atakefromtwocities posted: " Alice Quinn's young life has never been marked by stability, and it's about to turn upside down again. When her mother decides to move from their small Canadian town to an area that is even more remote, Alice is left to navigate the strange and hostile c" A Take from Two Cities
Alice Quinn's young life has never been marked by stability, and it's about to turn upside down again. When her mother decides to move from their small Canadian town to an area that is even more remote, Alice is left to navigate the strange and hostile community on her own. She is befriended by a classmate named Remy, who hails from his own bleak circumstances, and the two forge a bond that helps buffer the forces prevailing against them. The story follows Alice and Remy through the everyday beauties and terrors of childhood, revealing their breathtaking resilience while at the mercy of whims and cruelties beyond their control. Despite the vile treatment Alice endures at the hands of her teacher, the persecutions of a local bully, and the disturbing presence of her mother's new boyfriend, she retains an outlook on the world marked by optimism and wonder, enhanced at times by her own imagination. Remy, who is enduring physical abuse at home, harbors a more cynical approach to life. Between them and with the assistance of a mysterious neighbor, the children find a haven for their bright and curious minds, as well as the essence of meaning they are both seeking in this grim and exquisite, unpredictable world.
Title : Starling Author : Kirsten Cram Format : Physical Page Count : 350 Genre : Publisher : Highway Six Press Release Date : November 18, 2021
Starling was a well described zoom-in on the friendship between two neglected children Alice and Remy in the 1970s. Told over a number of months, these two children connected in a naive and beautiful way. They became each other's solace in difficult world. This story stayed embedded in childhood but the themes mean this was not a children's book.
The story was told in the backdrop of deprived small town (Starling) and neither Alice or Remy had much in the way of love, care or parental guidance. What they did have was abuse, neglect and a lack of advocacy. School should have been a place of safety, but it wasn't. In some ways, the story was grim but Cram found a way to bring chinks of light into the narrative, mainly by the times that Remy and Alice spent together exploring and sharing stories. There is no doubt that I felt much for these characters.
There were a few adults that weren't toxic like Madame Voisine and Mr Redchenko. The adults that mattered, parents, teachers and siblings were either awful or just didn't care. This was such a tough life and the description had me chilly and sad.
Starling leaves the reader in a tough place, it's an open ending and there's little closure and so I would hope for more from these characters and I would definitely read on if there was.
Starling is on kindle unlimited if you fancy a bite of this story.
Thank you to the author for the review copy; this is my honest opinion.
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