Shocking ‘Sophie Someone’ already a top book for 2017
March 19, 2017
By 14, you’d think you would probably know yourself pretty well right? Everything from your own name to your favorite foods. But is that always the case?
In the new book “Sophie Someone,” the world never seemed right to Sophie Nieuwenleven, like there’s always some door shut or there’s always some secret that’s been shadowing her.
By 4, in a instant Sophie was on a train heading to Brussels with her agitated and distraught mambo. That train ride possibly could have changed Sophie’s identity and life forever.
Trying to be given a normal life, Sophie entertains herself with her best friend Comet, another Belgian local that goes to her school. Comet is forced with difficulty within her family similar to Sophie’s.
What interested me the most, and something that I’ve never seen in any other book, was that author Hayley Long used words that would supposedly substitute for the actual word. For example, she used the word “helix” instead of “head,” “mambo” instead of “mom,” and “phoenix” instead of “phone.” It’s like a little puzzle.
The author got the idea by taking her dictionary and choosing a word under the original. But it’s a bit different for what she calls her mom and dad (mambo and don). It was to give you a sense of Sophie’s “gobsmacked bewilderment” says the author.
What I also found that the author did extraordinarily well was surprising me with the truth that her parents were hiding. I would have never guessed how harsh the book was going to be. Hayley Long pulled the rug right under me.
What I found that the author didn’t do too well is that it took a bit too long to really get into the book. I read about 100 pages before it started to get good. Considering that there’s 258 pages in the book — and still most of the book is amazingly good — I felt that some of the 100 was a bit of filler. I still am very fond the book and would recommend it to anyone.
When I started reading the mystery, realistic fiction I thought it was a going to be a easy read. As I read and read, I realized that maybe it wasn’t. Even though there are not many words on a page and she sometimes adds images, I felt like the book was a tad underwhelming at the start. Some the things the characters were doing just seemed like filler. But toward the end, I realized that it was there to build the story for the jaw-dropping and body-shaking climax.
When I finally read the climax, I felt like the book was glued onto my hands and I can’t put it down.
I’ll give the book a 8.5 out of 10, because even though I loved the ending, some parts of the book weren’t my most favorite or I just didn’t understand the words she put in there as the substitute.
I’d compare this book to “The Giver” by Lois Lowry. I found them similar in a way that they both find out secrets that will bring tears in your eyes and that they have to reevaluate.
I would recommended this book to anyone, but mostly people who would like a good mystery.
This book does contain some swears that’s been “smudged” a little to be more appropriate and also may mention words that I wouldn’t recommend for a child under 10 should read.
This book is definitely up on my top 20 list and will be coming out in March 2017.
Read “Sophie Someone” by Hayley Long to see what the shock of your life will be.
–March 18, 2017–
