ARC Review: A Seven-Letter Word by Kim Slater
10:00
Series: None
Author: Kim Slater
Published March 24th 2016 by Macmillan Children's Books
Goodreads Synopsis
My name is Finlay McIntosh. I can see OK, can hear perfectly fine and I can write really, really well. But the thing is, I can't speak. I'm a st-st-st-stutterer. Hilarious, isn't it? It's like the word is there in my mouth, fully formed and then, just as it's ready to leave my lips . . . POP! It jumps and ricochets and bounces around my gob. Except it isn't funny at all, because there's not a thing I can do about it.'
Finlay's mother vanished two years ago. And ever since then his stutter has become almost unbearable. Bullied at school and ignored by his father, the only way to get out the words which are bouncing around in his head is by writing long letters to his ma which he knows she will never read, and by playing Scrabble online. But when Finlay is befriended by an online Scrabble player called Alex, everything changes. Could it be his mother secretly trying to contact him? Or is there something more sinister going on?
A Seven-Letter Word is an evocative and heartfelt story from the multi-award-winning author of Smart, Kim Slater.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
When his mother disappeared two years ago, Finlay McIntosh was lost. He had always struggled with his stutter, and playing scramble with mam was a way of improving it. Now though, his stutter is worse than ever, and his days are filled with bullies at school, and then being ignored by his dad. Finding a new friend on an online Scrabble forum, Finlay feels happy for once. But soon it seems his new friend, Alex, knows a lot about him mam, and what started out as friendship might have taken a turn for the sinister.
This book was so strange. I honestly didn't know what to expect from it, but definitely not where it eventually went. I felt sorry for Finlay, and felt like his school really needed to step up for him. Luckily, he had the school librarian to help him, and a few people who grew to be friends with him. The plot line with Alex was one that started as a nice one, where he had someone who he could talk too, but he obviously had no idea of stranger danger, because he gave them too much information, too quickly, and it was bound to turn bad. From then, though, it took a turn for the ridiculous, and I ended up skimming the final few chapters. I think younger readers would enjoy it, but it wasn't a hit for me.
Dates Read:
February 27 2023
Rating
3 Stars
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