Review of McDowell

[Mozi Ken]

[Following is a volunteer review of "McDowell" by William H. Coles.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Parents have a huge responsibility towards their children. That is why it's a very serious task to raise a responsible child. However, parents are not to shoulder all the blame for their children's mistakes. After all, the child is a human with the freedom to make their own choices. In this book, McDowell, written by William H. Coles, we examine this idea as we read the story of Hiram and his children.

Jeremy was Hiram's grandchild by Ann. He had just blown up a part of his face and killed twelve people. He was an eleven-year-old, so what could have prompted such disastrous behavior? The mother had always suspected that he was having problems. She had noted some very strange behaviors in him, which worried her. Robert, her husband, felt Jeremy could do no wrong. Each time Ann raised her worries, he brushed them off as insignificant. Hiram had sensed that Jeremy was troubled. Sophie, Jeremy's aunt, considered him a bright but weird child. Now, it's surprising that all these observations were made, yet nothing was done earlier, before the disaster. This could have been prevented if just one of them had taken the initiative to find help for Jeremy. Now he had done something that caused everyone in the family to suffer the consequences in one way or another.

This book was interesting to some extent. Hiram was a character that fascinated me. At first, he was the bad guy. I considered him that because of the emotionless way he dealt with the people around him. He didn't care for his wife, Carole. He cheated and blatantly told her he wouldn't stop. He cared for his children in a twisted way. For example, any time it was brought to his attention that any of his children weren't doing well, he didn't waste time using his money to take care of the problem. Hiram was not well-liked. He incited bad emotions in people because of his selfishness. But, surprisingly, in the later part of the book, I started to pity him. The way his life later turned out was a huge lesson that readers would learn a lot from.

There were things I disliked in this book. The writing style of this author was too bland. The storyline did not follow each other closely as the chapters went by. Each chapter started with a scene that was different from the last chapter. It was hard for me to believe that this book was fictional. This was because the story was written incoherently. It felt as though the author was writing a story about something he didn't know everything that happened. The plotline was indeed in the form of a memoir, but it made me feel as though the book lacked good information.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. I found no errors. It was exceptionally well-edited. However, I removed a star because of my dislikes, as stated above. They might affect some readers. The inconsistency of the storyline might discourage some readers. The writing style of the author might make some readers find the book boring. I think that Jeremy's thoughts should have been written down, as other characters' thoughts were written. This would help readers understand him more. I recommend this book to parents and those who enjoy reading family dramas.

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McDowell
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[Ekaete Bruno]

Hiram was one very surprising character with a very bad attitude. His wife did a good job putting up with him just fir the sake of the children.

[Jerry Anozie]

Hiram is a character that I can't say if I hate or like. He was unpredictable and I enjoyed it tho. He was also my favourite character too.

[Temi Book]

I love the way you clearly wrote what you like and disliked. I’ve read this novel and I’ll say that you are right. Parents have a huge part to play in their children’s lives.