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A review by justasking27
Pen Pal by Francesca Forrest
4.0
4.5 stars - and I hope I can re-read with a book club one day.
Normally I'm not a fan of stories told as a series of letters and diary entries, as this one is, but I think it absolutely works here. The voices are distinct and the differences between what is in the letters and what's in the more personal diary entries just echo the overarching themes. These themes include the interpretation of others' actions, making decisions based on your own beliefs vs what others think, and learning how to trust when you know you're not getting the full story. Seeing these themes unfold through the eyes of the mature - yet still naive in many ways - 12 year old Em, just makes them all the more powerful, as she questions things that I've learned to take for granted as an adult.
I don't even know what genre tag to put this under, as I never read contemporary fiction and haven't yet created 'good-indie-fiction' which is what this is. Set in what could absolutely be present day, dealing with themes that are frighteningly relevant, it's not quite YA or fantasy or children's - it's just good.
My one complaint is that Em constantly writes "should of" instead of "should have" and I'm sure it's to create her character and at least it's consistent but AHHHHH. /endrant
Highly recommended, for all ages.
Normally I'm not a fan of stories told as a series of letters and diary entries, as this one is, but I think it absolutely works here. The voices are distinct and the differences between what is in the letters and what's in the more personal diary entries just echo the overarching themes. These themes include the interpretation of others' actions, making decisions based on your own beliefs vs what others think, and learning how to trust when you know you're not getting the full story. Seeing these themes unfold through the eyes of the mature - yet still naive in many ways - 12 year old Em, just makes them all the more powerful, as she questions things that I've learned to take for granted as an adult.
I don't even know what genre tag to put this under, as I never read contemporary fiction and haven't yet created 'good-indie-fiction' which is what this is. Set in what could absolutely be present day, dealing with themes that are frighteningly relevant, it's not quite YA or fantasy or children's - it's just good.
My one complaint is that Em constantly writes "should of" instead of "should have" and I'm sure it's to create her character and at least it's consistent but AHHHHH. /endrant
Highly recommended, for all ages.