Select language, opens an overlay

Comment

Oct 30, 2019snemis rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
It’s jarring to realize your parents are flawed, normal human beings. The idea that they have identities outside of yourself is like looking at them in a funhouse mirror, with all of their unexpected interests, likes and dislikes, and unexpected friends. The Strangers takes this idea to an intriguing extreme when three siblings learn of the disappearance of three children with their exact first names and then their mother disappears. Finding out about an entire different aspect of their mom changes how each of them sees the entire world. The book shifts between the perspectives of the three children, reflecting how the age of each child impacts their ability to process and notice things, without putting any of those experiences down. Complicating the plot in an interesting and believable way is the fact that they don’t all know the same things and don’t always share everything they know with each other. Centered on their house, family is the heart of this novel. While they begin almost wary of outsiders, they need to expand out of their circle of safety and learn how to trust the right strangers and fight for their family. The book is clearly written for children, in the way the first Harry Potter book is simple, but intriguing. Unlike that book, this is less about world-building—although this world does have its own rules—and more about how the characters adapt to some strange situations. There’s nothing earthshattering in this book, but it was a fun ride and my only regret is the next in the series won’t be out for a while yet.