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mh_books 's review for:
The Chalk Man
by C.J. Tudor
“Every kids wants to find a dead body. About the only thing a twelve-year-old boy wants to find more is a spaceship, buried treasure or a porn mag. We wanted to find something bad that day. And so we did. I’m not sure anyone realised how bad it would be.”
I have seen from a tweet from John Boyne that he is comparing this book to Stephen King’s the Body. I see that comparison and raise it to Stephen King’s IT without the monsters but still with the scary going ons (people can be monsters too). We have a group of 12 years four boys and a red-headed girl who survive a Summer of murder and fatal mishaps in a small town in England in 1986 who come back together in 2016 to solve who really killed “her”. The plot consists of a lot of foreshadowing but doesn’t ever go exactly where I was expecting it to. Other than that I am not going to say much as this is a book best entered blind.
The characters are all gorgeously drawn in this novel in a simple but witty prose style that is sheer entertainment.
“No one dared disagree with Mum. Mum was - and actually still is - kind of scary. She was tall, with short dark hair, and brown eyes that could bubble with fun or blaze almost black when she was angry (and, a bit like the incredible hulk, you didn’t want to make her angry).”
It has strong themes of the importance of friendships especially those from our childhoods.
“Everything was going wrong. My whole world - and when you’re a kid your friends are your world - was being torn apart.”
It also asks the age-old question; are we defined by the actions of our past and is there any redemption to be found?
“We all have good and bad in us. Just because someone does one terrible thing, should that overshadow all the good things they’ve done? Or are there some things so bad that no good act can redeem them?”
Overall this is a quirky fun story of what it is to be a child, a grown up and everything in between. It was a fun read and was just what I needed during busy season at work (so perfect score on that front). It is recommended to those who like mystery stories and who don’t mind a couple (not many) violent scenes.
I have seen from a tweet from John Boyne that he is comparing this book to Stephen King’s the Body. I see that comparison and raise it to Stephen King’s IT without the monsters but still with the scary going ons (people can be monsters too). We have a group of 12 years four boys and a red-headed girl who survive a Summer of murder and fatal mishaps in a small town in England in 1986 who come back together in 2016 to solve who really killed “her”. The plot consists of a lot of foreshadowing but doesn’t ever go exactly where I was expecting it to. Other than that I am not going to say much as this is a book best entered blind.
The characters are all gorgeously drawn in this novel in a simple but witty prose style that is sheer entertainment.
“No one dared disagree with Mum. Mum was - and actually still is - kind of scary. She was tall, with short dark hair, and brown eyes that could bubble with fun or blaze almost black when she was angry (and, a bit like the incredible hulk, you didn’t want to make her angry).”
It has strong themes of the importance of friendships especially those from our childhoods.
“Everything was going wrong. My whole world - and when you’re a kid your friends are your world - was being torn apart.”
It also asks the age-old question; are we defined by the actions of our past and is there any redemption to be found?
“We all have good and bad in us. Just because someone does one terrible thing, should that overshadow all the good things they’ve done? Or are there some things so bad that no good act can redeem them?”
Overall this is a quirky fun story of what it is to be a child, a grown up and everything in between. It was a fun read and was just what I needed during busy season at work (so perfect score on that front). It is recommended to those who like mystery stories and who don’t mind a couple (not many) violent scenes.