At first I didn't think I was going to get through this book, but I'm glad i stuck with it. Amy and Lan are the two oldest children living on a ramshackle farm "Frith" with their families. Each family has their own cottage but much of their living and working is communal and unconventional. Amy and Lan (Lachlan) were born shortly after their parents gave up their previous lives and invested in life in the country. The children love life and run wild, along with their siblings. It's an uncoventional, but happy childhood. Until they begin noticing things with tow of the parents, these are stated in innocence, but of course the reader can read between the lines. Will this relationship affect the community? This is a story, a narrative of their unconventional childhood and is charming. #netgalley #amyandlan

This book views life from a different perspective than the norm. It is narrated by two children, Amy and Lan, who are seven at the start or the book and it covers the next few years.
We see life on the farm through their eyes only, never from the adult POV..
It is an interesting take of a narrative but one I personally didn't really enjoy. The characters were often hard ti differentiate especially at the beginning as Amy and Lan's voices were similar and so I often had to check back in order to see which 'Mum" we were referring to.
Interesting to see things through the eyes of a child who is often unaware of the struggles of being self-sufficient and living with others in a type of commune.

A poignant and well written story about the life changing impact parental actions and decisions can have on their children. Told from two of the children's perspectives it is a coming of age tale with a real sting in the tail
thank you to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book

This is a new author for me. I really enjoyed Amy and Lan. I loved the depiction of friendship between Amy and Lan. It comes across as genuine. I also liked the way the book tackles the reality of life on a farm and how hard it can be. There’s no sugar-coating which I found refreshing.

Amy and Lan by Sadie Jones
This story is told from the point of view of Amy and Lan (Lachlan) who are 7 as the book opens in 2005. When it closes in 2010 they are young adolescents. Amy lives with her parents Harriet and Adam and Lan with Gail and stepdad Jim. You gain a fascinating insight into the families through the eyes of the children. The families have joined together with Rani and Martin Hodge to buy a farm and run it self-sufficiently. The problems which they face are not played down and as the children often note it is all blood, poo and death.
Although the story is told alternately by Amy and Lan their points of view are very similar and it is interesting how little they understand about what is happening between the adults. The friction between the adults over money and the way in which things should be done on the farm is fascinatingly portrayed and I love the idea that Finbar, who lives on his own in a cottage, was found in “St Lucia with polio” is such a terrible misunderstanding of the real situation.
The portrayal of the wealthy family who have bought up one of the farms nearby and put in swimming pools etc. is brilliant as they try and invite the previous owners to “…come and use the pool anytime.”
It’s vibrant and funny in places though the character of the novel changes towards the end. I enjoyed reading it but did not feel that it had the emotional depth of some of Sadie Jones other novels.
Many thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read it in return for an honest review.

This is a brilliantly-written coming-of-age novel about two children who grow up together like brother and sister whilst their families and other friends pursue their dream having escaped the rat race to run a self-sufficient lifestyle on a small-holding.

The novel cleverly uses a very immersive narrative alternating between the two juvenile protagonists, Amy and Lan and their childlike voices and perspectives are incredibly convincing. The beauty of their childhood innocence contrasting with the invasive nature of impending maturity, the threat of the outside world on their bucolic countryside idyll, and the destruction wrought as the adult relationships slowly fall apart.

I really enjoyed this novel, and have always found Jones' writing to be immersive and incredibly sensitive no matter what type of characters she writes about. This book talks about about whether we can truly escape the problems of the world and about raising children in the countryside and how we perceive the virtuosity of this. Yet, this is perfectly woven into a captivating story, which is vividly rich in colour and evocation. An excellent read!

This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

A sweet and lovely story told from the point of view of two friends who are closer than siblings living communally on a farm with their respective families. As Amy and Lan grow up their experience and understanding of their unusual upbringing develops and matures, and the book is very good at giving the reader more of an awareness of what's happening with the grown ups than the children have. Lightly done, the book reveals the sometimes devastating impact adults can have on the children they bring into the world and the choices they make for them.

It would be wonderful to see a sequel set maybe ten years later when Amy and Lan are young adults who have the opportunity to reconnect - their relationship is so lovely and so deeply-founded in childhood, I would love to see what might happen next.

A really unusual perspective as the whole story is told by two children from about 6 to 11 years and gradually their understanding and views develop as they grow. They live on a farm that is home to three families plus others and although not siblings they are closer than any could be. Their childhood is wonderful with freedom to roam and animals to tend but we gradually see that all is not perfect at all. Very gentle, very slow moving but totally engrossing.

The story of a girl and a boy who grow up together on an English farm shared by their families, Amy and Lan by Sadie Jones is a beautiful tale of friendship, skilfully written from both children’s perspectives. A very compelling read that left me teary-eyed.

This books was just ok for me.
I liked the family/friend dynamics but I think I struggle a little with stories when the main narrators are young kids. I couldn't quite decide if some were written too young at times.
Overall, it was a good story and I enjoyed it more as I read it.

Amy and Lan have the type of childhood that most children don’t get to experience anymore. By that, I don’t mean living on a farm or in a commune. I mean, having the freedom to roam, to spend time with friends without having to find time in their over-scheduled lives, without their mobile phones being the first thing they pick up on a morning. It is the type of life it’s hard – if not impossible – to find nowadays. And, in many ways, it sounds idyllic.

Of course, this is a novel (a very well written one) so nothing can be that perfect. And it isn’t for Amy and Lan. Being children, though, and having parents who are very good (most of the time) at hiding the truth from them, they have no idea. Which – as a reader – made me kind of sad. Because their lives were falling apart at the same time they were at their happiest.

So many times I wanted to put this book down and avoid the inevitable – the ending I knew was coming. The ending I knew would be sad. And yet I couldn’t put the book down because the characters were so compelling and the story so beautifully written. I felt part of Amy and Lan’s world and I wanted to stay there for as long as I could.

It’s been a while since I’ve felt like this about a book – totally immersed. Though maybe I shouldn’t be surprised because I’ve enjoyed everything else by Jones that I’ve read. She really does have a wonderful way with words. And this was a wonderful, thoughtful, and thought-provoking book. Highly recommended (5 out of 5 stars).

Amy and Lan tells the story of Amy and Lan, 2 primary school children who live with their families and various associates in a ramshackle farm in the west of England. The premise seems strong, the families are a disparate bunch, multiple tensions abound, and the farm is barely functioning.
The book is related by Amy and Lam over 5 years of their lives, unfortunately this causes a problem.
Amy and Lan have very similar narrative voices even though they are different sexes and in very different family set ups. I regularly had to check back to see who was narrating each chapter and who “mum” was this time. The device also distances the reader from the story. You are aware of the tension between the adults but as you only ever see them through the eyes of a child you get very little true understanding of their characters and motivations. What they are up to is far more interesting than what Amy and Lan are up to, unless you are really interested in 2 kids witnessing the running of a farm day to day.
I found it really hard work in places though it did come to life in the final few chapters when everything comes to a head and something happens. Amy and Lan are 11 at this stage so their narration is more nuanced and adult. I really wish the rest of the book had been so involving. Thank you to #netgalley and #chattobooks for allowing me to review this ARC

Amy and Lan - born on the same day, live on a collective farm with their respective parents and their friends. Life on the farm goes from fun to challenging over the space of the few years of the story. The story is told from the perspective of Amy and Lan respectively. A child's perspective makes this an interesting read.
A bit confusing to start with, but once you work out which child belongs to which parents, all becomes clear.

I found life with Amy and Lan on the Frith farm a pure delight. It reminded me of my less wild younger years growing up on a farm, too, though without the benefit of the lack of supervision these two rambunctious 7-year-olds seemed to enjoy.

In Amy and Lan we see the world through the eyes of our two young narrators who try to make sense of the adult world they inhabit. Frith is a commune, of sorts, being a farm purchased by three families as a means of getting back to nature and a simpler way of life. They grow their own food and raise their own animals. There are many tough lessons and hardships to face but Amy and Lan bounce from event to event taking the ups and downs in their stride. The complexities of adult interactions are noticed, even if not understood, and the way they interpret them is naively sweet and perceptive. They have an amazing radar for emotion and underlying tensions between their parents though not the life experience to see what these might mean for them.

I couldn't put this book down and felt a real sadness upon completion. Sadie Jones is a terrific writer and made the world of Amy and Lan a magical place full of simplicity, joy and tough realities. This was a journey through the innocence of childhood without the entanglements of tech and complex social media and norms. Brilliant.

An unusual read with alternating chapters from the perspective of children Amy and Lan.
the interwoven families who live on the communal farm Frith merge into one at times and working out relationships needs concentration.
Amy and Lan have a somewhat wild childhood, stretching the bounds of safety,which Sadie captures well and their personalities shine through in their narrated chapters.
When the worlds of the grown ups impact on the children’s idyll life will never be the same again.
Beautifully written.

A powerful tale of childhood told from the POV of children growing up on a farm. It doesn’t shy away from harsh realities and shows adults through the eyes of children.

Amy and Lan is a novel about two friends as they grow up on the farm their families share, facing the realities of not only rural life but also adult actions. It is an easy, engaging and enjoyable read which does not shy away from the hardships of farm life or the realities and frailties of human relationships. There was a lot of gentle humour in the book and some interesting characters, children, adults and animals.

Overall, an easy and simple read. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I just loved this book and felt as though I knew Amy and Lan personally. Their lives and families seemed chaotic at times but so believable.
The story was told from each of their points of view and really came across as though the children were telling it.
I’ll certainly be searching out more books by this author

Sadie Jones is such a brilliant storyteller and can be counted on for intelligent plots and really believable, sympathetic characters. I adored The Snakes - although it is extremely dark, it is totally riveting - and her earlier novels, so was really looking forward to this. While quite different, it is again a fully immersive experience, with brilliant sense of place, voices and dialogue, psychologically acute, with has a bite lurking beneath its lighter surface. Told in the voices of two children, and often very funny, it is an unsettling portrait of rural life and the attempt to purse a country idyll despite little money, plus loads of practical difficulty and messy human error.

Amy and Lan explores the communal life led by the protagonists on their back to basics life in the country. As the eldest offspring of a group of friends ditching the commercial urban world for a naturalistic reboot., Jones see-saws the action between the narrative viewpoints of the two children as they grow both together and apart. As much a coming of age story as an ode to the pitfalls of a naïve ''Good Life', Amy and Lan beautifully exposes the innocence of youth against the harsh realities of an escape that isn't quite complete enough.

If you enjoyed Jones' previous books you will undoubtedly appreciate this gem, chock full of a sense of place so exact that the reader feels as if they are standing amongst the goats, scything the hay and climbing the trees.