What could have been an emotional and hard-hitting book about homelessness actually turned out to be a dull and cheesy, and when I wasn’t mentally moaning about the main character, I was daydreaming about finishing this book and starting another one.
My main issue with The Colour of Shadows is Saffron, the main character, who is an absolute brat. She finds a suitcase in her loft containing letters written by herself to her supposedly dead mother, and she basically goes off it, packing a bag of ‘essentials’ (they were not essential) and moving out. Which wouldn’t be so bad if she, you know, had somewhere she knew she could go to, like a discreet grandparent or something. But instead she assumes that she’ll be able to move in with her friend Tom, moves out, then gets turned down by Tom. So, bag of unnecessary rubbish in tow, she starts sleeping rough.
You’d think that sleeping rough would have made Saffron a nicer character...but it didn’t. She demanded meetings with her younger brother, insulting him when he wouldn’t give her what she wanted, and regularly made insensitive comments to homeless people about how she “wasn’t like them” and that she actually did have a home.
In short: Saffron is one of the most bratty, selfish, unlikable characters I’ve ever met in YA fiction.
*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review*
My main issue with The Colour of Shadows is Saffron, the main character, who is an absolute brat. She finds a suitcase in her loft containing letters written by herself to her supposedly dead mother, and she basically goes off it, packing a bag of ‘essentials’ (they were not essential) and moving out. Which wouldn’t be so bad if she, you know, had somewhere she knew she could go to, like a discreet grandparent or something. But instead she assumes that she’ll be able to move in with her friend Tom, moves out, then gets turned down by Tom. So, bag of unnecessary rubbish in tow, she starts sleeping rough.
You’d think that sleeping rough would have made Saffron a nicer character...but it didn’t. She demanded meetings with her younger brother, insulting him when he wouldn’t give her what she wanted, and regularly made insensitive comments to homeless people about how she “wasn’t like them” and that she actually did have a home.
In short: Saffron is one of the most bratty, selfish, unlikable characters I’ve ever met in YA fiction.
*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review*