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A review by jenbsbooks
How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior
5.0
Re-read for bookclub ... went with the Kindle copy this time. Looking forward to the book club discussion. My original review (below) still stands ...
*** July 2021 ***
Ah, this was really cute. I liked it a lot. 4.5 stars. I'll go ahead and round up. Funny, I recently read [b:The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett|50358079|The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett|Annie Lyons|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593376377l/50358079._SY75_.jpg|75306767] which also features a little old lady, both featuring the MC's name in the title, with a cartoonish/blue cover ;)
The chapters shift POVs - so there are three narrators in the audio version. Veronica, Terry and Patrick. Terry's chapters are actually blog posts (about penguins). In Patrick's chapters, there are also some "journal" entries written (and thus voiced) by Veronica, that take the timeline back to when Veronica was young. So there is the present/past shift as well as POV shifts.
One thing I almost always find issue with when a "journal" is showcased, is that so rarely is that portion written in a way a journal/diary would be written. It's always a bit too fancy, with dialogue (I don't think I ever add dialogue to my journal entries) ... it always still sounds officially like the novel. I did really enjoy the email/letter exchanges though (which did sound like real written communications).
I liked that the characters weren't perfect, or even all that likeable right off ... Veronica is a bit crotchety, and Patrick is really not making much of his life. Written in 1st person, we (the reader) get a bit more insight than the other characters (like we know that Patrick IS really trying, not just hoping for an inheritance ... but Veronica doesn't know that). Just like others in the book, the reader (at least I did) becomes attached to Veronica.
Little things - like how Veronica doesn't like open doors ... but later on, open doors are needed. The little thoughts about how good her memory is, repeating some things over and over (indicating her memory is NOT actually working well for her). I really liked the audio version, all the narrators were great, but sometimes I wonder if I might have picked up on more things, remembered more things, if I had been reading myself, and able to highlight and take some notes. Not that I regret going with the audio version, but I put the ebook on hold (I read in the questions that there is a bonus chapter in it too) so that I can do a quick skim of the text in print.
*** July 2021 ***
Ah, this was really cute. I liked it a lot. 4.5 stars. I'll go ahead and round up. Funny, I recently read [b:The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett|50358079|The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett|Annie Lyons|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593376377l/50358079._SY75_.jpg|75306767] which also features a little old lady, both featuring the MC's name in the title, with a cartoonish/blue cover ;)
The chapters shift POVs - so there are three narrators in the audio version. Veronica, Terry and Patrick. Terry's chapters are actually blog posts (about penguins). In Patrick's chapters, there are also some "journal" entries written (and thus voiced) by Veronica, that take the timeline back to when Veronica was young. So there is the present/past shift as well as POV shifts.
One thing I almost always find issue with when a "journal" is showcased, is that so rarely is that portion written in a way a journal/diary would be written. It's always a bit too fancy, with dialogue (I don't think I ever add dialogue to my journal entries) ... it always still sounds officially like the novel. I did really enjoy the email/letter exchanges though (which did sound like real written communications).
I liked that the characters weren't perfect, or even all that likeable right off ... Veronica is a bit crotchety, and Patrick is really not making much of his life. Written in 1st person, we (the reader) get a bit more insight than the other characters (like we know that Patrick IS really trying, not just hoping for an inheritance ... but Veronica doesn't know that). Just like others in the book, the reader (at least I did) becomes attached to Veronica.
Little things - like how Veronica doesn't like open doors ... but later on, open doors are needed. The little thoughts about how good her memory is, repeating some things over and over (indicating her memory is NOT actually working well for her). I really liked the audio version, all the narrators were great, but sometimes I wonder if I might have picked up on more things, remembered more things, if I had been reading myself, and able to highlight and take some notes. Not that I regret going with the audio version, but I put the ebook on hold (I read in the questions that there is a bonus chapter in it too) so that I can do a quick skim of the text in print.