Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.23 AVERAGE
3.23 AVERAGE
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did pick this up to be a quick holiday read about what I thought would be a deadly shark - I missed the obvious picture of a crocodile on the cover!!
It felt like the majority of the book consisted of the MCs internal thoughts, feelings and opinions, which wouldn’t have been all bad if there would have been more happening in way of the story.
Slowly paced, and fewer actual interactions with the ‘beast’ than I’d expect. A easy quick read though.
It felt like the majority of the book consisted of the MCs internal thoughts, feelings and opinions, which wouldn’t have been all bad if there would have been more happening in way of the story.
Slowly paced, and fewer actual interactions with the ‘beast’ than I’d expect. A easy quick read though.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m not sure when I got this book but it’s been hanging around in my must-read-then-move-on- along box which has been taking up room on the wardrobe floor for nearly a year now. Having a day sick in bed has its advantages … so far I’ve read two books and there’s still time to start another before real sleep takes me for the night.
Anyway, you don’t want to hear that – you want to know what I thought of this book. Well, I really enjoyed it. Clearly, when I picked it up from wherever it was, I must have found something in the blurb that intrigued me, but today it was almost sight-unseen and I just went straight into it.
The story is told by a 17-year-old boy who has been moved from foster home to foster home for too long. Sure, he’s been at this one for 3 years, but he’s never let himself trust them entirely, and they knew his reputation before they took him on, so have never entirely trusted him. And there is something he’s been hiding from everyone, something that has him spending all his money on butchered pigs, something that is now causing him sleepless nights.
This book has a great pace, a fascinating story, believable characters, and a heart. I enjoyed it very much.
Anyway, you don’t want to hear that – you want to know what I thought of this book. Well, I really enjoyed it. Clearly, when I picked it up from wherever it was, I must have found something in the blurb that intrigued me, but today it was almost sight-unseen and I just went straight into it.
The story is told by a 17-year-old boy who has been moved from foster home to foster home for too long. Sure, he’s been at this one for 3 years, but he’s never let himself trust them entirely, and they knew his reputation before they took him on, so have never entirely trusted him. And there is something he’s been hiding from everyone, something that has him spending all his money on butchered pigs, something that is now causing him sleepless nights.
This book has a great pace, a fascinating story, believable characters, and a heart. I enjoyed it very much.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What first caught my eye was the book cover. It looks really cool and it feels even better - like reptile skin. I love little extras like these that add to the atmosphere of the book.
The story was told through Stephen's point of view and Ally Kennen managed very well to give him the voice a 17 year old outcast kid would have. It felt nice to be in his head because he had this certain sense of humour and a nice, short way of expressing himself.
My empathy for him developed quickly. When he was accused for setting fire to those houses I wanted to scream at the police and his social worker, they got me that angry. It was a little hard to take that Stephen hardly reacted but he definitely had good reasons not to.
I loved how most of the characters developed throughout the book. Carol turning from evil to nice. I guess she actually fell in love with Stephen a little but I like how there wasn't mentioned much about it, except for really subtle things like holding hands in dangerous situations.
The step by step mentioning of Stephen's past, his family and especially his brother really added depth to his character in my opinion, it developed in a perfect pace.
When the beast wasn't properly described in the first few chapters I thought it'd be something more amazing than a giant crocodile. In my mind a vague shape of a dinosaur or some other kind of monster had formed. It's okay that it actually just was a huge crocodile but it could've been clearer from the start, would've erased some annoying shadowy shapes from my imagination.
Throughout the book I expected the beast to actually turn out to be a friendly pet. Every time it came running at Stephen I expected it to lick his hand innocently and cuddle its head against him. I was a bit disappointed this never happened but at least it didn't eat Stephen when it had the chance to do so.
The book had a good ending and it made me really happy that the beast (or Malackie) didn't have to die.
The story was told through Stephen's point of view and Ally Kennen managed very well to give him the voice a 17 year old outcast kid would have. It felt nice to be in his head because he had this certain sense of humour and a nice, short way of expressing himself.
My empathy for him developed quickly. When he was accused for setting fire to those houses I wanted to scream at the police and his social worker, they got me that angry. It was a little hard to take that Stephen hardly reacted but he definitely had good reasons not to.
I loved how most of the characters developed throughout the book. Carol turning from evil to nice. I guess she actually fell in love with Stephen a little but I like how there wasn't mentioned much about it, except for really subtle things like holding hands in dangerous situations.
The step by step mentioning of Stephen's past, his family and especially his brother really added depth to his character in my opinion, it developed in a perfect pace.
When the beast wasn't properly described in the first few chapters I thought it'd be something more amazing than a giant crocodile. In my mind a vague shape of a dinosaur or some other kind of monster had formed. It's okay that it actually just was a huge crocodile but it could've been clearer from the start, would've erased some annoying shadowy shapes from my imagination.
Throughout the book I expected the beast to actually turn out to be a friendly pet. Every time it came running at Stephen I expected it to lick his hand innocently and cuddle its head against him. I was a bit disappointed this never happened but at least it didn't eat Stephen when it had the chance to do so.
The book had a good ending and it made me really happy that the beast (or Malackie) didn't have to die.
This book was just ok for me, it was more about the boy and his life, rather than the beast.
I guess I was expecting more carnage and less teenage drama.
I guess I was expecting more carnage and less teenage drama.
ooit eens gelezen, toen ik een jaar of 14 was denkik. ik vond het toen echt een geweldig boek!
I'm still not sure how I feel about this book. It was an easy read and was interesting enough, I'm just not sure there was a point. If there was, I missed it. If you like slightly creepy and suspenseful- in that you don't know how he's going to resolve his very big, scaly problem- then you might like this for a quick weekend read.
I have read this book back in 2018 and I come back just for a reread because I remembered it being so interestingly good. It still is. It is a quick thriller that you can get from a book. Interesting storyline and for me, I get a bit sad from some chapters. One of the best YA thrillers that I keep close to my heart.
great easy read, not what I was expecting when i started reading it but it was still enjoyable