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There are currently 21 member reviews
for The Land of Decoration
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Kelly H. (Martinsville, IN)
The Land of Depression
I liked this book, although it was utterly joyless to read, and I usually hate that! I definitely needed to keep reading to see if these characters could ever find any peace or happiness. I liked Judith, the 10-year old main character, but my heart just ached for her the whole way through. And after finishing it, I still don't know what was really happening, and I usually hate that, too, but the end left me reasonably satisfied. I will pass this one around.
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Doris K. (Angora, MN)
The Land of Decoration
This book is written from the perspective of a ten year old. I found that interesting. The fact that she lives with her father, has problems with a bully at school yet holds onto her belief that she can change her life makes this a good story for older teen and young adult readers.
I enjoyed the descriptions of the colorful characters as told by this young girl.
This book makes the reader realize how serious young children are about life and the role they play in what happens to the people they love.
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Kathy K. (Lakeland, Florida)
The Land of Decoration
The Land of Decoration by Grace McCleen would appeal to readers who like young female main characters. Judith is a third grade student who is neglected by a single father, bullied by classmates and has no strong female role model until a substitute teacher takes over her class. She relies on her faith (an extreme fundamental one) to help her overcome her problems, namely the classroom bully.
The author, McCleen, uses a rather run-on style of writing in places which will cause some readers to slow down and reread the sentences a number of times. The character Judith is well developed but that is not the case for the father. He is much more elusive and hard to understand. Perhaps that is what McCleen wanted.
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Susan B. (Rutledge, MO)
not what I expected
I didn’t like this as much as I’d hoped I would, but it’s entirely my own fault. For some reason I thought this was going to be a post-apocalyptic tale, which is one of my favorite kinds of stories. But (by my lights at least) living in a grey, downtrodden factory town in England and looking forward to the Biblical Apocalypse doesn’t count as being in that genre. So I kept waiting for the world to end, but spoiler alert! it didn’t.
Once I realized the book wasn’t what I’d thought it would be, I noted that the writing and characterization were very good, I just didn’t find myself very interested in the character’s dilemmas. If you go in expecting a heartrending portrayal of a young girl from an extreme religious background experiencing loss and trauma, you’ll be fine. If you go in expecting a dystopic slightly-future tale, you might be disappointed.
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Aprile G. (Florence, MA)
Suspending disbelief
I really wanted to like The Land of Decoration, but in the end, I felt that it really required too much faith on the part of the reader for the story to hold together.
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Julie G. (West Hartford, CT)
Fantasy and Imagination
Grace McCleen has done a very good job of capturing the voice of 10 year old Judith McPherson, a lonely girl raised by a passionately devout widowed father. I was initially entranced by the characters, but, unfortunately, soon found them all to be so stereotypical as to be unbelievable. I was moved at the end of the book [edited for plot spoiler]. Overall, however, I was disappointed in the book, especially because I thought it began so promisingly.
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Carolyn F. (San Carlos, CA)
I really wanted to like this book
I wanted to like it because of the blurb and I really loved ROOM but I had to slog my way through this one. I could not develop any empathy for the characters because I did not believe them. I honestly would not recommend this book.
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