David Arnold (11) (1981–)

Reason read: on my Overdrive shelf since 2019. Free book from AudioSync File summer program. It is a young adult or juvenile book. The kids are a group of kids basically homeless or without parents caring for them in traditional ways. Two of the children are immigrants from Congo. They were in foster care for a while. Coco who is 11. Vic who has a condition that causes some paralysis to his face and he is struggling with the death of his father, Mad Falco and girl who has lost both of her parents. The story is basically a quest story. Vic is following a kind of scavenger hunt that he found in his dad's urn of ashes. This quest helps him learn about his parents and to come to acceptance of the death.

I liked some things about the book such as the story of dealing with loss and also the Congolese refugees. I did not like the excess use of ergo. Coco is annoying but I think an 11 y/o can be annoying.… (more)

Trigger warnings: Death of a child, blood depiction, pandemic
Read this review for context: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5223459775

6/10, when I first saw this in my library I thought it was an epic post apocalyptic tale that is fresh and original so I headed into this one with high expectations however it turned out that I didn't enjoy this one and it kind of irritated me when I found out that this had the same issues as the last book, I just didn't enjoy it, where do I even begin. It starts off with three interesting main characters living in what's left of Earth after a flu swept through the population and killed almost everyone and they are Nico, Kit and a character called the Deliverer who has lived lives before this one. They live separately during the first few pages of the book but eventually Nico and Kit meet each other. The middle of the book is bulky to say the least and could've been shortened since all that happens is Nico and Kit contemplate about serious and light subjects and just what happened to the world. The book went on a downward spiral when Kit was killed by another character whose name I forgot and I wondered why would the author do this to him when he was one of the main characters, I still don't know who the Deliverer actually is but maybe that's intentional and the only thing about them is that they live lives over and over to make the world better??? Nico eventually finds the weird portal her father told her ending this on a high note.… (more)