What can I say? What a brave and topical subject to write about and written so well from a young child's point of view. Brilliantly and sympathetically written and is very emotional and thought-provoking. Definitely recommended. One of the best books I have read this year.

Wow this book pulls you in from the very first page and then puts you through a rollercoaster ride of emotions to spit you out at the end feeling shattered. I loved it! I’m so glad it didn’t turn into a gun debate but focused on the human side of the tragedy. Brilliantly written

Wow. This book has made it to my top 5 list. An emotional journey. I felt like I was a fly on the wall living. The families pain trying to come to terms with the aftermath of a tragic event. I will be recommending this book to everyone.

Wow! 'Only Child' is a masterpiece.

The narrator is a 6 year old boy exploring grief and the impact of grief on him, his emotions and his family. The insight into the mind of a child and how he processes grief is absolutely breathtaking. Rhiannon Navin is a spectacular writer; I have no idea how she wrote this but I'm really glad she did.

Simply adorable is my best way to describe 6 year old Zach. Living in the UK we watch the world suffer at the loss needless of lives to guns in America’s schools. The author tells a compelling story of pain and heartbreak as seen thought the eyes of a 6 year old. A must read for anyone and a book I feel should make it into the schools curriculum.

Only Child by Rhiannon Navin

To say this is a topical book is an understatement. Reading it less than a month since the latest U.S. school shooting atrocity gave this book about the fallout of an Elementary school mass shooting an added frisson of emotional resonance.

This really is a clever book particularly as the author has managed to keep the Politics for the most part out of the story. There is no discernible stance on anything that has caused rage, recrimination or consternation in the past month. This is First and foremost an examination of the visceral human reaction to a catastrophic loss.

Written from a seven year old’s perspective, this deeply insightful story shows that the reactions to the loss of a child so suddenly and seemingly without reason, bring out the most extreme versions of oneself. The already fractured family dynamic begins to implode and the young hero Zach is left to take action himself to bring the escalating misery to an end.

I liked the structure of the story and the way that on the surface it is the loss of the child that is the cause of the trouble, but the way as the story unravels that the cracks beneath the surface begin to appear, I did not always like both of Zach’s parents, but I did empathise with them.

This is ultimately a story about forgiveness, love and family, the truths so beautifully mirrored in the child’s stories that Zach retreats into, to be closer to his complicated but adored older brother become the bedrock of his survival as he becomes increasingly isolated.

I was close to tears often as I put myself in the place of all the characters , each of them flawed but I found this to be a satisfying and heart warming story that I suspect will continue to be relevant for decades to come

I knew this was going to be hard hitting well before I sat down to read it. It’s a book about the aftermath of a shooting in a school after all, but I’d also read some fantastic reviews from fellow bloggers. However, despite being forewarned, I still wasn’t prepared for the sheer horror and sadness I felt while reading it.

Only Child starts with six year old Zach huddled in a cupboard, along with his school teacher and classmates, listening to the “pop, pop,pop” of gun shots from the corridor. Immediately, the author puts the reader into the mind of a frightened six year old child with startling authenticity. While Zach knows something bad is happening outside, it’s small things like his teachers “coffee breath” which he notices. This struck me, I’m not sure why, but it was just so convincingly childlike and naive. Right there and then Zach stole my heart.

The majority of the book focuses on the aftermath of the shooting, as Zach’s family deal with first the relief that he survived, then the trauma that his older brother didn’t. I don’t think I’ve read such crushing and all consuming grief the way Rhiannon Navin writes it, when Zach’s mother is given the news. It was horrifically heart breaking, almost painful to read, but so exquisitely written, I can still picture the scene and feel how it made me feel days after I read it.

I felt an array of emotions as Zach lead us through the following months, as through his eye’s we see the impact of such a trauma on a family and a community. I felt angry at his parents at some points, particularly his mother, as they are so consumed by their own grief they seem to forget that Zach is also experiencing grief of loosing his brother, but he’s also dealing with actually being at the shocking event himself. He doesn’t fully understand what happened, and has feelings he doesn’t know how to deal with. I wanted someone to stop and just hug this little boy. Of course, it’s easy to criticise from the outside. I can’t begin to imagine how I’d react if I were to experience something like this and I think the author portrayed an honest, raw and human side of a family struggling with grief and trauma.

When atrocities like this happen it is always shocking and horrific. However, once the news stops, we rarely see the far reaching effects such experiences have on individuals. In Only Child, Rhiannon Navin, takes us beyond the initial aftermath in heartbreaking honesty as Zach watches the effects on his family, his community and the parents of the gunman themselves. Only Child is powerful, brutal and heartbreakingly sad yet there are moments that feel positive and uplifting – where amongst the sadness there’s flashes of purity and forgiveness. It’s impossible to say I enjoyed this book, but it is one I appreciated reading, found incredibly powerful and important and will remember for a long time to come.

Absolutely stunning - I didn't know what the book was about before I read it & this may have put me off. I'm so glad I have read it though. I will be surprised if this isn't my book of the year.

Loved the voice of Zach (Aged 7) & the character of Daddy. I liked that the focus of the book was not about whether people should have access to guns but the enormous fallout from the damage that they can do.

Explores the relationships between parents and child & how people deal with grief differently. I also really liked that wider families members were not ignored as well as the relationships between in-laws.

Just completely stunned by how good this book was - Now fearing that I will find other books dull in comparison.

This book tells the heartbreaking story of a school shooting and the aftermath through the eyes of a seven year old boy, Zach Taylor. It’s extremely poignant and topical given recent events in America.

The book begins with Zach and his classmates crammed into a cupboard hiding from the gunman. Once the shooting is over, the children are led to safety. The story then progresses with Zach telling the reader his feelings and describing how the shooting affected both him and his family.

I think this book will stick with me for a long time. I remember how I felt watching and hearing about the Dunblane massacre when young children were shot dead by a gunman and although it was many years ago this book brought those feelings all flooding back. I can not comprehend what it must have been like for those involved and those who lost loved ones.

A truly fantastic read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I very nearly did not read this book because of the story line and the recent happenings in America – I am so glad that in the end I decided to read it because, although in parts it was heart breaking, it was also insightful and full of hope.
Seven year old Zach and his older brother Andy start a normal day at school until the security officers son takes a gun into school and starts shooting. Andy is one of the victims.
Zach narrates the story and it is through his feelings and perspective that the ensuing turbulence is told. Zach tells us about the no rules day where cars park on pavements, swearing, staying up late and junk food is allowed. Where grief and feelings are colour coded and when the ‘fist in stomach’ happens when he remembers.
This is a book which, when finished, you have to take a deep breath, and remind yourself that it is a work of fiction – but something similar really happened.

Written in the first person by the young brother (Zach) of a ten year old killed in a school shooting, this story is heartbreaking. It covers the aftermath of the shooting and reveals a family's struggle to cope with grief and the difficulties in mother/father/son wife/husband relationships. Poor Zach feels very much pushed aside as his parents struggle with their grief and relationship whilst trying to cope with his own mixed bag of feelings. I couldn't put this one down. Thanks to Net Galley and publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

A family that considered itself complete is ruined one day, when a crazed gunman attacks a school, and while the six year old narrator of this book is in lockdown, his older brother is being murdered. Life is still supposed to go on, of course, but for this young lad it's amazing how much death can change life.

I really was on board with this from the start – but then the truth of it all came out, much like how the truth of the family (father sleeping with a neighbour, and the dead brother being a bit of a shit in actuality) leaches out. It seemed bravura, but no book that seemed to be almost a bit of a plod by the end could really be called a bravura performance. Again you have the very strong sections – the book almost says the unspoken, when the lad wonders why everyone glosses over the truth in giving their eulogy at the funeral – but so much that is, in the end, a little tiresome. The book in no way denigrates, cashes in on or insults the victims of any school attack – not even the one that came to pass while this waited on my netgalley pile – but neither does it really engage with the sensationalist when it should do. Partly that may be down to the book's sticking so diligently to the naive young point of view, but mostly that's down to it being no attempt at a game-changer, but just a soapy study of grief, as what's left of the family finds itself on very disturbed ground. Finally, seeing as we know from the month in which I write – March, 2018 – what the real response to one of these crimes actually is, you have to weigh its psychological astuteness with its quite bizarre refusal to concentrate on what that reaction truthfully is, as if it were sponsored by the NRA. For almost refusing to ever mention guns in a post-gun-battle book, it loses a further mark from me.

An incredibly powerful book. It took a while to get into, as I struggled with the voice of the narrator being so young, but ultimately that made the book more harrowing. Such a dark incident being told by an innocent young voice, and so honestly, was at times hard to read but very rewarding by the end.

Very thoughtful and very sad - PSA, don't read on a train commute!
Very timely too

WOW. What a brilliant story. Seen through the eyes of a 6 year old. Zach survives a shooting at his school and his brother Andy doesn't. From that day on Zach's happy life with his mum and dad disappears. To him it's like he becomes invisible. His parents grieve for Andy and fail to see that Zach is alive. I loved this story and would definitely recommend it.

This is one of the most moving, poignant, evocative books that I have ever read. As a debut novel, it is a stunning moving read. It is a story told through the eyes of a young boy Zack, whose brother is killed in a primary school shooting, along with others.
It is totally believable and seeringly honest in how it shows and describes Zack dealing with his brother’s death and how his parents and their marriage fall apart and only Zack can make it better.
Highly recommended.

The opening chapters of this book are simply stunning, and totally unforgettable – the class of young children and their terrified teacher huddled in a cupboard, hearing the gunshots, not understanding what is happening, then emerging into the horrifying aftermath. Seeing it all through the eyes and through the telling of six-year-old Zach makes a tremendous impact, the whole unimaginable experience captured in the finest of detail. The children’s emergence to the chaos and confusion that follows is wonderfully handled – we see what Zach sees, all interpreted through his words and limited understanding.

What follows is a deeply affecting story of a family coming to terms with its grief and loss – as seen by the child who remains, neglected on the sidelines. Zach’s parents are, to a large extent, unsympathetically drawn – their already strained relationship tested to the limit by their loss and the mother’s determination to find someone to blame. Their problems – as seen through Zach’s eyes, with the assistance of overheard conversations and exchanges understood only by the reader – are realistically drawn, but I did find that my anger at their neglect of the child that needed them made me angry rather than empathetic.

Zach’s voice – throughout the book – felt totally authentic, but I’ll admit that I might have liked some variation, perhaps an adult perspective too, as a counterpoint and relief from Zach’s internalisation. I was totally emotionally engaged right through the book, but the ending didn’t break my heart in the way I think it should have done – I just felt tremendous relief that there was hope for some happiness for everyone involved.

What I’ll remember most about this book – other than those opening scenes – are the details of Zach’s world, his thoughts and feelings. I so loved his confusion that death somehow made his troubled and difficult brother perfect again – when Zach’s memory (and the reality) is so very different. I really enjoyed the little details – the giraffe with the chewed ear, the charm from the teacher’s bracelet, the safety and comfort of his closet retreat, the reading of the stories around the secret of happiness, his capturing of feelings as colours (particularly loneliness, which was heartbreaking), preparing his backpack for his attempt to put things right.

This is a book that totally drains you emotionally, impossible to read without feeling both anger and sadness at the devastation left in the wake of the dreadful event. The collateral damage, to the life of a small child, and the self-obsession of the adults around him, will stay with me for a long time.

I loved similar books (The Lovely Bones springs to mind, as does Room) that really try to give you a bird's eye pint of view, this time from a 6 year old that experiences the worst of trauma you can imagine. How do you help someone so young come to terms with something you can't bear to think about? Sometimes the children know how to and can show you the way too...

The authenticity of the voice of the small boy main character is powerfully established. As one who works with children I can attest that their comprehension of a variety of events is most definitely NOT the same as an adult interpretation. What for an adult can be a deeply scary real-life happening can seem like a super-hero story extension for a child, even when they are scared mindless by the infective panic of the adults around them. The book has several sub-themes that direct us to the better care of the under 10's with whom we all share the planet. The book deals with the multiple deaths of other children at the school but naturally focuses on the small boys older brother. Like many older children he was not kind to his little brother and the mixed emotions of our main character are wholely understandable. He deeply misses his brother but is pragmatic about not having to put up with filial bullying too. Such books are rare and need a wider audience. Some readers might get tired of the child-speak in which the book is written but nit reinforces the fact that everything we experience is seen through the eyes of a child. First class.

Wow. What a book.

We first meet 6 year old Zach hiding in a locked school closet as the sound of gunshot is ringing through the corridors of McKinley Elementary. Cringing in terror, Zach, his schoolfriends and Miss Russell, his teacher, huddle together - fingers on lips - as they hear the pop-pop-pop of the gunman, shooting pupils and teachers alike.

Finally, the shooting stops and the police come to lead the survivors out of the blood-drenched corridors. Zach ignores the instruction and sneaks a peek as they exit the building - and immediately wishes he didn't. He doesn't really understand what he's seeing at this point, but the visions of motionless pupils lay on the floor comes back to haunt him later on.

Reunited with his parents who are waiting outside the school, Zach is relieved, but traumatised - and his Mum and Dad are both acting kind of crazy. Then he realises that his 10 year old brother Andy has not been led out of the school yet. They race to the hospital to find out how he is, and it is here that we learn the terrible truth. Andy was one of the 18 that didn't make it.

The aftermath of this tragedy is played out from Zach's point of view - through the eyes of a smart, sensitive little boy, we see the devastation caused by the actions of the gunman, and how the behaviour of the adults around him affects him. This bewildered little boy turns his confusion inwards and tries to find a way to classify and understand the emotions and things he is feeling. When he first finds out what has happened to Andy, he is quite excited at the thought of his big brother not being around because Andy can be mean and him not being there means he won't get picked on all the time. We learn that Andy had ODD (oppositional defiant disorder) and his behaviour was putting stress on the family in many different ways. So Zach, exhibiting similar signs himself, doesn't understand why everyone's only saying lovely things about Andy, when he wasn't really like that. Why aren't they telling the truth; that he was sometimes mean and angry and disruptive? Then this makes him feel bad as he starts to miss his brother terribly and tries to come to terms with the fact that he's never coming home. He tries to make sense of this awful situation and why his security guard friend Charles' son would do such a terrible thing.

Zach's Mum and Dad aren't getting on, his Mum is angry all the time and shouts at Zach a lot, and in her grief, turns her anger outwards and becomes obsessed with blaming Charles and his wife for not somehow preventing the tragic events that unfolded when their son killed her little boy.

As Zach, Rhiannon Navin lends compassion and tells a heartrending tale. It's not a fun read, but it is worthy and gripping (I have never read an opening chapter like it!), and sadly pertinent in our times. It shows us grief under a spotlight of innocence and confusion, rather than judgement and anger.

A powerful novel that will keep you thinking about it, and Zach, and all the other children like Zach, long into the night.