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abbie_ 's review for:
A Ladder to the Sky
by John Boyne
Thank you SO much @penguinrandomhouse for gifting me a copy of A Ladder to the Sky, which ended up zooming into my top books of the year so far! In case it wasn’t obvious from my updates while reading this book, I FUCKING LOVED IT.
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It’s possibly the darkest story of ambition I’ve ever had the delight of reading. It focuses on the life of Maurice Swift, an aspiring author who will stop at literally nothing to achieve his ambitions. NOTH. ING. I was reading the last part on a train and my face was legitimately like 😧 I was, as the kids say, SHOOKETH. Although the book followed a predictable structure to a degree, it was nonetheless shocking or compelling for that, and Boyne did such a fantastic job with the different voices for each section that it was just a sheer JOY to read!
.
We move through sections narrated by different people in Maurice’s life and finally Maurice himself, slowly revealing the full despicable nature of one man, and honestly the way it all came together in the end was just perfect. A lot of books I read I’m more concerned with characters & writing over plot, but A Ladder to the Sky does it all, and does it all so well. It’s almost the perfect book for bookworms, delving into the ins and outs of writing, reading and publishing, and revealing a darker side to it all!
.
And that’s not to say Boyne’s characters and writing aren’t also first class - they definitely are. I think Edith’s section was my favourite, but the narrative voice for all the characters was so strong, each one distinctive and each one adding something crucial to the story. It’s fairly short, 325ish pages, and nothing is superfluous, it’s tightly written and controlled the whole way through! And as I mentioned before, the writing style is insanely readable, nothing overly flowery but not too simplified either.
.
I picked this one up whenever I could, I got up early, I almost didn’t return to work on my lunch break - I really don’t think I can recommend this one enough, it’s just a bloody excellent read!
.
It’s possibly the darkest story of ambition I’ve ever had the delight of reading. It focuses on the life of Maurice Swift, an aspiring author who will stop at literally nothing to achieve his ambitions. NOTH. ING. I was reading the last part on a train and my face was legitimately like 😧 I was, as the kids say, SHOOKETH. Although the book followed a predictable structure to a degree, it was nonetheless shocking or compelling for that, and Boyne did such a fantastic job with the different voices for each section that it was just a sheer JOY to read!
.
We move through sections narrated by different people in Maurice’s life and finally Maurice himself, slowly revealing the full despicable nature of one man, and honestly the way it all came together in the end was just perfect. A lot of books I read I’m more concerned with characters & writing over plot, but A Ladder to the Sky does it all, and does it all so well. It’s almost the perfect book for bookworms, delving into the ins and outs of writing, reading and publishing, and revealing a darker side to it all!
.
And that’s not to say Boyne’s characters and writing aren’t also first class - they definitely are. I think Edith’s section was my favourite, but the narrative voice for all the characters was so strong, each one distinctive and each one adding something crucial to the story. It’s fairly short, 325ish pages, and nothing is superfluous, it’s tightly written and controlled the whole way through! And as I mentioned before, the writing style is insanely readable, nothing overly flowery but not too simplified either.
.
I picked this one up whenever I could, I got up early, I almost didn’t return to work on my lunch break - I really don’t think I can recommend this one enough, it’s just a bloody excellent read!