A memorable story

Any additional comments?

This is a book about a bully written before the topic was so talked about.

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2 people found this helpful

Makes Bleak House look like a beach read

This is a story so dark and heartbreaking that I find it hard to write this review. The setting is extraordinary, the characters entirely believable, and the writing simply excellent throughout. Unfortunately, I felt like my heart had been ripped out at the end.

I wasn't bullied nor was I a bully, but this story arc was unbearably tragic. If you were bullied, it would be triggering.

I didn't read reviews ahead of time --- I often do not because of spoilers --- but I hoped that if the story were about bullying, the tables would be turned and the bully would get his. Sadly, that was not the case.

But Susan Hill told a powerful, excellent story full of truth and emotion without ever going over the top. I can't fault her because it didn't end the way I would have liked.

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5 people found this helpful

Devastating

I can see why Susan Hill is a Dame Commander.

This story is devastating and utterly realistic. Another reviewer mentioned being triggered by it. I wasn’t triggered until I came to the part where the mother refused to believe the truth. That brought back all the helpless, hopeless feelings from my childhood and I almost didn’t finish the book. The character metamorphosis of the protagonist perfectly portrays what happens to a child who experiences relentless bullying. Yes, even up to the end. Nothing in this story is exaggerated. It is so realistic that I almost want to say it’s not fiction.

Bullying is no joke. It is psychological torture and it wounds the victim for life. It should never ever be ignored.

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I hated it

It's the worst book from Susan Hill I've read (listened actually) so far...and I usually enjoy them a lot!! Pity, because Paul Ansdell is the best!!!

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Beware: Spoiler in review reveals ending

A spare and stunningly conceived and written biography of bullying. However, listening to it was like watching a kitten being prepared to be boiled alive. It was literally painful at times to hear the distress of Kingshaw, the main character. I only continued to listen because Hill continued to dangle the hope that the worm might finally and irrevocably turn. In the end, the evil boy triumphs and the sensitive lad succumbs. This at least illuminates our current political situation, in which lies can overwhelm truth, cruelty overpowers kindness, and relentless and prolonged inhumanity, united with mass indifference, defeats the will to fight back. I felt utterly wrung out by the end of the book, but better informed about our political process.

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2 people found this helpful