This book is a hard one for me to rate. Purely based on my enjoyment, I cannot give it more than 2 stars... I get that the writing style was a brave choice and whatnot but reading more than 300 pages from the POV of a 5-year-old was just too much to handle (+ I am not an expert on 5 year-olds but I doubt that they would really think all the onomatopoetic sounds like "thump-thump" and "clickety-clack" that were spelled out) and I was happy when the book was finally over. Hadn't I read this as an audiobook, I most definitely would not have finished it. And even as an audio book it was hard to get through due to the narrative choice. However, the story itself is absolutely captivating and gruesome so after having finished the book I watched the movie which was incredible and which I would highly recommend. The book not so much unfortunately.

At first I didn't like it that much which is the reason I put it back in the bookshelf about 5 years ago. But when the movie came out and was even nominated for this year's Oscars I thought I'd give it a try again. And wow, did I love it! It took a while to get used to the narrative form but I now I love that it's written from Jack's point of view. It gives you the perspective of a 5 year old boy that get's to see the world for the first time which also makes you look at it in a different way. It's a really well written, heartwarming and very enjoyable book. Can't wait to see the movie!