Book review: The Year of the Rat

 The Year of the Rat, Clare Furniss

 

My rating: 2/5 stars

Book: 1/25

 

To Pearl, there's nothing sweet about her premature half-sister, Rose. It was Rose that caused her mother's death and Rose that turned her world upside down.

To Pearl, Rose is The Rat.

Achingly sad, yet refreshingly real, The Year of the Rat will make you laugh, cry, and hold your loved ones a little bit tighter.

 

I heard about this book years ago on the radio, and it sounded so interesting. I bought it for my mother, but then never actually read it myself. So, having loved the easy reading that was The Flatshare, I picked this one up.

I won't say this book was bad. It was fine. That's it though, just fine. Nothing exceptional.

The plot is an interesting one, if not anything ground breaking. The motherless child who struggles and acts out and can't find happiness, and feels guilty when she does. It's nothing I haven't read before. I did enjoy it though. Pearl and her mother have an intriguing relationship and way of talking. I liked their dynamic. The organic origin of the nickname 'The Rat' felt real and understandable. I felt like screaming at Pearl at times, 'JUST TALK TO THEM!', because there is nothing that angers me in a plot more than people miscommunicating because of internal fears and just not having conversations. It is infuriating, as a reader, and not in a compelling way.

I did sympathise with Pearl, and understood where her emotions were coming from. The whole plot was a little too predictable for me though. I did tear up at certain points of climactic emotion, but I cry at almost anything, especially when someone else (fictitious or not) is.

It was an okay book. It wasn't a bad book. I'm not mad I read it, but I probably wouldn't re-read, and I won't be recommending it to anyone anytime soon.

The Year of the Rat was an interesting book, with a good, solid plot, interesting characters, and a predictable plotline. I was underwhelmed. It was fine. Just fine.

 

Ellen Victoria