Title: Wonder

Author: R. J. Palacio

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 316

Rating: 4*/5

 

R. J. Palacio - Wonder

R. J. Palacio – Wonder

 

I’ve heard a lot about this book over the last few years, but I only actually picked it up after seeing it in a charity shop. After all, if you can get it cheap then it doesn’t matter if the book is any good or not. Now, after finally picking it up, I can safely say that it’s worth paying full price for, too.

Wonder follows a kid called Auggie who was born with a facial disfigurement, and it’s basically a coming-of-age story as he starts going to a public school and coming to terms with life. I’ve heard this described as middle grade and I suppose it does follow a middle grade protagonist, but it works well as an adult as well and it’s earned its comparisons to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.

Of course, life isn’t always easy for kids like Auggie, but he’s still a pleasant kid and as the reader, you only want the best for him. In terms of its writing style and easy readability it reminded me of Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, but personally speaking I preferred this one. Either way, they’re both about accepting other people and I think that’s an important message to share. I have a lot of respect for books that try to do that.

All in all then, I wouldn’t say that this is necessarily a must-read, but it is still a pretty good book and I’m glad that I finally picked it up. I think that Palacio is starting to milk it with the number of spinoffs that she’s releasing, though. I was going to check out more of her work but it seems like all she has is more random Wonder stuff. It’s a shame, but oh well.

 

R. J. Palacio

R. J. Palacio

 

Click here to buy Wonder.