A haunting read based on the horrors of a school mass shooting. It gets inside the feelings of the family and how each deals with grief in their own way and the knock on effect it can unwittingly have . Parents are grieving and young brother is telling the story to huge effect. It will stay with you as a poignant contemporaneous tale

"We went to school that Tuesday like normal. Not all of us came home . . ." Huddled in a cloakroom with his classmates and teacher, six-year-old Zach can hear shots ringing through the corridors of his school. A gunman has entered the building and, in a matter of minutes, will have taken nineteen lives. In the aftermath of the shooting, the close knit community and its families are devastated.

Everyone deals with the tragedy differently. Zach's father absents himself; his mother pursues a quest for justice -- while Zach retreats into his super-secret hideout and loses himself in a world of books and drawing. Ultimately though, it is Zach who will show the adults in his life the way forward -- as, sometimes, only a child can.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

A gut-wrenching story and one that sadly too many have experienced in this day and age. Compelling writing and both sensitive and compassionate handling of the subject matter. This really grabs the emotions and you fell everything alongside Zach, his parents and the other characters in the book. Told through Zach's eyes, if this doesn't make you emotional you must be dead inside!

Only Child is about seven year old Zach and opens with him hiding in a cupboard at school with his teacher and classmates as gunshots ring out in the corridor. The police arrive and Zach is led to safety but we soon find out that his older brother was killed in the shooting. Zach is then left to try and make sense of what has happened and how to get through it.

Only Child has such a powerful opening chapter – the description, through a child’s eyes, of being huddled in a cupboard for safety was terrifying. It really made my heart race and I was hoping he would be okay. The book gradually moves towards being about how a family can ever begin to come to terms with losing a child in the way they did, but also how a young child can begin to get over such trauma.

It broke my heart when I, as an adult reader, could understand the minutiae of an argument but Zach had no concept other than that the adults around him were shouting and it was upsetting for him. It was horrible seeing him try to process his own grief while his parents were falling apart trying to work through their feelings. I can’t even imagine what it must be like but there were parts of this book that felt so visceral and real to me.

If I’m to be honest though I did struggle with this book having a child narrator at times as it did become repetitive in places – it was irritating how many times Zach tells us that someone ‘shook their head yes’. At other times it didn’t ring true that he was the age he was. We know he struggles with his reading and yet he can read the word sepulchre at the graveyard. These were small niggles though in a book that was otherwise very powerful and very moving.

Rhiannon Navin deals with this all-too-real subject with real sensitivity, and this is a powerful, gripping and very moving novel.

Only Child is set in the aftermath of a brutal American high school massacre. The story is told by a seven year old boy, a survivor of the killings who also loses his older brother. This is an emotional, perceptive tale of loss, family and bereavement and a stunning debut novel.

This is a truly heart breaking story as seen through the eyes of Zach on the day a gunman came to his school and murdered 19 children and adults. The story begins with Zach's teacher and his class mates hiding in the classroom store cupboard and the muffled popping of a gun being fired coming nearer to their safe place. He describes how he feels and how all the children know that this isn't a drill this time. The smell of urine and vomit as it becomes all too much for some of them. There is such a truthfulness stripped back to what matters to him at this moment and how the other children are reacting. Then the quiet and rescue, the glimpses of school friends hurt and dead and the wait for parents to be allowed to reunite with them. But the most awful thing was the parents that couldn't find their children. The hope, the maybe and what ifs, until there wasn't any other options left but identify them as casualties.
There were times in this book that I had to stop, just for a moment. It is written in such a pure frank and innocent voice, how a six-year-old sees others. Zach is lost in the carnage of heart-break that is left behind after this happens as all emotions are centred on the people who aren't there anymore not the survivors. There was a part that really got me and it is so true. When someone we love dies we recall all the good things about them, this confused Zach because he knew that at times children weren't good, they did naughty things but everyone forgot about those.
The story is set a few years ago at a time that adults seem to be dealing with their grief but forgetting that the children hurt too. Zach finds comfort in the only way he knows in a secret place and I must admit that this brought quite a few tears. At other times it is like Zach is stood on the outside of things looking in on how others are dealing with what has happened and he can see answers were others can't. There are so many victims to a dreadful act like this which was tackled in a sensitive way by the author, very well done!
This story will stay with me for a very long time, beautifully written through the voice of innocence.

The first couple chapters are heartbreaking and the writing of the small details when tragedy happens from prospective of child was extraordinary.
When you see from children innocent eyes, it becomes more powerful and scary.


Absolutely heartbreaking, I cannot keep reading but still do. Zach feelings and thoughts of day to day events are absorbing, he is wonderful character ( I forgot that he is fictional sometimes).

This book was the highlight of my year, so powerful and absorbing book.

So happy to be given a whole budget to replenish our senior shelves in the school library. The books in there are far from appealing at the moment and I have been delighted to find books here that will intrigue, captivate and engross my senior students.

This is a fantastic read with characters they will be able to connect with, a pacy narrative and an ending that will provide plenty to talk about.

It's great to read a book that does not feel formulaic and gives some credit to their reader's intelligence too. Young people are very fussy about the books they choose to read and in this time-precious day and age it really has to be something above and beyond the ordinary to get them to put down their devices and get their noses stuck in a book.

I think this is one book that will capture their imagination and keep them turning the pages until the end. This is definitely going onto my 'must-buy' list and I really look forward to seeing what the young people themselves think of this twisty, clever and shocking read.

Wow! This book is quite a ride. It is enjoyable and disturbing in equal measures.
The story is told through the eyes of a six year old survivor of a gun man attack at his school.
Not only is he a survivor his older brother is one of the fatalities in the shooting.
The story is cleverly told in child speak but as mentioned in equal measures it is a disturbing and unsettling read. Gun crime us awful and to read even fictional about such things does not sit easily.

An incredibly sad and heart-wrenching book about a young boy whose family is going through the worst tragedy imaginable. I thought Zach's voice was, in the main, convincing and this was a really good examination of grief. But definitely not an easy or particularly enjoyable read as it was so sad.

This book was so not what I was expecting! I do not think the different covers of this book really portray the subject matter but I understand that perhaps it has been softened slightly as it is written from the point of view of a child. This follows the aftermath of a school shooting and the impact it has on an affected school. I do not want to go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil anything, but I highly recommend it. I've usually struggled to read books written from a child's perspective but this was written so realistically and so beautifully I fell in love with it. Zach is a wonderful child and his honesty about the situation, and the response from his parents, was really interesting to read. I look forward to reading more from Navin.

Our protagonist in this book is a seven-year-old Zach, during shooting in his school, his older brother Andy got killed. This book is a story of how Zach and his parents deal with Andy’s loss. The variety of characters is pretty limited in this book, it sticks to Zach’s close family. I really liked Zach and his father Jim, in this book. I think Zach is very smart, kind and very cute boy. I liked his dad because he was the only one, who was paying attention to Zach after the tragedy. Father was trying to talk to Zach and make him open up about what he, as a child, is going through. I absolutely despised Zach’s mother. I think she is a self-centred cow, who cared only about what she feels and ignored her family for her own sake. I am not a parent, but I know one thing, I would put my child first.
As it says in the blurb, the narrative is told by Zach, and all the events are from his perspective. This book is like a seven-year-old’s diary. Zach talks a lot about what he sees around him, how he feels and how he deals with various situations. The narrative is very detailed, and even though there are some interesting nuances, there is not much happening in this book. I hoped that something groundbreaking will happen to pace up the book, but it kind of plodded along, making me pretty bored. There are some interesting topics discussed in this book, related to family and it’s issues, and the grown-ups have an insight into a child’s point of view. Which is quite interesting, and I am curious, how the author got all this information, and how she came up with this kind of writing style.
The writing style was very cute, simplified and easy to read. The setting of the book doesn’t change much and is concentrated around the family’s house. I liked that the chapters are pretty short, I didn’t want to DNF this book, so the short chapters helped to finish it. The ending rounded up the story nicely and left me satisfied with the outcome.

A child narrator can be difficult to pull off, but it works perfectly here. Adults struggle to understand and come to terms with death, and a school shooting even more so, but to look at it from a child's view is heartbreaking. This beautifully-written book captures both the bewilderment of a child, as well as his ability to see what the adults surrounding him cannot.

Told from Zach’s perspective, Only Child holds nothing back in its physical descriptions nor the psychological trauma the school shooting has on Zach and his family.

The opening chapter is horrifying as Zach hides in a cupboard with his teacher and the rest of his class listening to the ‘pop, pop, pop’ of gunfire. What could possibly be more terrifying to a young seven year old boy, a terror that Navin describes in such vivid detail that I could feel my own heart pounding, willing the gunman to pass them by, for the children to hold in their sobs until it was over.

Zach’s once innocent world is no more and to discover that his brother Andy was one of the victims, makes the ensuing pages all the more poignant and traumatic. Navin is brilliant at getting to the very core of Zach’s emotions and in some ways he deals with it so much better than his parents. I think Zach’s age and his lack of worldly experience made it much easier for him to deal with the trauma in his own way. The little things he uses to cope, colours and books, enable him to make some sense of the events, to separate his emotions and feel slightly less confused.

What detracts from Zach’s total abilty to deal is the emotions of his parents, and their inability to see the destructiveness their own emotions and battles are having on Zach. I found I had huge empathy for Zach’s dad, who really tried to understand Zach and to help him. His Mum, became so wrapped up in trying to avenge Andy’s death that I really didn’t like her or feel any kind of empathy, in fact I wanted to grab hold of her and tell her to stop, to concentrate on her one remaining son and put all her energy into helping him.

What I admired above all else was the pure simplicity and innocence of Zach’s thoughts, and actions, his need to heal those around him, to make things better. Navin has created a voice that resonated with me, that left me feeling just a little emotional and drained.

The Taylor’s could have been portrayed as the quintessential perfect American family but Navin, to her credit, didn’t and that made the novel all the more realistic. Andy was definitely not the perfect son, having major anger issues that created a rift and endless arguments between his parents. Other incidents point to a family that would have hit crisis point irrespective of a mass shooting, that events merely speeded up the breakdown.

We often wonder and I certainly do how a family can begin to heal and repair after such an ordeal. How do you begin to get over the anger, the grief, sorrow and loss? What Navin’s novel highlights is that it is often the children that lead the way, that have the strength, will and tenacity to force parents to begin the healing process, all of which Zach has in abundance.

Only Child, is not a comfortable read and nor should it be. Its a heartbreaking and poignant novel that is both timely and relevant in today’s society. It is not a novel I shall forget for a long time.

I began this novel as news emerged of yet another school shooting in America, this time in Florida. Another 17 children and teachers have needlessly lost their lives as America’s insistence of the right to buy and carry guns persists. Groundswell is growing particularly amongst the children to force the politicians to make change, lets hope they succeed.

A fascinating story from the perspective of a six year old, caught up in a shooting in his school. The children and teacher hide away but can hear the shots. Zach survives but his ten year old brother doesn't hence the title. A heart-breaking story that destroys the lives of a young family.

A fantastic read. Thoroughly enjoyed this and it is not something I would usually pick up. Will look for more from this author in future.

A normal Tuesday at school descends into chaos and tragedy as one shooter attacks a school. It's a small town, where everyone knows each other, so everyone is affected in some way. Zach is 7 years old and, hidden by his teacher and with fellow students, escapes the gunman. But his brother isn't so lucky. The story of how his family copes (or doesn't) is told from his perspective as his father withdraws and his mother gets mad and seeks revenge in the justice system. He meanwhile tries to make sense of a world that he suddenly realises is a violent and contradictory place.

A truly affecting novel in every way I found myself tearing up often, especially as I have a child of the same age. It's well written and heart-wrenching. I did, however, find myself questioning sometimes how young Zach seemed, sometimes it felt his character was younger than 7. Also, and this is petty but it's something that really gets my goat, is the phrase "shook their head yes"....you nod for yes shake for no. And it's used repeatedly. Is this an American thing? I don't know but regardless of why it does my head in! Anyway, now I have that off my chest if you are saner than me and won't be driven mental by such phrasing this really is worth a read. Just have a tissue ready.

Absolutely heartbreaking. This novel made me cry and cry. Worth reading until the end but not one for reading in public places.

Wow wow wow! Utterly dazzling, what a brilliant debut novel! I could not put this down and read long into the night last night to finish it. Wouldn't thoroughly recommend to family and friends and urge anyone who has experienced loss to read this.

The content of this book makes you want to read but also not to want to read it.
It is cleverly written from the point of view of the child and you see the death of a sibling slowly peel away the layers of a family and expose the cracks in a relationship.
The way that Zach experiences this is so insightful and full of very clever observations that the character is very believable.
Mums journey through this bereavement is very different and you will think, there for the grace of god go I but would I? Hopefully, we will never know this trauma but how would we react.
Dad is another matter all together, you suspect things of him before they transpire and you gain great understanding of family dynamics, escapism and impending tragedy.

This is a well written book but I felt rather lost in the middle wanting something more to happen and didn’t charge through it. Then I feel it is not a book to race through, but to reflect and feel grateful.
The tissues were out at the very end and I loved the way Zach steered the whole thing.
3. 5 stars

Sometimes a book comes along that climbs right inside of you and lodges itself right into your heart. It doesn’t happen very often but when it does you know that the book is really something very special.

That is what happened to me when reading Only Child by Rhiannon Navin. It isn’t an easy book to read, I think that even the most hardened reader will struggle to stop the storyline from affecting them.

This book grabbed me from the start when Zach was hiding in the cupboard at school listening to the pop pop pop of a gun going off. Little does he know that his life is about to change forever. I loved Zach as a character, aged only six that could have been very different, but he is believable and just wonderful in so many ways.

As his family falls apart Zach struggles to understand what has happened and how he can get his family working together again, as they once did. I really liked Zach’s Dad, while his mother fell apart he struggled to keep things as normal as possible for Zach and although he hadn’t been the best Dad before he works hard to make things better. I think that he was underused as a character and I loved reading the scenes between Zach and his Dad.

Readers of my blog will know that I love reading crime and thriller books, but once I finished Only Child I really struggled to read anything with a gun in it. Very unlike me but that is the impact that this book had on me. It didn’t last (thankfully), but this book did have a strong and long lasting impact on me. It really was a wonderful read but not an easy one. For a debut novel it is nothing short of outstanding, I can’t wait to read more from the author and I am pretty sure that Only Child will be on my top reads of 2018 though.