Sunday, September 25, 2016

How long Can You sleep On A Friend's Sofa?

The answer is - not too long. After a while you outstay your welcome and it becomes uncomfortable for everyone involved. If you've got nowhere else to go you move on to another friend, and then another. Eventually you run out of friends and out of options. Then it's a homeless hostel or a park bench (or a doorway, a condemned building, etc...).


Cuckoo, the new YA novel  by Keren David takes you on the downward spiral with a child soap opera star who gets written out of the storyline. It's frightening how quickly everything falls apart and the hero goes, 'from household name to homeless.'

God, how depressing. Why would anyone want to read such a sad book? Well the thing is, it's not depressing at all. Well it is for a bit and then it's not. Somewhere near the final third, the story becomes inspirational.

Cuckoo is a short book - only 262 pages. Added to that, the chapters are only 2 - 4 pages each and written in a style that makes this book ideal for reluctant readers or non-native English readers.

The brevity of it means I can't really say any more without giving away the twist in the tail/tale. Suffice to say that Keren David's wit shines through and as always in a David novel - people are not always who you think they are.

Cuckoo is totally original.

Every so often  you read a book that makes you wish you'd written it yourself. Cuckoo is one of those books.

Also by KD and reviewed by me - This is not a Love Story and Salvage.

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