Review by scenic17 -- Ironbark Hill by Jennie Linnane

[scenic17]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Ironbark Hill" by Jennie Linnane.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The latest book I have read is Ironbark Hill by Jennie Linnane. This book is about a young girl named Natalie Chapman who has just turned sixteen. The story takes place around the year 1952, and Natalie has been faced with a challenging life. The things that most dictate her life are: her self-decided protecting her mother and handicap brother Alex from her drunk stepfather Alex, her plan to avenge her biological father’s death, and her dreams of becoming an art teacher. However, she falls in love with someone who changes her life.

The storyline was very intriguing. It offered lots of emotional connection for the reader, which can be tricky when a writer is using a story not based on modern events. However, Natalie Chapman did a great job at creating situations we all can relate to. There were family problems, emotional turmoil, drama towards feelings of love. It was a unique outlook on the basic “coming of age” type story we’re all used to reading.

The characters in this story are very basic. You have your hero girl, her horrible stepfather, her timid mother, her helpless sibling, her love interest, and a personal motive (this being her dead father). While this combination of characters is very basic and is used a lot in story-telling, it doesn’t feel overdone in this book. The author did an excellent job at making the characters seem unique and fresh so it’s not very similar to other stories with the same mix of characters.

The editing is very well done. I couldn’t find anything that seemed off or was blatantly wrong. I really liked the descriptive and time-appropriate language. It made the narration of the story seem authentic. It did feel a little wordy in some places, but overall the writing style was very nice to read.

I would recommend this book for people who love coming of age stories and/or historical fiction. I would not recommend this book to people who like fast-paced action type stories, or to people who don’t enjoy violence and harsh language. I personally found the characters to be entertaining to read about due to the fact that they all had very distinct personalities, so I imagine other readers would feel the same.

Overall, I rate this book a 4 out of 4. I’m giving it this rating due to its excellent editing, it’s intriguing storyline, and entertaining characters.

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Ironbark Hill
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