***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

I don’t read a lot of historical fiction but I absolutely adore middle grade novels so when I heard about Anna and the Swallow Man, I knew I was going to have a lot of feels and would probably need a lot of tissues. The book; however, turned out to be not exactly what I expected. When I read the blurb, I thought that Anna and the Swallow Man would be right in the middle of the war instead of spending their time skirting its edges. Don’t get me wrong, you can tell that there is a war going on and the war definitely impacts their life, it’s just I thought their circumstances would be different.

Having said that, Anna and the Swallow Man is a beautiful, lyrical book and one I wouldn’t fail to recommend to someone who really wants to be sucker punched in their feels (because who doesn’t want that?)

Here are a bunch of reasons to read this book

1. Anna. She is one of the saddest main characters I’ve read in middle grade and Savrit works magic in the way he writes her. She is a very aware child but the way Savrit writes her constantly reminds readers that she IS a child no matter how smart she is. It’s why my heart constantly broke for her and her struggle.

2 Secondary Characters. The Swallow Man is a wonderfully complex character. He, at the beginning of the novel, is someone who comes off as a savior but as the novel progresses, we find out that there is a whole lot more to him. He isn’t a perfect character and there were parts during the middle of the book where I wanted the ground to swallow him whole (I am so clever) because he was really getting to me. By the end of the novel, I liked him as a character since there is SO much to him. Reb Hirschl one the other hand was my favorite character in the world. Okay perhaps not in the world but in this book, yes. He broke my heart a million times over and made me smile like no one else in the book.

3. The Journey. Or the journey to nowhere as it should more accurately be called. Throughout the entire book, Anna and the Swallow Man are walking to somewhere yet we don’t know where. The Swallow Man tells Anna that they are trying to find a bird that is almost extinct but a lot of the time, they just seem to go on and on in circle. Their journey is full of many hardships and even though they are never in the middle of the war, the war is never forgotten. It impacts them when they run out of food and slowly start to starve, it impacts them when they attempt to cross German borders, it impacts them when they come upon mass graves. Even though the story doesn’t seem to be about the war, it IS. Savrit weaves in the war into their journey and as the war rages on, we become more and more aware of the horrible affects the war has. The book spirals into darkness and starts to tear open our hearts. It loses its innocent charm and turns into something darker.

So hopefully I have convinced you to read this book… if not OOPS? I TRIED, OKAY. I did my best. I am going to go home and sleep now because emotions.

Note that I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This beautiful book

isn’t as fun to read.

It treats your heart like a stone

and tosses it into a lake

where it skips and skips and skips.

It’s not easy to read

you might have figured that one out

but it’s worth every moment of pain it will put you through

You see

it’s not a regular YA novel.

it is one that tells a story of immense loss

yet it also tells a story of familial love.

The author doesn’t cut back on the

gory details

believe me

I’d know.

But at the same time, she is honest

which is why this book is so heartbreaking

With its fierce characters

who continue to march on

You cannot help but fall in love

with not just with their innocent determination

You cheer for them

because they need to be cheered

Most of all though,

you hope,

you hope everything will be all right.

If you are a lover of truth and

a lover of heartbreakingly real stories

I’d say give this one a shot

and let your heart skip skip skip

over a lake of your own tears

Started this book last night and finished the last 20 pages this morning. 

 Yep, I cried.

This book wasn't perfect. I had two issues with it. 

#1 - the ages of Fern & Charlie. I had a hard time with Fern being only 12. Charlie seemed a lot younger than 3.

#2 - the word OK. I should have done a count of how many times it was in the book. Probably the same amount of times I use the word "like" in a review. Way too many times.

I found in the beginning of the book I was thinking of my siblings. How we acted with one another, how we didn't always get along. Then in the middle I started to think about my own children. Am I leaving one out? Am I giving them enough hugs?

I think as a parent this story will make you sob.

Some spots that stood out to me:

Fern. What kind of lame name is that? What were my parents thinking, naming me after a kid whose only friend was a pig marked for death?

pg.97

 

"I want you to be my mom," I tell her quietly. "I just want you to love me again."

pg. 236

 

"But I realize now, he was my gift, too.

pg. 245

 

There's a poem mentioned in the story, it's called "Epitaph". It was written by Merrit Malloy. I'm going to end this post with it.

When I die 
Give what's left of me away 
To children 
And old men that wait to die. 
And if you need to cry, 
Cry for your brother 
Walking the street beside you. 
And when you need me, 
Put your arms 
Around anyone 
And give them 
What you need to give to me.

 

I want to leave you something, 
Something better 
Than words 
Or sounds.

 

Look for me 
In the people I've known 
Or loved, 
And if you cannot give me away, 
At least let me live on your eyes 
And not on your mind.

 

You can love me most 
By letting 
Hands touch hands, 
By letting 
Bodies touch bodies, 
And by letting go 
Of children 
That need to be free.

 

Love doesn't die, 
People do. 
So, when all that's left of me 
Is love, 
Give me away.

This is a story about a cheater. Cathy. She cheats. On a husband that is perfect and sweet and I think while I was reading I felt jealous that she has someone like that. That she was able to find someone that loved her like that. In fact while reading all I kept hearing in my head, like it's own sound track, was John Legend's All of Me.

 I felt she was selfish and I hated her. I almost stopped reading. I kept thinking, "who rated this so high?" But, I did keep reading, it was like a train wreck, all over the place. Not the story, my emotions. First I hated Cathy, then I felt bad for her. How can I feel bad for her? I felt bad for her like you would a person that has an addiction, because Arsen was her addiction. Then I felt bad for Ben, actually all the way through I felt bad for Ben. And there was soooo much sex in this story. Which would be right, because it's about Cheating.

 There were several spots in the book where I got teary-eyed. (seriously I can't believe I did) 

Love is never supposed to hurt.

Love is suppose to heal, to be your haven from misery,

to make living fucking worthwhile.

But as I stare at my wife, I know it's all fucking bullshit.

Love has the power to destroy you.

Love has the power to bury you alive in a coffin full of pain and despair,

robbing you of air,

of the will to live.

 At the end,

  Check out the author's Playlist. (which includes 200 songs!)

Songs I would add:

Say Something - A Great Big World

Glorybox - Portishead

Cold by Crossfire

Broken Open - Adam Lambert

It's been awhile - Staind

Do what you have to do - Sarah McLachlan (Let's be honest, every one of her songs could fit this book: Stupid, Fallen, Hold on..)

Bleeding out - Imagine Dragons

White Flag - Dido

Blurry - Puddle Of Mudd

Make This go On forever - Snow Patrol

Let it Go - Blue October