Review: A hard knocks story.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2014
I was given a copy of this book to review honestly and so I shall!Treacle Mountain immediately grips you in it's fist and won't let go, with the main protagonist being a girl just like that little orphan Annie who gets dealt the hard knocks in life. This Annie also has red hair but she dyes it dark, hardly bathes, and rarely speaks up for herself, all in an attempt not to stand out and bring attention to herself.Living in the Bronx, Annie is just trying to survive against the bad hand she was given. She doesn't know who her parents are, she works in a soup kitchen run by a self-pampered, thieving hag, and the only friend she has might be something more but how can Annie know? She doesn't know people, she's never touched, and now she has this list of lowlifes she wants to avenge herself upon.But its not all bad. She has a chance at something more, something real. A family. People who care about her. But can Annie play it straight or will her need for revenge get in the way of the only good thing she has ever known?Treacle Mountain really stood out for me but I'm not a good judge on street life or the Bronx itself. I don't know how accurate the portrayal is but I felt the author did a fantastic job with her character, Annie, and the everyday grind to survive on the streets. Its pitiful, sad, pathetic, heart wrenching, and upsetting to the bone and when things start to go right for Annie, you find yourself pleading with her not to mess it up.