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daphself's reviews
926 reviews
Into the Free by Julie Cantrell
2.0
The book started off amazing well written in the POV of a 9 year old.
After reading quite a few more pages, I grew weary of the prose. Do I really need to read about a stray eating her own pups? No. And in rural areas, strays hardly ever starved because of the abundant rabbits, squirrels, rats, and other rodents.
I understand that the girl lived a hard life, but I was hard pressed to believe her life as one as it was written. My grandmother and mother grew up poorer than dirt poor, so this book push the limits of believability.
Later on, the POV never matures. Millie is 16, but her POV still reads as a 9 or 10 year old.
I again grew weary of reading about all the hospital time and the lamenting on life. The book grew stagnant, what most would refer to as the sagging middle.
Because of very little character growth, I felt detached as I read this book. Why should I care about Millie? I wasn't given any reason to do so. At one point in the story, she stood up to her father and then at another point later on, she bowed to physical assault. Girls like that, who grew up in that day and age would have been tough, true survivors. And as for the rape scene: where was the devastating feeling afterwards? It wasn't there. The character pushes the whole ordeal to the side. This is a major event, show the devastation or at least show the denial.
The ending was lacking. What spurred her to make that decision? And why did she excuse Jack's behavior? He was a evil man and just because he wanted a family gave him no right to be abusive. Forgive him? Yes. But excuse his actions? No.
This book was okay in my opinion, but not one I would try to read again. I can see it as a classroom's required reading, along the lines of To Kill a Mockingbird or Where the Red Fern Grows. It's got enough clout for the analytical mind to rip apart for discussions and essays.
After reading quite a few more pages, I grew weary of the prose. Do I really need to read about a stray eating her own pups? No. And in rural areas, strays hardly ever starved because of the abundant rabbits, squirrels, rats, and other rodents.
I understand that the girl lived a hard life, but I was hard pressed to believe her life as one as it was written. My grandmother and mother grew up poorer than dirt poor, so this book push the limits of believability.
Later on, the POV never matures. Millie is 16, but her POV still reads as a 9 or 10 year old.
I again grew weary of reading about all the hospital time and the lamenting on life. The book grew stagnant, what most would refer to as the sagging middle.
Because of very little character growth, I felt detached as I read this book. Why should I care about Millie? I wasn't given any reason to do so. At one point in the story, she stood up to her father and then at another point later on, she bowed to physical assault. Girls like that, who grew up in that day and age would have been tough, true survivors. And as for the rape scene: where was the devastating feeling afterwards? It wasn't there. The character pushes the whole ordeal to the side. This is a major event, show the devastation or at least show the denial.
The ending was lacking. What spurred her to make that decision? And why did she excuse Jack's behavior? He was a evil man and just because he wanted a family gave him no right to be abusive. Forgive him? Yes. But excuse his actions? No.
This book was okay in my opinion, but not one I would try to read again. I can see it as a classroom's required reading, along the lines of To Kill a Mockingbird or Where the Red Fern Grows. It's got enough clout for the analytical mind to rip apart for discussions and essays.