Author: Carolyn Jess-Cooke
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Subject: Mental Illness, Family, Ireland
Publisher: Little Brown
Release date: May 2012
Length: 400 pages
I got this book: Borrowed it from the library
Summary:
From Goodreads:
""I first met my demon the morning that Mum said Dad had gone."
Alex Broccoli is ten years old, likes onions on toast, and can balance on the back legs of his chair for fourteen minutes. His best friend is a 9000-year-old demon called Ruen. When his depressive mother attempts suicide yet again, Alex meets child psychiatrist Anya. Still bearing the scars of her own daughter's battle with schizophrenia, Anya fears for Alex's mental health and attempts to convince him that Ruen doesn't exist. But as she runs out of medical proof for many of Alex's claims, she is faced with a question: does Alex suffer from schizophrenia, or can he really see demons?"
Personal opinion:
This book came to my attention because the Dutch translation of the book was released recently. I was happy that they had the book in English though. It took me a few weeks to finish this one because in the beginning, the book was fairly slow. It isn't an easy read so I took my time. Often I don't like books that are told from various viewpoints, but in this book it was done really well. Both viewpoints were interesting and I also liked the fact that I got to read about the same event from both Alex and Anya. The 2nd half of the book was more fast paced and I actually was able to finish that in one night. The events that happen near the end of the book were shocking and I kind of saw them coming, but also not. It is kind of hard to explain. The brilliance of the book to me is that even at the end, there are still some questions unanswered. There are still things about all of it, that are unexplained. This could have bothered me but it does fit the theme of the book. If you like psychological books, then this is certainly a book you want to read.
Purchase links: The Book Depository
Challenges: none
Other reviews: De Boekblogger (Dutch),
If you have reviewed this book and want your link here, please leave a comment with the link, and I will add it :)
Good to see that you enjoyed it. Yes, the first part of the book wasn't so fast, but the second part definitely was! I also liked to see the same event from different perspectives, always interesting.
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