ARA Review by S Copperstone of The Boy who Lived with Ghosts

[S Copperstone]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Boy who Lived with Ghosts.]

---

3 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

This book, The Boy who Lived with Ghosts took me a while to get into the rhythm of the style. It is written as a child might, and matures as the main character had. It is a hard book to get through, though as I kept getting thrown out of the time-frame, but that's mostly my own fault for not being familiar with such an unfortunate life-style. It takes place in the 1960s in Scotland and England (I believe), but as far as the family's living conditions, I kept thinking it was the 1800s. I struggled in the middle, as the pacing seemed to drag a bit, and I couldn't take the abuse from the oldest sister that the poor brother (John) endured frequently.

It's a story of a dysfunctional family growing up in poverty, but somehow they survive. There really are some parts in the book where I laughed, a much needed reprieve from all the depressing feelings, but alas, much of the story was tragic—mostly when the oldest sister was involved as she suffered from some sort of mental illness.

I was disappointed it wasn't a ghost story in the sense of the paranormal type, but instead it was more of a ghost story of a psychological type. Perhaps, the ghosts of the past haunt the author, (and I can totally understand why! I'd be living at a therapist's office I think!) so in that sense, that makes sense. The descriptions are fantastic... a bit too graphic at times for me, personally perhaps, but realistic, just the same time.

I'm not sure of what type of audience this book might be best suited and as to the rating, I give it a 3 out of 5. The reason being, it's a hard (psychologically) book to get through, but it's very creative and well written in that free-form type of way it is, and I could do without all descriptions of the bodily functions.

***
View The Boy who Lived with Ghosts on Bookshelves