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Back To Blackbrick (2013)

by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald(Favorite Author)

3.73 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1444006592 (ISBN13: 9781444006599)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Orion Children's Books

review 1: As he watches his beloved grandfather's memory fade, Cosmo searches online for cures or ways to combat its erosion while the rest of his family seems resigned to more draconian measures. But after his grandfather provides him with a key to a gate, Cosmo goes back in time. He searches for information that will help his grandfather retain some memories. There he also meets a younger version of his relative, a boy named Kevin, and must find a way to interfere with the infatuation Kevin has for Maggie, a beautiful local girl who catches the eye of Kevin's employer. After all, Maggie is not the girl his grandfather marries, and if he does, then there will be no Cosmo. The book is filled with beautiful, heartfelt meditations on love and loss and several delightful surprises. The... more author describes perfectly Cosmo's naïve nature as well as his solitary ways and fury at the ravages of Alzheimer's. The poignancy of the person he loves most no longer recognizing him hits home powerfully.
review 2: I picked up this book purely because of the cover (it's so pretty!) and when I read the synopsis I thought it sounded really interesting! I really enjoyed the narrative of Cosmo; it was simple, strong, funny and I never had any problem understanding what was going on. He's a great character. I liked the idea of time travel as well (who doesn't want to call themselves a Time Lord? XD) but as the story went on, the turn of events started to disturb me quite a bit. The theme of pedophilia and rape were things I didn't want to think about, and these things happen to one of the characters Cosmo meets. And because Cosmo has a very blunt, simple narrative to understand, I felt everything he was feeling and it left me feeling cringey and embarrassed. I don't know why either, but I found the whole idea of Cosmo being in love with a girl from the past kind of...not weird, but awkward? It was just a love story that had too many implications for me to want it to happen. The ending gave me good closure; all questions I had were answered and it was a good end to the story. It just left me really sad and I even teared up a bit; the story just touched on some things that I never really wanted to think about, and the idea that someone in my family would have memory loss is really upsetting. So overall, I enjoyed the premise of the book, and the I loved the main character of Cosmo, but because of one or two things that happened, I just couldn't quite overlook them to feel relaxed or enjoy the rest of the book - and the ending just left me feeling pretty depressed. I don't regret picking the book up, but it's one I definitely won't be re-reading for a while lol! :) less

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