When the narrator of your story is a traumatised six year old, you just know this one's gonna hurt. Tragedy, Loss, Resilience, Recovery and family. make sure you have tissues.

Only Child is an emotive and impactful book which is centred around a school shooting and the fallout which happens as a result of these events.

It is told through the voice of Zach, a six year old boy who we first meet inside a cupboard during a school shooting.

The book then deals with the fallout of this event for the family and local residents.

It would be wrong to say that I enjoyed this book but I was thoroughly invested in it. I read it quickly and wanted to read more.

This issue is so important in todays’ society and is sadly a highly politicised issue. I don’t have the answers but gained some insight by reading this book.

Thanks you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A very disturbing subject matter but nevertheless a book I had heard about and was will to try and give it the benefit of the doubt. Although technically it was a well constructed storyline and had enough of the horror of the day to balance it out with emotions as well of the students and teachers. However, I disliked it and could not finish it.

I could not get into this book, ultimately it was not form me and I could not finish it. It may be one for other readers

This book is written from the point of view of Zach, who is 7 and has a terrifying experience at the start of the book.

Through his eyes we watch his family fall apart and hear how he deals with that as time goes on. I found it particularly difficult to see his mother unravel in front of him, due to being pushed a step too far. As a result he was dealing with things alone for a while.

A really good book, I would recommend it to people who enjoy reading something a bit different every now and then.

Pretty sad, and a somewhat horrible thing to write a novel about! I thought the writing and characters were okay, but I'm not quite sure why someone would want to write about this - as though it is 'normal'. I guess that, in the US, is it. Tragically.

enjoyable read if a little hard at times, a tough story told from the view of a 6 year old boy whod been involved in a school shooting, not something I usuallly read but it held my attention and the story was told well

Only Child is not typically the sort of book I would usually choose to read, however it’s a book that has stayed with me long after reading. Only Child is told from the perspective of six-year-old Zach, caught up in a school shooting resulting in the death of his old brother. The book is well written and not patronising, and what I found most effective was how Zach’s perception of the tragedy and his confusion about why it happened is something that as adults we still struggle to comprehend.

I also felt that this is a story that really does raise awareness of the realities of the damage guns can do, not just physically but the psychological effects that people caught up in it suffer as well.

It’s not the cheeriest of reads but it’s one of the best things I’ve read on NetGalley.

Superb read. Could not put down. I even cried when reading this book because it is so powerful. It was great to read this from the perspective of the child. I kept thinking about the Dunblane tragedy when reading. It was a very thought provoking book. Excellently written.

Really enjoyed this booked had never read this author before and will not be the last time. now looking for more by this author

“Only Child” is a gut wrenching book about the death of a ten year old boy, Andy, in a school shooting. However, it is told from the perspective of his little brother Zach. All of the adults, understandably, deal terribly with this event and poor Zach suffers almost unnoticed by his parents. He retreats frequently to his hide out where he feels closest to his brother and it is there that he starts to make sense of his feelings and what is going on around him.

I am sure this book has been compared to others told from a child’s point of view and while it doesn’t feel like it quite gets the language and some of the observations of Zach as spot on as Emma Donoghue does in “Room” it is still an engaging, if upsetting, read. Some of the adult reactions and some of the events also felt a little bit cliched and predictable but then who am I to judge how people react to such terrible occurrences.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Zach is just 6 years old and just like any other child, Zach goes to school, only this day is like none other. Zach survives a deadly shooting in his school by hiding in his classroom closet. 19 people are killed, including his older brother Andy.

Told from Zach’s view, he deals with Andy’s death with so many emotions. Andy bullied Zach at home and made his life pretty miserable but now he has gone, he isn’t coming home and his parents are devastated.
.
Zach’s father has withdrawn into himself unable to process the grief he had for his dead so , while his mother launches a campaign of vengeance on the killer’s parents, blaming them for the massacre, wanting someone to blame and take her grief out on.

We follow the journey of Zach through his eyes and how he helps his parents to come to terms with their loss and at time’s, it is easy to forget that Zach is still a boy, a very young boy at just 6 years old, yet he seems wiser than many of us

It’s honest and fair to say that this book made me cry on several levels.

A shooting takes place at this little boys school.
I remember when this book came out it was around about the Florida shooting I believe. I put this book aside and was going to come back to this one day. Now was the time.

His brother who attended the school was was older than him I’m sorry to say became a fatality of the shooting.

Listening to this on audio, it’s read by a talented narrator. Absolutely awesome! You need to Google him for sure!
It’s just like this little boy is reaching out and talking to me. Telling me what he observes, what he experiences and his innermost feelings.
That’s why I believe this made me so aware of morals to this story.

The grief when the mother finds out her eldest boy is dead being described by her youngest child was just something you couldn’t ignore. He was sat here by me telling me!

The parents are grieving. They do this in their way. But what about The Only Child they have right now?

He screams out pop pop POP in his nightmares and his father comforts him. Yet emotionally what is going on in this little boys mind, heart and emotions?

Child are resilient, they say.

That doesn’t mean we adults do not need to help them along the way to make sense of it all.
To guide them. To answer questions or even be there.
They are not immune !

Oh what a book!

My little heart found it sometimes too much......
That child talking to me on audio, explaining to me. Letting out his thoughts, his emotions.

Well done to the author and fantastic job to the narrator.

Impacted on me for sure.

Absolutely heartbreaking, wonderfully written with huge emotion, intrigue and beautifully paced storytelling. Will take a while to recover after this one.

This was such a highly emotional and sensitive read. From the very first page this book drew me in. I just loved the young narrator. A fabulous read,

I think this book will stay with me for a long time. Poignant and heartbreaking and so sad but amazingly written and well told.

A heartbreaking story about love and loss. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This is so relevant to everything that goes on in the current time and I loved hearing it from the eyes of a 6 year old. It was very emotive and super interesting. Love the front cover too.

Read through the eyes of 6-year old Jack, who survives a school shooting incident where his older brother is brutally gunned down, this is a gritty read. However, Jacks baby-language narration quickly becomes grating. The interspaced adult conversation, whilst providing relief from the 6-year old narrator, does leave the reader to engage with the book, but also means that overall it is a tough read. Not a light holiday read, by any means, but worth it from the unique perspective of the main character.

School shooting storylines are always hard to review. It is difficult to review such a harrowing real-life scenario. However, for the sake of a fictional story, this wasn't perfect but was emotionally devastating.