The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean Telt by Hisself

author: David Almond
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.11
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2016/03/30
date added: 2016/03/30
shelves:
review:
'The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean Telt by Hisself' by David Arnold is a bit of a struggle to read. It's written by a largely uneducated main character who seems to prefer spelling phonetically.

Billy Dean is born in the town of Blinkbonny sometime after the bombs have fallen. All we know is there has been some sort of war, that may still be going on. Billy Dean spends his early years locked away in a room with his mother nearby and he gets occasional visits from his father. When he gets a chance to finally see the world, he discovers that he has certain ways about him that set him off from others, but also can help them.

I'm not sure why he calls himself a monster. I also kept hoping his writing style might improve as he learned more and as the story went along, but it doesn't. You do get used to the pattern of speech and writing, but by the end, I was tired of sorting it all out. The character is interesting, and it seems to lead somewhere, then kind of fizzles. Another puzzling thing are the chapters done in third person. They don't fit with the kind of world education Billy is getting. Overall, I liked it. Maybe I wouldn't have liked it as much had it been written conventionally, but maybe I would have liked it more if it had.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Candlewick Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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