Now this was interesting--I read this along with [b:The Ghosts of Heaven|21469108|The Ghosts of Heaven|Marcus Sedgwick|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1409674391s/21469108.jpg|40787024] for my book club, and was really looking forward to The Ghosts of Heaven because I had loved Midwinterblood by Sedgwick, while this book I was more cautious about since I had read Almond's [b:Skellig|24271|Skellig (Skellig, #1)|David Almond|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320460285s/24271.jpg|960] and hadn't cared for it at all. Yet I ended up feeling kinda mixed about TGoH and really enjoyed The Tightrope Walkers.

I think the lack of magical realism in this, unlike Skellig, was a part of it, although the Jack character really reminded me of the character Skellig. But I also loved Almond's writing and was surprised how quickly I read the book. When I would read, I felt I was in Tyneside; I could almost smell the shipyard. I came to care for each of the characters, even Vincent McAlinden.

The part that really struck a chord with me was when his mom becomes ill. I knew, I knew she was going to die and just reading about it I imagined it as my own mother. She had a somewhat similar decline and I could see, feel her in those pages. It was already late at night but I had to keep reading through that section, had to witness how it played out. It's been exactly a year since my mom passed away and it hadn't hit me that hard in awhile. After reading those chapters, I put the book down and sobbed. I knew how he felt--I connected to how afterward both him and his father lose their faith and have anger with God. It was all beautifully and perfectly written.

What kept me from giving this five stars was the ending. Not just because he and Holly didn't get out, although that was bittersweet, but also realistic, it was how it came about. The whole scene with Vincent attacking them, and raping Holly it just didn't ring true to me. Maybe I had come to care too much for Vincent and had hoped for some type of redemption.

The Tightrope Walkers - Likewise Book Reviews

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