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A review by allthatissim
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
5.0
Full review posted on FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
Before starting this book, I had heard so many great things about it. I never heard anything bad about this, so obviously my expectations were high about this. And yes, it didn’t disappoint me. In fact, it was way too good for my imagination. There are some stories which touch you deeply, and surely it was one of them.
This is a story about 11 years old August Pullman who doesn’t have a normal face. He has a rare medical facial deformity, which he refers to as "mandibulofacial dysostosis", more commonly known as Treacher Collins syndrome and a cleft palate. After his birth, he went through multiple operations on his face to look like what he was now. He was homeschooled by his mother until fifth grade. The story starts when his parents decide to send him to a private school called Beecher Prep. The story revolves around what difficulties Auggie (August) faces int he school, how everyone treated him, how he made friends there.
It was a fast paced story. There were small chapters and the story quickly progressed. It was not dragging one. The main thing that I liked most about this book was that there was not a single PoV of just August, rather there were 6 different POVs. Surely, it sounds a way more, but when you keep reading through each person’s chapters, you don’t feel it. Rather you would feel as if it was necessary to write the story from the perspective of all those characters. The persons having their individual PoV includes Via (August’s sister), Miranda (Via’s old friend), Justin (Via’s boyfriend), Jack and Summer (Auggie’s new friends at Beecher Prep). The added bonus in my copy was Julian’s chapters (Auggie’s classmate who didn’t like him at all).
The writing was simple and up to the mark. R.J. Palacio knew that what she was writing and what she had to present. Each character was shown flawed at first and then it was little sympathetic. I really liked how she portrayed Via’s thoughts. It’s true that it was most difficult for Via to handle his deformed brother and facing everyone’s reaction when they see him. But she also loves him a lot. Palacio perfectly managed both the conflicts. Similar conflicts were showed for Summer, Jack and Justin.
Julian’s PoV was an added bonus as I said earlier. It was very interesting to see how he changed from a bad boy to a good one and how his grandmother played an important part in that transformation. I really love the story that his grandmother told him.
Points I liked:
** How the story is told from everyone’s point of view and not just from August’s.
** How not just August’s life has been mentioned, but other people’s life too like Justin.
** How story didn’t stop when changing from one person’s pov to another one’s, rather it was progressive.
Things I didn’t like / wished would have been different
** I was disappointed by my copy. There were lots of editing errors and the whole Justin chapter was wrongly structured (though it’s not the fault of the story
Before starting this book, I had heard so many great things about it. I never heard anything bad about this, so obviously my expectations were high about this. And yes, it didn’t disappoint me. In fact, it was way too good for my imagination. There are some stories which touch you deeply, and surely it was one of them.
My name is August. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.
This is a story about 11 years old August Pullman who doesn’t have a normal face. He has a rare medical facial deformity, which he refers to as "mandibulofacial dysostosis", more commonly known as Treacher Collins syndrome and a cleft palate. After his birth, he went through multiple operations on his face to look like what he was now. He was homeschooled by his mother until fifth grade. The story starts when his parents decide to send him to a private school called Beecher Prep. The story revolves around what difficulties Auggie (August) faces int he school, how everyone treated him, how he made friends there.
It was a fast paced story. There were small chapters and the story quickly progressed. It was not dragging one. The main thing that I liked most about this book was that there was not a single PoV of just August, rather there were 6 different POVs. Surely, it sounds a way more, but when you keep reading through each person’s chapters, you don’t feel it. Rather you would feel as if it was necessary to write the story from the perspective of all those characters. The persons having their individual PoV includes Via (August’s sister), Miranda (Via’s old friend), Justin (Via’s boyfriend), Jack and Summer (Auggie’s new friends at Beecher Prep). The added bonus in my copy was Julian’s chapters (Auggie’s classmate who didn’t like him at all).
I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives.
The writing was simple and up to the mark. R.J. Palacio knew that what she was writing and what she had to present. Each character was shown flawed at first and then it was little sympathetic. I really liked how she portrayed Via’s thoughts. It’s true that it was most difficult for Via to handle his deformed brother and facing everyone’s reaction when they see him. But she also loves him a lot. Palacio perfectly managed both the conflicts. Similar conflicts were showed for Summer, Jack and Justin.
Julian’s PoV was an added bonus as I said earlier. It was very interesting to see how he changed from a bad boy to a good one and how his grandmother played an important part in that transformation. I really love the story that his grandmother told him.
Points I liked:
** How the story is told from everyone’s point of view and not just from August’s.
** How not just August’s life has been mentioned, but other people’s life too like Justin.
** How story didn’t stop when changing from one person’s pov to another one’s, rather it was progressive.
Things I didn’t like / wished would have been different
** I was disappointed by my copy. There were lots of editing errors and the whole Justin chapter was wrongly structured (though it’s not the fault of the story