BOOK OF THE MONTH REVIEW: The Boy Who Steals Houses

May 2019 Book of the Month: The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews
Published: April 4, 2019

Episode Nine: The Boy Who Steals Houses

[WORDS ABOUT WORDS THEME]

ANNOUNCER: This review is brought to you by Words About Words.

BREE: Thank you for tuning in! Today we will be discussing our May book of the month, The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews.

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BREE:  So, what did you think of Cait’s, otherwise known as C.G. Drews or PaperFury, second book?

TREE:  I enjoyed it; it was a little hard to get into the story. It maybe took me 70 ish pages, but then I was able to just sit and read the rest in one sitting which is my favorite way to read. How did you feel about this one?

BREE: I liked it. I hit my stride around 70 pages too, and from there is way pretty easy to read. Well, except for when Cait was shredding my soul with her lovely words. Sometimes it hurt a little too much and I needed a break.

TREE: Her writing is very accessible, but heart wrenching. She does a great job mixing humor with moments that break your heart. I was kind of reminded of how John Green did that in The Fault in Our Stars.

BREE: I can definitely see that. I also really enjoyed her sense of humor and how that was interlaced throughout the entire novel. My other favorite thing about this book was the De Lainey family dynamics. There’s just so many of them than chaos and squabbling are always right around the corner.

TREE: I said it with A Thousand Perfect Notes, and I’ll say it again with this one, Cait’s voice is so vivid and stands on her own. If you follow her on social media, you know. That same voice jumps off the pages here. Do you have any other general comments?

BREE: Why yes, I do. I wanted to say that Avery’s autism is presented in a way that is realistic and approachable. Also, the way that uninformed people interact with Avery is very realistic. People can be cruel and Cait captures that very well.

TREE: Cait has been very open that this is Own Voices representation for autism, and I am glad to see it stated clearly.

BREE: Ahh, I just love Cait. She has such a big presence within the bookstagram community.

TREE: I did want to say that I found this very similar to A Thousand Perfect Notes, which I loved. I did really enjoy this one, but whereas her debut felt so unique and original, this didn’t as much.

BREE: (laughs) It was new to me at least. I still haven’t had chance to read A Thousand Perfect Notes. I swear, I’m trying  though.

TREE: You will have to compare once you finish! Any other comments?

BREE: Uh, I did want to mention that the Aussie-ism threw me off a little bit, but I think that’s because this was my first time reading a UK English book. Ready to wrap up?

TREE: Yes! I really enjoyed this one. The glitter scene had me laughing out loud and I loved the family. It didn’t blow me away, but I still would rate it 4/5 stars.

BREE: Dude, you don’t understand glitter is impossible to remove from hair. That scene gave me serious anxiety. But overall, I give The Boy Who Steals Houses 4.5/5 stars. I really enjoyed the story and it made my heart cry over and over again.

TREE: I hope the book she is currently writing gets published one day. I believe it is uncontracted at the moment. 

BREE: Yes! I hope to see her branch out into other genres as well. I think she’d write amazing fantasy novels.

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ANNOUNCER: Thanks for tuning in for this review of The Boy Who Steals Houses.

BREE: Make sure to tune in next month when we review If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberly & Austin Siegemund-Broka!

TREE: I love them!

xoxo, Bree & Tree