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Read advance reader review of A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne, page 6 of 6

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A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne

A Ladder to the Sky

A Novel

by John Boyne
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (11):
  • Readers' Rating (42):
  • First Published:
  • Nov 13, 2018, 400 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Aug 2019, 400 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Reviews


Page 6 of 6
There are currently 39 member reviews
for A Ladder to the Sky
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  • Liz B. (McKinney, TX)
    A Long Ladder
    This novel failed to impress me like some of Boyne's former works. I struggled to find redeeming qualities in the protagonist and simply never came up with anything. The plot tended to ramble with the extensive character development of Maurice Swift and his "acquaintances ". I found myself often losing interest and longing to skip ahead to the end. The sexual overtones felt somewhat forced and lent themselves to the unpleasant character who is Mr. Swift. Overall, a decent read but not one of my personal favorites.
  • Mary Anne R. (Towson, MD)
    A Ladder to the Sky
    Powerthesaurus.org has 913 synonyms for the word despicable. If there are even more words for despicable I would lump them together to describe Maurice Swift, the novel's main character. The author is very gifted in character development. It is Swift's innate evilness that propels the novel and this is what kept me reading.

    I didn't like the subject matter of the book, but the author's gift of creating interesting characters held my attention. This is one of those books where I really needed to see how it would end. I only glanced at a few pages of the last chapter. This didn't help me much.

    John Boyne has a way of getting me emotionally involved in his characters, especially Swift in this book.
  • Char
    A Ladder to the Sky
    I read the first quarter of John Boyne's book "A Ladder to the Sky" and liked the subtlety he used when writing the interaction between the two main characters. The manipulation both of them used to further their individual agendas. The second quarter of Mr. Boyne's novel was no longer subtle therefore I couldn't read it any longer. I personally would recommend it to a certain select audience.
  • Freya H. (Towanda, PA)
    A Ladder to the Sky
    Not a terrible read, but had trouble sticking with it. Once I reached the half-way point, had to put it aside. Sorry, but Maurice and his attempts to gain notoriety in the literary world could not hold my interest.

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