Reviews

The Wonders by Paddy O'Reilly

lizaroo71's review against another edition

2.0

The premise of this book is promising: three medical anomalies are being promoted as Uberhumans. Their promoter, a vibrant American woman, brings all three wonders to her private compound where she will prepare them for their life in the public eye. Leon, who has a metal heart, is the main point of view in the book. I think his story is interesting, but nothing much happens in the way of plot. With any of the characters. Christos is a performance artist that has attached wings surgically to his body. Christos is larger than life and has a big personality, but, again, nothing much happens with him. And the same goes with Kathryn (cured of one illness only to be covered in lamb's wool).

Things get somewhat interesting towards the final third of the book, but prior to that, we are given scenes of life in the compound, but not much else. A disappointing read for me. I had high hopes since this one was recommended to me and I rarely buy books without hearing anything about them.

kecb12's review against another edition

3.0

I thought this book was good. There were some interesting questions about celebrity, fame, identity, friendship, and what is "normal." I think the book had some great commentary about people's desire to know and be known. We embrace celebrity culture and tell ourselves that we know about the "real" lives of these people we watch, but I think it reveals a deeper desire to believe that if *they* are worth noticing, then maybe we are, too. There were some issues with the end -- too many plots going on -- and I would also say that there were scenes/characters who weren't developed as clearly as they could have been. This meant that parts of the book had a "surface" quality to them. I can't say that I ended the book feeling like the questions asked had been explored as much as they could have been. But overall, it was a good book.

kieralesley's review against another edition

2.0

This was ok. There was nothing particularly wrong with it and it had some interesting concepts around fame/being looked at vs. being seen/disability but it never really seemed to pull them together into something that I found powerful or interesting. The plot didn't really seem to drive the narrative and the characters lacked depth so I struggled to engage with them. However, it was beautifully written and some of the imagery was stunning.

abookishtype's review against another edition

3.0

One thing humans have failed to evolve past is the desire to gawp at people who are radically different from the norm. Dwarves used to belong to royal courts. Circus freaks travelled around the world. Leon Hyland spent a year in hiding to keep his difference a secret from the people around him. When he gets a call from Rhona Burke and hears her offer to join what is essentially a new-style freak show, Leon's instincts tell him to run. Only her promises that he can back out at any time keep Leon on the hook. The Wonders, by Paddy O'Reilly, is the strange tale of the three members of Rhona's show...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from Edelweiss for review consideration.

zara1122's review

3.0

"We're not animals," Leon said.
"We're all animals."

I really liked this book. It's one of those ones were I don't have an overwhelming surge of love for it, but I didn't dislike it. This one just leaves me with an overall positive view, and that's fine. The synopsis sounded cool to me, and I really like reading work by Australian authors.

I appreciated how much it went into the medical side of their oddities, and how real it felt when portraying how people build fame. I did think that the plot thing that happened at the end was really sudden, but I do see how it was there to provide some climax to the story, so I'm not too mad.

annarocks's review

3.0

I liked it, well enough. Not sure how I felt about the protagonist; I didn't dislike him, but I never warmed up to him, never really sympathized with him at all. I thought it was an interesting premise, and certainly enlighting: the rise to fame, what it does to a normal person, craving adulation, the dangers, and the fall from fame, all the while trying to get along with people. Worth reading.

wtb_michael's review against another edition

3.0

I was left a bit disappointed by this, having gone in with high hopes. The idea is clever and there are thought provoking bits on identity, family, fame and values, but the whole thing never really took flight for me. The characters were flat and their interactions not particularly convincing (particularly the relationship between Leon and Minh), and the plot was unevenly paced. The writing is readable and clear, with some neat descriptive flashes. I like the O'Reilly is trying to tackle some big ideas, but I really wanted to care more about the story that she was hanging the ideas off.

pyrrhicspondee's review

2.0

This book could have been very good. Sadly, it was superficial and I never really understood any of the characters and just . . . nothing happened. Like, the book isn't there.