Book 40 was my November Book of the Month choice, and one I picked solely on the author. Though I’ve read nothing else of his, John Boyne has done well for himself, so I assumed this would be worth the read.
Book 40:
A Ladder to the Sky
by John Boyne
Genre:
Psychological Fiction, LGBT literature
Published:
August 2018
Synopsis According to Mandi:
Without spoilers, A Ladder to the Sky is about Maurice Swift, a young, attractive, want-to-be writer and how he climbs his way to the top, using people and their stories to reach his fame. A talent in writing, he lacks, but the talents of deceit and manipulation get him far into the writing career he so desired. Once chance encounter leads to a debut novel that sets his career into motion and changes his life forever.
Favorite Quote(s):
“I think Maurice is whatever he needs to be, whenever he needs to be it. ”
-John Boyne, A Ladder to the Sky
Awards (based upon my brief research):
Shortlisted: Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year
Shortlisted: Irish Book Awards RTE Listeners’ Choice Book of the Year
Pages:
362
My Overall Rating:
3.5 – I can’t say I regret reading this book or that I was wrong about it being worth the read simply because it was written by a notable author, but this had and didn’t have things I didn’t/did need in order to consider it a great success. I really appreciated the writing style, the flow of the book and the overall plot, but there was definitely content I could have done without and various aspects of the conclusion seemed weak or rushed by the author. This would have been a 4 or 4.5 if I could have removed certain scenes and elaborated more on the conclusion. The plot and writing style were there. It was unique. It was fun. There were just a lot of questionable choices by the author spread throughout.
