The time I reviewed a book {10}

Posted October 7, 2014 by Stacee in Giveaways, Reviews | 6 Comments

When I got the email offer for an arc of Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin, I was so excited.  I grew up reading The Babysitters Club books and couldn’t wait to get my greedy hands on something new from Ann.

Before we get to the review, let’s check out the book, shall we?

20575434In her most powerful novel yet, Newbery Honor author Ann M. Martin tells the story of girl with mental/emotional challenges and the dog she loves.

Rose Howard has OCD, Asperger’s syndrome, and an obsession with homonyms (even her name is a homonym). She gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose’s rules of homonyms, is very special. Rain was a lost dog Rose’s father brought home. Rose and Rain are practically inseparable. And they are often home alone, as Rose’s father spends most evenings at a bar, and doesn’t have much patience for his special-needs daughter.

Just as a storm hits town, Rain goes missing. Rose’s father shouldn’t have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search. Rose will find Rain, but so will Rain’s original owners.

Hearts will break and spirits will soar for this powerful story, brilliantly told from Rose’s point of view.

Sounds good, right?

right

**Thanks to my pretty prancy PA AKA Christina from The Book Hookup for letting me steal borrow her review format**

Rating & First Reaction: 

4/5 stars.  I don’ t read a lot of middle grade, but I was instantly sucked into the story and the unique narrative.

MCs:

Rose: Rose was an excellent main character.  I loved being in her head.  She’s logical and handles things better than most adults I know.  I would be a basket case if my dog went missing, but she deals with it in a very methodical way. She’s smart and very likeable.  There was even a little bit of snark, which I wasn’t expecting.

Rain: I’m definitely considering Rain a main character. She’s the sweetest dog and I loved the way she interacted with Rose.

Secondary characters:

Uncle Weldon: He was one of the best parts of the book.  He’s patient with Rose, asks her questions, thinks up new homonyms with her and most importantly, helps her look for Rain.  I loved how he was involved with Rose’s ending.

Wesley: Rose’s dad is gruff and not necessarily the best person.  I would like to think he means well, but I’m not sure about that.  There are a few interesting scenes that I wish would have been explained a bit better.  {I’m being intentionally vague}  Seeing things through Rose’s point of view certainly skewed my perception of him.

Everyone else: There are a few other characters that I was going to mention here, but obviously, I decided not to.  There was one character who became a delightful surprise and I don’t want to ruin that for anyone.

Plot & Pacing: The plot was fast paced, but a different sort of fast paced. I’m not sure if that was due to the book being MG or the age of the narrator.  I was captivated the entire time and not just in finding out what happened to Rain, but in all aspects of Rose’s life that we got to see.  The entire plot line was simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking.

Rec It?

Absolutely.

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21616Ann M. Martin is the author of Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life, and Everything for a Dog, all from Feiwel and Friends. She won a Newbery Honor Award for A Corner of the Universe, and is the author of the beloved Baby-sitters Club series. She lives in upstate New York.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

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Huge thanks to Mary for sending me the arc.  Make sure you’re following Ann on Twitter, liking her Facebook page and adding Rain Reign to your Goodreads TBR shelf.

Rain Reign is out now.  You can buy it at Indiebound, The Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

Haven’t had a chance to get your hands on a copy? I’m giving away my arc.  Contest is international and additional rules are here.

**Good Luck!!**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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6 responses to “The time I reviewed a book {10}

  1. Favorite homynym: sealing/ceiling, because I had never heard of “sealing wax” as a child so when I heard “the time has come, the walrus said” I thought they said “ceiling wax” and always wondered who would wax their ceilings.
    I actually am really irked by reign/rain, because in Sunday School they made us sing a song about how “He reigns from Heaven above” and the song leader made us do sprinkly hand motions to “reign” as if it were “rain”. I hated when adults knew less about words than I did, haha.

  2. Yun-a

    I always liked write, right, for some reason.

    And I’m really thrilled that Ann M. Martin has another book out! I read everything by her in elementary school, so really hoping that Rain Reign is just as good.

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