I had seen a lot of talk about this book and wanted to read it for myself. It already has rights to become a movie!
Thank you netgalley and Hanover Square Press for allowing me to read this in exchange for my review.
Samuel is a quirky nine year old who lives in a wondrous estate and is being taken care of by his housekeeper Ruth. Samuel’s mom has gone to America on a “business trip” and Samuel has not heard from her in a long time. He gets postcards from his mom when he’s seeming to question her whereabouts more often than other days. Samuel speaks with his friend Joseph who suggests that something has happened to his mother. His mom did leave months ago without saying goodbye…so maybe something bad HAS happened to her! Ruth seems to dismiss this, so naturally Samuel thinks she is up to no good. What happened to his mother? Is Ruth responsible for her long stay away?
I thought the author did a great job at incorporating the voice of a nine year old boy. It’s not an easy task and I truly felt like I was in his head the whole time. I felt the story dragged on longer than it needed to. It could’ve been a really good short story. Most of the book was Samuel’s sneaking around trying to find clues as to what happened to his mother. I was hooked in the beginning, but felt like I was being dragged through most of the storyline. The ending? Not my favorite at all. It was predictable and boring to say the least. I thought this had a lot of potential, but I digress…
2/5 Stars
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