MaidMerry reviewed How to behave in a crowd by Camille Bordas
Review of 'How to behave in a crowd' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book's protagonist, Isidore, is a charming, warm-hearted boy in difficult circumstances--more difficult than those faced by the average adolescent.
His family is quirky. They are highly intelligent but socially challenged. I got the impression that everyone in the family other than Isadore were probably on the autism spectrum. Therefore, Isidore is left to learn to deal with his emotions, and the deaths of people close to him, on his own. Isidore also thinks he is less talented than his siblings, but the reader sees that his talents are merely different than theirs. They have IQ; he has EQ (i.e. emotional intelligence).
As a reader, I found myself invested in Isidore, and his character is the strongest, best-developed, aspect of the novel. The other characters are too one-sided, but I think this is purposeful. Part of Isidore's growth is that he starts to see the cracks in people that let …
This book's protagonist, Isidore, is a charming, warm-hearted boy in difficult circumstances--more difficult than those faced by the average adolescent.
His family is quirky. They are highly intelligent but socially challenged. I got the impression that everyone in the family other than Isadore were probably on the autism spectrum. Therefore, Isidore is left to learn to deal with his emotions, and the deaths of people close to him, on his own. Isidore also thinks he is less talented than his siblings, but the reader sees that his talents are merely different than theirs. They have IQ; he has EQ (i.e. emotional intelligence).
As a reader, I found myself invested in Isidore, and his character is the strongest, best-developed, aspect of the novel. The other characters are too one-sided, but I think this is purposeful. Part of Isidore's growth is that he starts to see the cracks in people that let him glimpse another dimension to them. He also learns that people notice and value him more than he thought.
I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by this author.