I can't believe I almost forgot to review this book... it was wonderful indeed.
I have been reading this every single day since 2013. Loved it then, still love it now.
Even though I can now truly mark it down as on my "Read" shelf... I'll never be finished reading this book! Would recommend this read to everyone!
Can be difficult to read all on its own though... would also recommend reading this with the helpful study guides found on www.jw.org alongside it, to make sure you understand it all properly. The information on that site certainly helped me!

I am a big fan of this book.
I only discovered it because it was shortlisted for the Concorde Book Awards 2020. I had never heard of the author before (not surprising, as this is her first book) and the cover didn't particularly appeal to me at first.
Starting the book, I was surprised how young the narrator's perspective is. The main character is 9 3/4 years old. Eventually I settled into the way of writing and then the story was easy to enjoy. In some ways, this kind of story is best told from a child's point of view.
To be honest, the story-line was basic. The world building, underdeveloped. But despite these factors, this is a really important book that more children need to be reading.
The bottom line is: the book had everything it needed. Our characters are characterised enough to be loved or, in some cases, despised. The plot is exciting enough to hold your attention. And thanks to the author's simplistic style of writing, the reader has nothing else to focus on but the real issue: the very current refugee crisis.
This is of course a very sensitive subject, but the book deals with it in such a way that helps children to understand enough of what is going on, but not so much that it is overly distressing. Some parts of the book children may find to be surprising, but anything that could be shocking is dealt with gently, slowly.
The main characters are wonderful. They really carry the story. All these nine-year-olds with so much love and kindness in their hearts. There's lots of little ideas in this story, how a child could help a new student to feel welcomed into their class, how to be kind to children who don't speak the same language as you, etc. It's wonderful how the book portrays kindness to strangers in such a positive light. Gossiping, bullying, racism and partiality are all dealt with subtly, in a way that children will understand that these things are negative and not kind.
I especially liked the little facts and notes at the end of the book. They add the real side to the story.
This is an important book for children to read. Actually, scrap that; all of us should be reading this.

Honestly, I felt more than a bit disappointed with this book.
Roald Dahl is obviously one of the most well known children's authors in the UK, and in all the world, for that matter, and the BFG is one of his most well known works.
It was childish to an unexpected degree. Normally I quite like to whizz through a Children's Fiction novel for the easy reading, light and simple storyline with a nice moral at the end of the story. It is quite refreshing.
The BFG didn't follow this kind of recipe. The way the BFG speaks makes the story difficult to read. The story repeats itself frequently in lots of different places. The jokes are immature and overly simple. For example - the frequent mention of the fact that people from Baghdad taste like bags, and people from Wellington taste like boots. Plus the Whizzpopping scenes didn't seem to really add that much to the story, considering how long they went on.
However, there were aspects of the story I enjoyed. The BFG spreads a new kind of light on the human race, pointing out the fact that humans are the only creatures that frequently kill each other for no real reason. There was frequent reference to the fact that it's rude to constantly point out others' faults, but learning and growing and improving our lifeskills is something we should all be striving to do.
And obviously, the main point that you can never judge a book by its cover, and a person can never be judged by how they look on the outside.
But these gems were few and far between, and honestly could have done with some more development. For example, when Sophie expresses disgust at the giants eating people just because the people are powerless to do anything, and the BFG asks what makes the human consumption of animals such as pigs any different. Sophie is supposedly shocked and moved at this new thought, however just later in the story when she is given the prospect of food, she specifically asks for sausages and bacon, and extra for the BFG. I just feel like there are many points like this that could have been better developed.

I would never have read this book if it hadn't been shortlisted for the Concorde Book Awards 2020. I don't know what it is, something about the cover just makes me feel bored when I look at it.
But I would have missed out on a treat.
This is a children's book. But it is written so well that I think any adult could enjoy reading it.
The story begins very suddenly by mentioning Holly's death. Usually children's book don't deal with something quite so raw in such a direct way, and that is the whole point of the story.
Grief is devastating, but a dead family member cannot be forgotten or hidden from memory. Children who have lost someone need support and encouragement from all angles.
There are lots of lessons in this story, for those who have lost anybody but also for those who haven't.
At first I thought the toys would be an annoying part of the book, but actually some of the "Smockeroon" scenes had me laughing in earnest. A cuckoo clock whose cuckoo can't be bothered to come out to tell the time so sends a text message instead? Fantastic. A barbie doll who became a nun because of a dark past? Hilarious. All the way through the story were aspects that made the novel slightly 'classier' than your average children's fiction.
You know that feeling you had as a child when an adult would talk to you as if you were also an adult? A refreshing experience, because so many adults don't have any time for children whatsoever. Then that person comes along and makes you feel like you're no lesser than any of the other people in the room, despite being younger. Well, this book was written in a way that provoked the same kind of feeling. We honestly need more children authors like Kate Saunders, addressing their audience in a funny, interesting yet also quite serious way.

In short, it was alright.
(Probably unnecessary) elongated version of review below:
I have never heard of Gilly MacMillan before, neither does Odd Child Out strike me as my type of book. The initial thing that drew my attention to this book (while I was shelving it in Winterbourne Library) was the fact that the front cover had been slightly misprinted. You know when a book cover feels slightly bumpy over the letters on the front cover? Not entirely sure why publishers do it, I suppose it's meant to add something to the design. I guess it worked in this case, because seeing the fact that the bumps and the letters didn't quite mark the same places on the front cover was just enough to pique my interest.
Upon reading the first line of the book, I realised that the story is set in Bristol. "My Bristol?" I wondered. So I simply had to read more. Yes, this was the Bristol I knew. That was enough for me to bring the book home with me.
But then time passed. I almost took it back to the library before I'd even read it. But one day, I had enough time to just make a small beginning into the story. That was when I realised that almost half the characters are Somalian.
Now that really is the Bristol I know.
Now I was definitely intrigued. Normally, when I hear of books being set in Bristol, the story deals with some aspect of history, like the slave trade, or pirates. Yet this book was talking about something modern, the Bristol I know and love.
So I dove into the story, simultaneously expecting nothing and everything.
I don't normally read crime, because I am not a fan of gore. Just doesn't do it for me. So I was happy to read a detective story with very little gore. But the thing that bothered me was the lack of action.
As I read on, it started to feel less and less like a crime novel and more like a contemporary drama. But the author was making a real attempt to turn it into a detective style mystery. More than one part felt incredibly forced for the sake of fitting into the genre the author had chosen and dragging the story out to be more dramatic.
The view of Bristol is interesting. I was happy to be able to fully imagine the places mentioned (extremely pleased when St Werburgs came up, felt like seeing an old friend in the story). It would be interesting to see what somebody who'd never been to Bristol thinks of the descriptions.
Jim was a nice average main character, but his actual part in the story is so small it's weird. He doesn't really do all that much.
I liked the interesting friendship between Noah and Abdi, I'd say that that part of the story was the best written part.
Obviously, this is the second book in a series, which I did not realise upon beginning to read it. The author references the last book a lot (is that really necessary in crime novels?) so I don't feel the need to read it now. Even though she never explicitly says the outcome of Jim's last case, it's fairly clear to see.
I'm not terribly eager to jump into another Gilly MacMillan book. I'm glad I've read one though. Maybe I'll keep her in mind if I want a tame, practically calming, crime novel set in my local area again.

Honestly, just disappointed.
The idea behind this book is an interesting one. The book is based around memory and the sciences involved etc.
The main character, Jess, completely ruins the novel. Well, Jess and a few other factors. The writing is mediocre. Most of the characters in this story are completely unrealistic. The ending was just dissatisfying and incredibly rushed (did anyone even proofread that part of the book?) The plot holes are huge. Plus the unnecessary plot points to make it well and truly "young adult fiction" [excessive kissing without reason, feminist mottos, forced roadtrips] just felt like they had been squashed into the book to make it readable.
I really could go on, but I dont see the point in spending any more time on this book. I wouldn't recommend.

I liked this book.
Normally, I am not a great fan of non-fiction books and struggle to read one from cover to cover.
However, this book was interesting enough (and intensely readable) that I didnt struggle at all with wanting to turn the next page.
(Okay maybe i struggled a little on the chapters about help specifically for those with kids - surprisingly it's not something that interests me all that much haha)
I didnt agree with everything in this book. Rachel has incredibly strong views on everything she writes about and some of it... just wasnt for me.
But.
I did find this book to be motivational.
You can hear the passion in Hollis' narrative. She is urging you to go outside and make the best of your life, because that's your own personal duty and no one else's.
Theres a few people out there loudly declaring that this book is only for privileged white females with a ton of money backing them and no real issues in their lives.
I personally dont believe that for a moment. I think Rachel touches on subjects that the majority of us struggle with but would like to pretend we dont (lack of self-motivation, holding oneself back for various issues, judging other women without a specific cause but simply because it's a habit, comparing ourselves to others even when our lives are nothing alike, weight insecurities or constantly blaming our surroundings for feelings of frustration or unhappiness)
I liked the overall message: you can change your perspective on life if you truly want to.
"Tomorrow will be better than today."

I read this book for my kids book club.
What a fun little book. I thoroughly enjoyed the newspaper clippings at the beginning and end of the story, they had me laughing out loud.
However, I would not say that this is an exceptional children's book. Or even a very good children's book. I'd say... it's a fun little book.
The writing began to get old quite quickly. The main themes were too few and too overused. I did NOT like the way that the author encourages bullied children to attempt to bully their bullies. (Did that sentence make sense?)
The plot had so many holes in it I decided to stop keeping count. The story-line was dragged out in some places and towards the end felt incredibly rushed. I really would have liked to see more PDF action with the original gang of 5. (That definitely doesn't make sense, but it would do if you'd read the book).
Despite all these factors, it still makes an enjoyable children's book. I'm sure kids would read this and even feel scared in some parts and laugh in others. The illustrations are interesting and helpful. The characters are good enough to get by.
Not one of the best children's books I've ever read, but far from the worst.

THIS. BOOK.
This book is everything I want from a book, ever.
I may have mentioned before that I struggle reading non-fiction books all the way to completion. I'll happily make a start, sometimes I'll even dive in on a random chapter and happily read for a few hours from there. I just normally find it incredibly hard to actually finish a non-fiction book. My interest normally ebbs away and I don't feel the need to pick the book back up.
Not the case with this gem.
Ray and Moth must be wonderful people - they really do make for such interesting and likeable book characters. Their story is such an unexpected one, and yet their spirit is so unbreakable, so motivational. The way Ray weaves the progression of their storyline so expertly, so easily it feels surreal.
To be honest, I had never heard of the South West Coast Path before reading this book. Now I feel an unstoppable desire to walk as much of it as I can.
The vivid descriptions of both the scenery and Ray's thought process leaves you feeling as though you are meandering through the same journey with them. I thoroughly enjoyed the way people are portrayed throughout the whole book. I especially liked the compiled information about homelessness- I've got to admit it was never a subject I'd spent a lot of time thinking about and I appreciated very much being able to clearly see it from an uncommon point of view.
This book honestly shines so much light on the way people's lives pass each other. It can be a beautiful thing, the way humans affect each other, or it can be detrimental, if we let it be so. Small acts of kindness are never diminished at all in Ray's writing.
Finally coming to the end was such a bittersweet feeling, I dragged out the last few pages for many more minutes than I had the rest of the book. It felt like an accomplishment, to reach the end, but also a loss- because I can never read this book for the first time again. A golden moment. I think that's exactly how the author wants you to feel.
Basically - I loved it. I'm going to be recommending this book to everyone for a very long time indeed.

I don't normally reread books. I always think that I remember the story so well anyway, what's the point right?
Well I have been utterly and completely humbled by rereading this precious gem of a book.
This is exactly as a children's book should be - a sense of wonder, magic written into ordinary things, characters who immediately find themselves a revered position inside your heart forever. The writing is simply beautiful - I found myself subconsciously reading a lot of the story out loud, as if I just couldn't seem to contain the words inside my head.
The imagination this author has is nothing short of impressive. Her characters practically leap off of the page with their strong willed personalities and traits. The story is so blessedly simple, yet complex enough to intrigue and arouse curiosity. There were parts of the story that putting the book down was simply NOT an option - and I've already read it! I know what will happen; but my skin tingled just the same.
I think every child (and adult, for that matter) should read this book.