Rating: 4 Stars
Genre: MG Mystery/Adventure
Pages: 288
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Check it out: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Good Reads
Good Reads Summary:
Life in a small town can be pretty boring when everyone avoids you like the plague. But after their father unwittingly sends them to stay with an aunt who’s away on holiday, the Hardscrabble children take off on an adventure that begins in the seedy streets of London and ends in a peculiar sea village where legend has it a monstrous creature lives who is half boy and half animal. . . .
In this wickedly dark, unusual, and compelling novel, Ellen Potter masterfully tells the tale of one deliciously strange family and a secret that changes everything.
This is one of those books that I feel I can recommend with absolutely zero hesitation. It’s entertaining, fun, adorable, suspenseful…you name it. It’s a little bit of a different read for me, as most of the books I read are YA romances of some sort, but I LOVED The Kneebone Boy. It’s just one of those sublimely pleasant books that you pick up, knowing you’re going to enjoy it.
The Hardscrabble children are enchanting. They are funny, clever, brave, and at times extremely stubborn. I love different Lucia, Max, and Otto are from each other, and Ellen Potter does a masterful job of differing their characters and giving them solidly unique personalities.
And I just have to share some quotes, because this book so whimsical 🙂
First of all, the chapters have these wonderful little descriptions:
Chapter 9: In which the Harscrabbles worry about the title of this book and other things.
OR
Chapter 11: In which there are no vampires or ghosts but you’ll like this chapter anyway.
I loved those chapter titles. They gave an idea of what was coming without giving too much away.
The narrative is so informal and entertaining:
“So we’ve come to the part of the book in which the Hardscrabbles begin to be less ordinary and more heroic. I wish it had come sooner, so you didn’t see us arguing about stupid things so much.” (167).
It was just so cute. I found myself smiling through the majority of this book.
Now, there was conflict. There was suspense and mystery, and it’s quite dark at times. I’ve only read one book in A Series of Unfortunate Events but The Kneebone Boy reminded me of that stylistically. Although it seemed happier. I was not expecting the twist at the ending. Quite clever in my opinion.
This was one of those books that you don’t necessarily feel compelled to fly through, but it’s always a pleasure to pick up and read a chapter at a time. Highly recommended.
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