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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
Enslaved by intense fear and anxiety from birth, Elliot spends the majority of his time in his bedroom at home. The only thing that keeps “the beast” living inside him under control is his “anti-fear” pill, and due to a pharmacy mix up he has found himself with only enough to last him 24 hours. Thanks to the addition of a raging snowstorm and it being the day before Christmas Eve, his situation has become exceptionally more desperate and unfortunately for Elliot, things are only going to get worse.
Brooks does a wonderful job portraying Elliot’s fear. In particular, I appreciated how well done the scene involving him leaving the house on his own for the first time was. The back and forth panic of “I’m going” and “No, I can’t” really hit home for me. As someone who prefers to have more details when a character is suffering from mental illness, I would have liked more information on what was going on with him though. Did he never get a proper diagnosis? It is not something that is super important to the story, just something extra that would have been nice.
I found myself mildly annoyed with how short each “chapter” was. It is the kind of story that goes back and forth between two main perspectives, but the way it was done felt a bit jolting to me. Just when you get used to one point of view and character mindset, we go back to the other. It also felt like there were far too many unnecessary details. Pretty much everyone who shows up in the story has a first and last name and enough information to give you a little detail about them. We do not need this level of detail for each police officer or each person Elliot runs into. It comes off as filler to me.
*Thanks to Netgalley I received a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Brooks does a wonderful job portraying Elliot’s fear. In particular, I appreciated how well done the scene involving him leaving the house on his own for the first time was. The back and forth panic of “I’m going” and “No, I can’t” really hit home for me. As someone who prefers to have more details when a character is suffering from mental illness, I would have liked more information on what was going on with him though. Did he never get a proper diagnosis? It is not something that is super important to the story, just something extra that would have been nice.
I found myself mildly annoyed with how short each “chapter” was. It is the kind of story that goes back and forth between two main perspectives, but the way it was done felt a bit jolting to me. Just when you get used to one point of view and character mindset, we go back to the other. It also felt like there were far too many unnecessary details. Pretty much everyone who shows up in the story has a first and last name and enough information to give you a little detail about them. We do not need this level of detail for each police officer or each person Elliot runs into. It comes off as filler to me.
*Thanks to Netgalley I received a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
this book was boring
the main charcater was annoying and didn't do anything useful until the end.
plot was weird and hard to understand
the main charcater was annoying and didn't do anything useful until the end.
plot was weird and hard to understand
Elliot is always scared. He has a feeling that he was even scared in the womb. His fear is controlled by a pill that he takes six times a day, but if he is late or misses a dose, the fear returns with a vengeance. It is the day before Christmas Eve when Elliot discovers that the pharmacy gave him the wrong medication. It was scheduled to be corrected on Christmas Eve, but there is a snow storm and his mother’s car won’t start. His aunt is willing to pick up the medication, but when his mom goes to check on his aunt and doesn’t return, Elliot sets out to find his mom and his medication. What will happen when a boy who is always scared ventures out into an unusual storm?
Born Scared is a stand-alone novel that will be interesting to reluctant readers for many reasons. Brooks has written a short book that doesn’t take long to finish and he has included a fast-paced storyline that will keep the reader’s attention along the way. Although the protagonist has a mental issue, readers will still be able to relate to many of his processes as he works his way through various ordeals. Born Scared is a great quick read and I recommend it to all readers.
Born Scared is a stand-alone novel that will be interesting to reluctant readers for many reasons. Brooks has written a short book that doesn’t take long to finish and he has included a fast-paced storyline that will keep the reader’s attention along the way. Although the protagonist has a mental issue, readers will still be able to relate to many of his processes as he works his way through various ordeals. Born Scared is a great quick read and I recommend it to all readers.
Elliot is such a sweet character that I wanted to protect at all costs.
Elliot is afraid of everything to the point that at 13-years-old is now a shut-in and hardly leaves his room and is fully reliant on the medicine his doctor has prescribed him. While the medicine isn't enough to fully help him, it is enough that it keeps him from constantly spiraling. When it's time to refill his prescription on Christmas Eve the pharmacy messes up, and with several other mishaps having happened, his mom has now gone out to get the medicine leaving him alone with only a few pills left that he is supposed to take every few hours. As time runs out and his mom is still nowhere in sight, he decides that he needs to go out and find her and his medicine.
Elliot is such a special character to me, he was born prematurely and lost a sibling all in a very short amount of time in his young life. These events appear to have left their mark on him in a way of severe anxiety that is unexplainable by doctors it seems. This has left him in a really rough space, with seemingly no real answers as on the medicine has helped a little. The bravery he ends up showing when he feels like his mom is in danger is truly heartwarming, and really shows how much he truly does understand about his fear and anxiety for being so young.
Overall I really liked this book. I liked seeing things from Elliot's perspective as well as from the perspective of another character that had something to do with his mom. These two perspectives ended up tying things together and really made the story more enjoyable.
The bravery and the reality of Elliot's anxiety and how willing he was to do things for the fear of his mom and the need for his medicine is a real thing that so many people go through. I loved that this was something talked about in a Middle-grade novel and it's not something that was just swept under the rug. We need more book that actually show the realities of Anxiety and how it can affect people to make it more normalized and to help make people feel less alone. This book has the potential to do that and I can't wait to see what middle schoolers think of it!
Elliot is afraid of everything to the point that at 13-years-old is now a shut-in and hardly leaves his room and is fully reliant on the medicine his doctor has prescribed him. While the medicine isn't enough to fully help him, it is enough that it keeps him from constantly spiraling. When it's time to refill his prescription on Christmas Eve the pharmacy messes up, and with several other mishaps having happened, his mom has now gone out to get the medicine leaving him alone with only a few pills left that he is supposed to take every few hours. As time runs out and his mom is still nowhere in sight, he decides that he needs to go out and find her and his medicine.
Elliot is such a special character to me, he was born prematurely and lost a sibling all in a very short amount of time in his young life. These events appear to have left their mark on him in a way of severe anxiety that is unexplainable by doctors it seems. This has left him in a really rough space, with seemingly no real answers as on the medicine has helped a little. The bravery he ends up showing when he feels like his mom is in danger is truly heartwarming, and really shows how much he truly does understand about his fear and anxiety for being so young.
Overall I really liked this book. I liked seeing things from Elliot's perspective as well as from the perspective of another character that had something to do with his mom. These two perspectives ended up tying things together and really made the story more enjoyable.
The bravery and the reality of Elliot's anxiety and how willing he was to do things for the fear of his mom and the need for his medicine is a real thing that so many people go through. I loved that this was something talked about in a Middle-grade novel and it's not something that was just swept under the rug. We need more book that actually show the realities of Anxiety and how it can affect people to make it more normalized and to help make people feel less alone. This book has the potential to do that and I can't wait to see what middle schoolers think of it!
3.5 STARS!!!!!
This is a book about fear. Elliot’s fear. And Elliot is afraid of just about everything.
The story is about Elliot being put in a situation where he is nearly out of his medication, and the person he can always count on goes to get a prescription and doesn’t come back. That’s about all I can say without spoiling it.
I found the way this book dealt with mental illness to be very interesting. It gives pretty detailed descriptions and Elliot comes to feel like a real person. It’s handled in a very thoughtful way. As an emotional atmosphere, it’s is claustrophobic and sometimes Elliot’s fear is so real that it jumps off the page at you. I also loved seeing the world through Elliot’s eyes. It gave me a perspective that I don’t think I’ve ever read before. It made me want to go and learn more about this particular type of illness. After all, everyone experiences fear at some point, but raw, visceral fear that is ever present and associated with nearly everything? That’s something else entirely. I felt like a lot of thought and research went into making this character seem so vivid. And it worked. I was invested.
Elliot goes through a number of emotions in this story, apart from fear. There’s a lot of depth to his character, and thusly to the story. His relationship with his mother was the core of it. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a child with that particular mental illness, but I loved the way it showed how much she cared and looked after him.
My main issue was with the way that it ended. I was along for the wild ride, but I feel like more was needed to close it out. That probably won’t bother a lot of people, but I was left wondering where it went. Also, there wasn’t any development for any of the other characters. There are hints mentioned about several of them that makes you curious, but they’re not taken anywhere. The other issue was that on occasion it veered into what I considered unrealistic behavior for the major characters towards the end.
Overall, it was a suspenseful but enjoyable (and at times downright frightening) read and great for giving a picture of mental illness without sugarcoating or flossing over it. Elliot is a compelling character, and I rooted for him the whole time. I will definitely be checking out anything else written by Kevin Brooks.
***Thanks to Netgalley and Candlewick Press for providing me with a free copy for an honest review***
This is a book about fear. Elliot’s fear. And Elliot is afraid of just about everything.
The story is about Elliot being put in a situation where he is nearly out of his medication, and the person he can always count on goes to get a prescription and doesn’t come back. That’s about all I can say without spoiling it.
I found the way this book dealt with mental illness to be very interesting. It gives pretty detailed descriptions and Elliot comes to feel like a real person. It’s handled in a very thoughtful way. As an emotional atmosphere, it’s is claustrophobic and sometimes Elliot’s fear is so real that it jumps off the page at you. I also loved seeing the world through Elliot’s eyes. It gave me a perspective that I don’t think I’ve ever read before. It made me want to go and learn more about this particular type of illness. After all, everyone experiences fear at some point, but raw, visceral fear that is ever present and associated with nearly everything? That’s something else entirely. I felt like a lot of thought and research went into making this character seem so vivid. And it worked. I was invested.
Elliot goes through a number of emotions in this story, apart from fear. There’s a lot of depth to his character, and thusly to the story. His relationship with his mother was the core of it. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a child with that particular mental illness, but I loved the way it showed how much she cared and looked after him.
My main issue was with the way that it ended. I was along for the wild ride, but I feel like more was needed to close it out. That probably won’t bother a lot of people, but I was left wondering where it went. Also, there wasn’t any development for any of the other characters. There are hints mentioned about several of them that makes you curious, but they’re not taken anywhere. The other issue was that on occasion it veered into what I considered unrealistic behavior for the major characters towards the end.
Overall, it was a suspenseful but enjoyable (and at times downright frightening) read and great for giving a picture of mental illness without sugarcoating or flossing over it. Elliot is a compelling character, and I rooted for him the whole time. I will definitely be checking out anything else written by Kevin Brooks.
***Thanks to Netgalley and Candlewick Press for providing me with a free copy for an honest review***
I couldn't finish it -- the whole premise sounds amazing, but it didn't work for me.
Really great YA thriller. Full of suspense and believable.
Okay, so
I'm a psychology student and I REALLY think mental illnesses should be treated with extreme care in literature, specially thrillers, specially psychological thrillers. And while I don't think this book was awful in that aspect, I don't really think the author made an effort, really. Elliott's mental illness is never named. We kinda assume it's schizophrenia bc that's what it more likely is when there are those kind of visual and auditory hallucinations. But we get told his doctor doesn't know what it is, so maybe it's some invented mental illness? Which if it is would be walking on the line of right and wrong. Sometimes Elliott felt like he was JUST his mental illness, which is something that can happen when we show a character that's confined to his house since he was little, but that was easily avoidable and just not ideal at all.
Also. Just. Using a gun against the bad guy to make it seem right is SUCH an American trope and as a latina I'm so done with it please stop it's not right nor cool.
The story felt really short bc it's set in such a limited period of time (maybe an hour?? and then lots of flashbacks), and it was not always a good thing. Like, I have no reason to say it but somehow I feel Elliott wouldn't pick up a gun just because, and the book doesn't give me information to tell me I'm right or wrong, so sometimes the lenght of the story is just used to make the main character do things without justification.
I mean, it was okay, but barely.
I'm a psychology student and I REALLY think mental illnesses should be treated with extreme care in literature, specially thrillers, specially psychological thrillers. And while I don't think this book was awful in that aspect, I don't really think the author made an effort, really. Elliott's mental illness is never named. We kinda assume it's schizophrenia bc that's what it more likely is when there are those kind of visual and auditory hallucinations. But we get told his doctor doesn't know what it is, so maybe it's some invented mental illness? Which if it is would be walking on the line of right and wrong. Sometimes Elliott felt like he was JUST his mental illness, which is something that can happen when we show a character that's confined to his house since he was little, but that was easily avoidable and just not ideal at all.
Also. Just. Using a gun against the bad guy to make it seem right is SUCH an American trope and as a latina I'm so done with it please stop it's not right nor cool.
The story felt really short bc it's set in such a limited period of time (maybe an hour?? and then lots of flashbacks), and it was not always a good thing. Like, I have no reason to say it but somehow I feel Elliott wouldn't pick up a gun just because, and the book doesn't give me information to tell me I'm right or wrong, so sometimes the lenght of the story is just used to make the main character do things without justification.
I mean, it was okay, but barely.
One for reluctant readers - a gripping short story with tension, excitement, criminals and an unusual protagonist.
Elliott is scared of almost everything. He can't leave the house, he can't function as a normal child would, and only his pills keep him feeling halfway in control.
So when he finds himself on a snowy Christmas Eve down to the last few, and his mum runs out to replenish the supply, he has to hold himself together until she returns.... but she doesn't... What should he do? What CAN he do?
In just a few short chapters, Brooks sets up a very tense story, involving a boy with a serious mental health condition that is very well characterised, and a story involving his mum entangled in criminal activity. It doesn't feel too full, it's a series of unfortunate accidents really, in which Elliot will have to face his fears to help both himself and the person he loves most in the world.
It would make a great TV one-off at Christmas! Brooks is a great writer of exciting situation pieces (The Bunker Diary is hard to forget), and this is a fantastic piece to appeal to young teenagers that won't be persuaded to try anything longer, while exhibiting excellent writing and structure.
More like this, please!
WIth thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy, sent for review purposes.
Elliott is scared of almost everything. He can't leave the house, he can't function as a normal child would, and only his pills keep him feeling halfway in control.
So when he finds himself on a snowy Christmas Eve down to the last few, and his mum runs out to replenish the supply, he has to hold himself together until she returns.... but she doesn't... What should he do? What CAN he do?
In just a few short chapters, Brooks sets up a very tense story, involving a boy with a serious mental health condition that is very well characterised, and a story involving his mum entangled in criminal activity. It doesn't feel too full, it's a series of unfortunate accidents really, in which Elliot will have to face his fears to help both himself and the person he loves most in the world.
It would make a great TV one-off at Christmas! Brooks is a great writer of exciting situation pieces (The Bunker Diary is hard to forget), and this is a fantastic piece to appeal to young teenagers that won't be persuaded to try anything longer, while exhibiting excellent writing and structure.
More like this, please!
WIth thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy, sent for review purposes.
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes