Join BookBrowse today and get access to free books, our twice monthly digital magazine, and more.

Read advance reader review of A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne, page 6 of 6

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

A Ladder to the Sky

A Novel

by John Boyne

A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne X
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne
  • Critics' Opinion:

    Readers' Opinion:

  • First Published:
    Nov 2018, 400 pages

    Paperback:
    Aug 2019, 400 pages

    Genres

  • Rate this book


Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse First Impression Reviewers
Buy This Book

About this Book

Reviews


Page 6 of 6
There are currently 39 member reviews
for A Ladder to the Sky
Order Reviews by:
  • Liz B. (McKinney, TX)
    A Long Ladder
    This novel failed to impress me like some of Boyne's former works. I struggled to find redeeming qualities in the protagonist and simply never came up with anything. The plot tended to ramble with the extensive character development of Maurice Swift and his "acquaintances ". I found myself often losing interest and longing to skip ahead to the end. The sexual overtones felt somewhat forced and lent themselves to the unpleasant character who is Mr. Swift. Overall, a decent read but not one of my personal favorites.
  • Mary Anne R. (Towson, MD)
    A Ladder to the Sky
    Powerthesaurus.org has 913 synonyms for the word despicable. If there are even more words for despicable I would lump them together to describe Maurice Swift, the novel's main character. The author is very gifted in character development. It is Swift's innate evilness that propels the novel and this is what kept me reading.

    I didn't like the subject matter of the book, but the author's gift of creating interesting characters held my attention. This is one of those books where I really needed to see how it would end. I only glanced at a few pages of the last chapter. This didn't help me much.

    John Boyne has a way of getting me emotionally involved in his characters, especially Swift in this book.
  • Char
    A Ladder to the Sky
    I read the first quarter of John Boyne's book "A Ladder to the Sky" and liked the subtlety he used when writing the interaction between the two main characters. The manipulation both of them used to further their individual agendas. The second quarter of Mr. Boyne's novel was no longer subtle therefore I couldn't read it any longer. I personally would recommend it to a certain select audience.
  • Freya H. (Towanda, PA)
    A Ladder to the Sky
    Not a terrible read, but had trouble sticking with it. Once I reached the half-way point, had to put it aside. Sorry, but Maurice and his attempts to gain notoriety in the literary world could not hold my interest.

Support BookBrowse

Join our inner reading circle, go ad-free and get way more!

Find out more


Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Familiar
    The Familiar
    by Leigh Bardugo
    Luzia, the heroine of Leigh Bardugo's novel The Familiar, is a young woman employed as a scullion in...
  • Book Jacket: Table for Two
    Table for Two
    by Amor Towles
    Amor Towles's short story collection Table for Two reads as something of a dream compilation for...
  • Book Jacket: Bitter Crop
    Bitter Crop
    by Paul Alexander
    In 1958, Billie Holiday began work on an ambitious album called Lady in Satin. Accompanied by a full...
  • Book Jacket: Under This Red Rock
    Under This Red Rock
    by Mindy McGinnis
    Since she was a child, Neely has suffered from auditory hallucinations, hearing voices that demand ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
A Great Country
by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
A novel exploring the ties and fractures of a close-knit Indian-American family in the aftermath of a violent encounter with the police.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The House on Biscayne Bay
    by Chanel Cleeton

    As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.

  • Book Jacket

    The Flower Sisters
    by Michelle Collins Anderson

    From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.

Win This Book
Win The Funeral Cryer

The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu

Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

M as A H

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.