What readers think of A Million Things, plus links to write your own review.

A novel that finds a ten year old girl, Rae, deciding to deal with life on her own. I applauded the things she did for herself—getting to school, cleaning the house, doing the shopping, and walking her dog. I enjoyed the connection she made with her hoarder neighbor, an older woman, while she was discouraging every attempt by the young boy down the road to be friends. I cheered for her successes, yet I didn't want her to be in survivor mode. I didn't know when she would be discovered, or when her life would fall apart. I had to keep reading, hoping for the best. A captivating read!

Overall, the book is beautifully writing and keeps the reader invested throughout. Our main character Rae is a 10-year-old child who lives with a mother who suffers from severe depression. One day Rae's mother leaves and never returns home. What is a child to do? Call for help? Not our main character Rae, she gets up, dust herself off, and continues to live her life like nothing has happened. The author does a fantastic job of making the reader feel like they are right there with Rae as she deals with the loss and pain of losing her mother and the steps she must take to survive.

The friendship between Rae and her elderly neighbor Lettie is amazing. How two people can connect and form a friendship that helps them both through some troubling times is beautifully describe in this book. This book rips your heart out and then shows you that even if we face tragedy there is still hope of something good to come.

I cannot remember a time when I started a book and did not move until it was finished. A Million Things, by Emily Spur, had me at the first chapter, and nothing was going to stop my reading until I finished this book about an amazing 10 year old girl, Rae, her dog, Splinter, and her next door neighbor, Lettie. Secrets abound in this story and it draws you in by the beautiful prose of this Australian author's debut novel and the unforgettable characters she has created. Rae is used to being alone, as her mom is not always there for her. But something happens that turns her world upside down, and we watch her cope with life in a way that "pierces like a bullet and soothes like a psalm"(Amy Jo Burns). It is a story about unconditional love, extreme sadness, and incredible resilience. "It captures the moments between loss and letting go" says one reviewer. Rae's neighbor, Lettie, an older woman who lives alone with her own secret, plays a significant role and her character is beautifully developed. We watch the relationship between Rae and Lettie grow and bloom, like an old dried up flower that is miraculously and beautifully alive, brought back with life giving water. This novel will stay with you long after it is read. I have the electronic copy, but I plan to buy a hard copy as soon as it is released in the US in August. Oh, keep your Kleenex handy while you read!

A Million Things by Emily Spurr is a novel that invites you into a world where every day is a challenge.

Rae, a precocious nine year old, has been abandoned by her mother. This time her mother will not return She has been in this situation before, so Rae knows how to take care of herself and her dog. She makes sure that the house is presentable and that she is clean. She keeps to herself and avoids attention. This is hard to do when her nosy neighbor watches her constantly and a new boy keeps seeking her out to play. When a tragic accident occurs, Rae has to share her burdensome secret.

A Million Things is a sensitive well-written book about a courageous young survivor whose heart is filled with love although her pain weighs her down.

A Million Things deals with painful topics but it also flows with compassion.

A Million Things is the most enthralling novel that perfectly showcases the moment between loss and letting go, between childhood and growing up. You will fall in love with this heart-wrenching story about grief, friendship and sticking up for yourself. So, do yourself a favor and add A Million Things to your TBR pile, you will not be sorry! Bravo, Emily Spurr !

This book is well written and very hard to put down as you are driven to learn what happens to the 10 year old precocious child who is the narrator. I read it in one sitting, although I skimmed at times as it was a bit too wordy. You love the child, want to protect her and desperately want something to go her way. It is hard to say too much about the story without spoiling it. It is terribly sad and at times hair raising, but satisfying in the end. I will say that some aspects are just too extreme to be believable and some issues were never satisfactorily revealed. I would not recommend it to anyone who is grieving or depressed however, as there is quite a mountain to climb in this book before resolution occurs.

What an emotional roller coaster. I usually do not enjoy books with children as narrators but this book was an exception. What a brave, capable, empathetic, resilient character we have in 10 year old Rae. You will be rooting for her and her dog Splinter throughout the story. I so do not want to give anything away since I would like you read this book and have it unfold for you naturally. I'll just say that it is a book of unconscionable grief, empathy ,friendship, love, and resilience. The on-going dialog in Rae's head is so heart-wrenching yet natural. Her developing friendship with the curmudgeonly older next door neighbor works beautifully and believably only because of the character of Rae. I hope to see more from Emily Spurr and will gladly read whatever she writes.

I received an ARC of this book and I am leaving an unbiased review.
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Rae is left on her own to cope with life. I will not say how this happens, though it is revealed early on, because the way it is organically woven into the story is quite well done. Suffice it to say that this nearly 11-year-old girl is on her own with only her dog, Splinter, to keep her company and assuage her grief and loneliness.

I must admit this set up caused me some concern. I could not see how Emily Spurr could fill up an entire 300 page book starting from this point. I need not have worried. As is often the case in the books I like most, the author sets out to explore a premise and lets it take her where it will, seemingly without any preconceived notion of the ultimate destination.

Rae's next door neighbor, Lettie, is a grumpy, old busybody and a pathological hoarder, living in a stinky, old house packed floor to rafters with trash and found objects. The most delightful aspect of this book is the way in which they come together and become friends. They both survive through the use of the barbed quip, for one thing, and this makes for some truly delightful dialogue. Lettie is clearly not great at adulting and Rae is doing everything in her power to be grown up. Their shared struggles form the emotional core of this book.

Overall, I found A Million Things to be most everything I look for in a good novel: emotionally complex, humorous, filled with pathos, with believable characters and a plot that does not take artificial turns imposed by the author, but allows the real people at its center to guide the action. This is an excellent read and, while the setup could have led somewhere gruesome, Spurr deftly navigates this territory with an ease and surety I would not have expected from a first novel.