a slow starter, tried to persevere but I gave up in the end.

An interesting premise however I struggled to engage with the characters on this one unfortunately. The novel had the potential to discuss the themes in depth but I felt like it didn’t go deep enough for me

A little weird to read. Took some getting in to but a nice plot once read.

Throughout the read I was routing for the girl to be released. I found the language in the book a little had to adjust as it was different to my normal books. 

Would try another book from this author. 

A solid read.

I don't know whether to say that I enjoyed this book, as the setting is so incredibly harsh. But I can definitely say that it pulled me in and kept me there. This is such an intense and interesting book that I almost couldn't put down!

It's not a book you can enjoy, since the setting is so cruel. But I couldn't put the book down and was completely drawn into Ele's world. Reminiscent of the movie Room, Ele's has been trapped in a small room for years. She shares this room with her brother and the Others and has invented another whole world, where trees and sky exist. We are desperate to discover if and how she escapes and watch with amazement at her will to live, survive and find hope in this dismal environment. 
The story is traumatic, dramatic and leaves an impression. I really enjoyed how the author wrote in Ele's voice. We see the world as Ele's sees the world, even when she doesn't know what things are or what they are called. We are taken on a journey as she adapts and comes to term with her environments and we learn how human relationships are what makes the world stronger.