There were times when i didn't care for the style of this book and found the narration of a 4 year old in some ways annoying. However overall it worked and worked well Seen through the eyes of Jessika the world is sometimes a scary place, her mummy is her only solidity. When that solidity is threatened Jessika questions what she should and should not reveal. Covering poverty, potential homelessness and some scarier things this is a really thought provoking novel. Love, friendship and hope however shine through from behind. Berriman seems to have really got into the mind of a four year old for all the little things as well as the bigger scarier elements

I liked the characterisation throughout

I knew this would be a tough read and my god it was. It was incredibly heart breaking and a lot of it was very hard for me to read as it was real stomach turning.
I read this so fast as I needed to know how it would end.
I think this book will open a lot of peoples eyes to this storyline.
Fantastic that this author has wrote the whole story from a childs perspective.

This has a very familiar feel to it due to the language used. The story is told from the point of view of a 4 year girl called Jesika whose view of the world in which she lives will drag you in very quickly. It is not an easy read as you very quickly realise just where the story is going. But if you give it a try you will read something which will remain with you for a long time. This is a gripping and emotional story.

I couldn’t put this book down and when I had to, I was thinking about it. The story covers the issues of poverty and child abuse and is told through the eyes of 4 1/2 year old Jesika who lives with her mum and baby brother Toby. Very cleverly done and totally gripping. I can see this being one of the top reads in 2018.

Oh my goodness me, what a book! I could not put this down, I dreamt about it, it made me laugh and it made me cry. What a whirlwind journey I took with Jesika, Toby and their mummy. I don’t want to give anything away about this as it’s beautiful and heart wrenching at the same time and I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.

Home is about Jesika, her brother Toby and their mummy, Tina. The story is from Jesika’s point of view and written in her voice. It tells the story of their life, their home and what it is like to live in their little family. I was completely sucked into their life and felt like I really knew them. I can see why it’s likened to Room because of its style and content but it is also very different. A must read!

Home

Very similar to room in the sense that it’s written from the view of a small child. Jesika is 4 and lives in poverty with her mother and brother Toby. Misspelled and mispronounced words add to the illusion that this story is narrated by a small innocent child. A very hard hitting story echoing the truth of many real life families living in poor slum like conditions today.

I found this very hard to read, not because it was a bad read, but quite the opposite this is an incredibly realistic and emotional story. Highly recommend.

This is a very heart breaking story but one I couldn’t put down. It reminded me of the book Room as it is told from the viewpoint of the child, 4 year old Jesika. She has a lot to deal with, the main being living in poverty with her mum and baby brother. You feel so much for her you just want to do something to help, unfortunately it’s all too real in the world today. A very good compelling read and one I would recommend.

Wow....just wow.

I absolutely loved this book from the first heart breaking word to the last. This book follows the story of 4 year old Jesika, her mum Tina and her baby brother Toby. Told through the eyes of Jesika this is not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination. It tackles some difficult issues, not least child poverty in the UK and how easy it is for people to become isolated by their situations. I don't want to give too much away in this review as I think the story is best revealed slowly as you read (It's like The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas in that way) but do yourself a favour and read this utterly compelling story.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Heart-wrenching from the very first page, Amanda Berriman's stunning narrative is in the voice of little Jesika, growing up in poverty with her mum and baby brother. Jesika's feelings pull the reader through the story, though poverty, illness and abuse, countered by the strong love Jesika's mum has for her family and the friendships they form throughout the story. A desperately sad and real story throughout, but one to be read, and that will stay with you.

This book is reminiscent of ‘Room’ in that it is told from the viewpoint of a little 4 year old girl Jesika, with the associated language of a 4 year old, albeit a fairly perceptive 4 year old. Jesika lives with her mummy, Tina and her baby brother Toby, in what only be described as slum conditions. For the first third of the book nothing much happens, but it sets the scene of who the different people are, and why the family find themselves in the position they are.

As the story is told through the eyes of a 4 year old, the reader realises certain things are very very wrong before Jesika comes to the conclusion herself. You can see that the moles (mould) on the walls and the terrible coughs that her mum and her baby brother have are quite serious, and that her best friend’s Uncle is not behaving as he should.

This is at times a very uncomfortable read, and initially a fairly slow read, but stick with it and you won’t want to put it down. You will become thoroughly invested in Jesika and her family and will want to make sure that she is ok.

A book that will give you pause for thought long after you have finished it - especially if you have/had young children or work with them. Highly recommended.

This was a brave book to write. Not only is the subject matter harrowing and sensitive, but the book is convincingly narrated by a four year old child. Amanda Berriman’s treatment of issues such as poverty and sexual abuse was spot on and I have recommended this book to friends and colleagues.

Home by Amanda Berriman
This is the kind of book book I dread, a story so compelling and gripping and yet filled with growing dread, as the truths of the tale begin to make themselves clear. I needed to read on but I really didn’t want to. It made me angry and made me incredibly sad. It so affecting because it is based so firmly in the unfortunate realities of today’s society.
Cleverly told from a very young child’s perspective, this book is a brilliantly drawn description of the unseen struggle some families face in poverty; nightmare landlords, horrendous housing conditions. Then there are other horrors, those taboos that we shiver to think of let alone speak of.
The misspellings and misheard words really reinforce that everything is being seen and heard from a position of complete innocence, from a different perspective born of a much reduced experience. The adults try to shield her from things and in one case deliberately manipulate what little Jesika sees and believes.
It is not all doom and gloom, there are friends amongst those that in the majority that turn a blind eye to the wilful neglect for the welfare of this young family, bureaucrats and jobsworths who create obstacles where there should be none. There are also lovely folk doing their very best to assist the proud young mum as she tries to keep her young family afloat.
This story is a cautionary tale, a searing exposé of the situation for far too many poor families in Britain and I highly recommend it for any parent of young children however “squirmy” it makes your tummy. If they were to take away only one message, let it be to keep channels of communication open between child and parent so they feel safe in telling their truths however they need to express them.
Not a pleasant read, but a valuable one and I applaud Amanda Barrowman for writing such a skilful story with such a delicate hand. It could have been been more graphic, but the more considered approach is true to her narrator and is the better for it.

The NSPCC Pants campaign is very important and all parents should make sure they are aware of it and teach it to their little ones.

This book grabs you at the beginning and doesn't let go, it is a harrowing read at times, but is superbly written and heartbreaking as it is at times you just have to finish it. I would highly recommend this book.

Excellent - reminiscent of 'Room' and 'My Name is Leon'. A compelling read from the start.

The style of this book is extremely clever, written in Jessica's words giving an added suspense as we realise things that she hasn't yet understood. The characters of Jessica, her mum and their friends are whole and beautiful as well of course as flawed like us all. The story pulled me in and I couldn't put it down.

AMAZING!!!! I ended up staying awake for most of the night as I could not put this down. First page and I didn't think I was going to like it as it is written from the perspective of a 4 year old but Oh My God what an amazing read! It really tugs your heart strings, makes you feel a part of it and it could be any one of us! A must read for everyone! Well done Amanda Berriman for a great read but not so grateful for the lack of sleep ;-)

Home is a slow burning psychological thriller seen through the eyes of a pre-schooler.

Jesika is four and lives in a slum apartment with her mother Tina and baby brother Toby. She narrates the story through four-year old eyes and using four-year old vocabulary that includes some mis-hearings (e.g. apposed for supposed; hopsipal instead of hospital). This is a mixed blessing. It is cutesy to start, and it offers adult readers the opportunity to re-interpret Jesika's observations with rather less innocence. But on the debit side, the language becomes somewhat staccato and monosyllabic. It makes for a difficult read, especially for the first third of the book where not much seems to be happening. And it also makes it hard for the reader to form a genuine emotional affection for Jesika and her mother. I confess that at a third of the way in, I was all for giving up...

... but I'm glad I didn't.

Tina and Jesika lead lonely lives. Jesika goes to pre-school, and Tina goes to the shops and the launderette. But they are poor as church mice and have no spare money for socialising. The rent is overdue and Darren, the landlord, is a stranger to the tenancies legislation. So when Tina runs into a couple of old school friends who seem to be doing OK, she sees the prospect of a brighter future. But at what price?

Gradually the tension ratchets up. The difficulty of reading a four year old voice is overtaken by the difficulty of reading some pretty challenging subject matter. By half time, the books has got its hooks in to the reader, and by the end, the pace and tension are electric. I'm still not completely sure I bought all the characters and even, to an extent, I'm not sure the situation exactly rang true. But the plot drove the novel through this.

Having doubted the characters, they do provide enough to cause thought on a number of issues - housing poverty, social isolation, vulnerability, trust and altruism. However, Home is not just an issues novel. And although I suspect most readers will be female, it would be wrong to pigeonhole this as women's fiction. It's actually a cracking good read.

At times heartwarming, at others heart breaking and sad. What mother cannot say that they've not listened to their own child when perhaps they should. After reading this book you will hold your children a little tighter, hold them closer and protect them even more. Reading this book through the eyes and ears of a pre-schooler made me think long and hard about what goes on in my own child's mind. Readers of Room will love this book.

I LOVED this book from beginning to end, and had to keep putting it down only to say 'I LOVE this novel' and then picking it up again to devour more pages. I haven't enjoyed a book this much in months and months, and resented every moment when I couldn't read it. I even snuck in a few pages at work while my computer was loading.

The story is told impeccably through the eyes of four year old Jeskia, who has the natural curiosity of a child her age, but also doesn't understand the grown-ups' world as much as she wants to. The most complex issues are depicted through her eyes, without compromising the integrity of her understanding for a moment. She's the ultimate unreliable narrator, but the reader is never let down by the narrative method: we understand things that Jesika doesn't, even though Jesika is the one telling the story. This is so skillful and excellently wrought by Berriman. Such fantastic writing, I can't praise this book enough!

Readers who loved Kit de Waal's 'My Name is Leon' and Emma Donoghue's 'Room' should read this immediately.

Highly recommended, 5/5 - read this book!

This is the story of Jesika a little girl who lives with her mum in a flat that is not very homely. She is happy though she has a family, her mum and brother and people in her street who are kind. Things start to unravel when her mum meets an old friend from school and the whole family including Jesika are in danger. The language of Jesika is enchanting and feels so realistic, in the head of a four year old you feel even more unsettled by the story.
Am excellent book I look forward to more by the author.