Welcome to Litsy!

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Day 1 - #SchoolDays

This book is a retelling of Othello and it's set in an american school during '70s.

It's a nice retelling, quite similar to the original one.
I still feel so sorry for Desdemona and Otello and their love 😭

I'm not sure if I'm really going to spend my afternoon with this one... I should finish #Therailwayman... Idk what to do 😅

#othellorevisited #tracychevalier #ebook #newboy

I‘ve never read Othello, so I didn‘t know how this was going to turn out. As awful as the racism and bullying was from the kids, I was shocked at it from the teachers! Although I really enjoyed the book (and hated Ian!), I was surprised at the abrupt ending. I didn‘t like the end. Often that brings down my rating, but I decided to leave it as I thought all the way through, as I was reading. Although disappointed with the end, I really enjoyed it.

I haven‘t read or seen Othello, so I don‘t know if New Boy is a good retelling. I found it very readable, but it felt more like a YA novel than literary fiction. The characters didn‘t really sound like 6th graders and it was hard to believe that everything happened a few hours. I also would have preferred if an author of colour had written it. Criticism aside, I still flew threw this and enjoyed it for the most part?! Idk. 3.5⭐️ My #bookspin pick.

Here is my card for #BookSpinBingo! My #BookSpin pick is New Boy, while by #DoubleSpin pick is White Bird. I‘m leaving the free spaces empty, so I can fill them in as I go. Can‘t wait! 😊

More from the Hogarth Shakespeare series: a retelling of Othello as a day at school for a group of 6th graders. It felt very trivialized and a bit awkward for such a strong original story, although I suppose it could be said that children play out adult situations in their own way. And I don‘t know if the Shakespeare plays are assigned to authors or if authors get to pick, but I‘d rather have read a retelling of Othello by a black author.

I had high hopes for this one, but it rather disappointed. I‘m not convinced the cramming the essence of Othello into timeline of a single day didn‘t work, and I don‘t recall 6th graders kids being so sexually aware in the 70s as they are in this book. The sexualisation of preteens was just in the forefront of my mind all the way through the book.

1. I‘m a sucker for a pretty cover;

2. Tagged - next month‘s book club read;

3. Mostly the breaking news updates on my phone, and scrolling through Twitter;

4. Depends on the day and whether my boyfriend has stayed at my place. I‘m up at the first alarm if I‘m on my own.

5. If you haven‘t already played, consider yourself tagged!!

#FriYayIntro @howjessreads @4thhouseontheleft