Title: Nest
Author: Esther Ehrlich
Genre: Fiction
Published: September 9, 2014
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The main character Chirp reminded me of Scout from To Kill a Mocking Bird. Chirp loved birds and was just beginning sixth grade when her mother began showing symptoms of a serious illness.
My favorite character was Joey, he was 11 and in the same class as Chirp along with being her next door neighbor and he had serious problems of his own. He had a difficult time seeing past his own problems, but considering how young he was supposed to be I felt that was to be expected. When he realized he should be doing what was best for Chirp he stood up and did what terrified him the most. In the end we don't see any real resolution for his story and that bugged me. He was the character I wanted to know if he would be able to overcome his problems.
For most of the book I felt as if Chirp was younger than 11. I kept thinking she was acting and thinking as if she was 9. Then Chirp's sister felt older than 13 especially the Halloween scenes. I kept thinking she was 15. For some reason this kept throwing me off.
The target age group for this book was supposed to be 10 to 12. The writing was engaging and superb, but it was a darker subject matter than I would be comfortable getting for anyone I knew who were that young. I will admit I was emotionally invested in the characters. I cried on more than one occasion.
Overall I gave this book 3 stars out of 5.
