Oh my gosh, I'm so glad that's over!! I was so incredibly bored!
The thing is, I don't think this is a bad book exactly, it just SO wasn't my thing.

THE PLOT

Ummm... I actually have no clue what the plot of this even was... Something about music and a bunch of random boys. Basically.

So... the plot was pretty weak. It was *just* compelling enough that I wanted to finish it, but for the most part it was BORING!

Also it was sort of confusing... I'm not quite sure WHAT happened at the end...
I think that it was Toby and Aaron, but like... how exactly did he survive getting thrown into the ocean in the middle of nowhere?! And also how did they get of the ship? And I'm confused!

THE WRITING

I think Coram Boy was well written, but it was sort of flowery and old fashioned, and wasn't very engaging. It fit the book, for sure, and it did help get the setting right, but... It made the book even more tedious. Bleh.

THE CHARACTERS

Normally, even if a book is weak in the other areas, the characters can save a book for me, and since this wasn't really plot driven, that's what I was expecting. Yeah, no. That didn't happen.

The characters were SO dry. They all had about as much personality as cardboard. Actually no, scratch that, I think cardboard has more personality. I was NOT impressed.
I could never even keep the characters straight, BECAUSE THEY HAD NO PERSONALITY!!!!!!

Also, they all acted way too old. Like, the tweens were passionately in love for the rest of their lives, and the eight year olds acted at least twelve. How about no?

OVER ALL

Bleh! Bleh, bleh, bleh! I think this was a decent book, but it wasn't for me. If this is the style of books you like, I'm sure this is a great book, it's just not the style I enjoy. I wish I'd liked it more than I did, but those characters!!!! Ugh. ( )

A fabulous Dickensian novel that keeps the reader engrossed in hte struggle between the upper and lower classes of society. ( )

Sort of enjoyed this one but it was very different to what I was expecting. I thought it would be set in some exotic location.

Didn't like all the different characters' points of view, felt like some were kind of unnecessary, like the Prologue.

Felt like the author took a few liberties with the time and social attitudes, such as Alexander and Melissa with Aaron.

Interested in learning more about the Coram House, how it worked and what happened to it.

Liked the way the book looked, it's slightly smaller than a regular paperback. Made it feel like something a bit different. ( )

This book is a deep and insightful one. I found myself getting lost in the pages, because the story was so compelling.
Strictly speaking this is a children's/young adult book (which I had to read for Uni), but I found that it was very engaging and I think adult readers will enjoy it just as much as younger readers.

I enjoyed it a lot. ( )

I was rather disappointed by this book overall. I was interested in the subject matter and it was a winner of the Whitbread Children's Book award and shortlisted for the Carnegie medal so I was really looking forward to it. But while the book had some good ideas, I was left with the impression of an opportunity missed.

Initially we are introduced to Mesak 'a simpleton' who in 1741 together with his pedlar father Otis travels the highways and byways of Gloucestershire. But Otis is not just a pedlar: he is a Coram Man who for a payment undertakes to deliver the unwanted and illegimate babies of rich and poor alike to the Coram Hospital in London where they will be cared for. But while Otis always arrives at the Hospital with some babies, they are never the same ones that he started with, as why should he bother to take care of them when there are always so many new babies who can take their place? There is a particularly horrific scene at the start of the book where the babies, both living and dead are buried together in a ditch. The story then switches to Thomas and Alexander, the first the son of a carpenter, the second the son of a rich man and the heir to a great estate, who are both choristers at Gloucester cathedral, and follows them on a visit to Ashbrook, Alexander's ancestral home. Despite Alexander's seeming advantages - it is he who has to deal with a father adamant that he should not become a musician. A jump in time of nine years finds both Alexander and Thomas working as muscians in London with the great composer Handel, while two new boys are introduced: Aaron brought to the Coram Hospital by his protector Mish; and Toby, an African boy born while his mother was on a slave ship. Eventually, the different threads of the story intertwine among themes of black slavery, white slavery, illegitimacy, with an underlying current of music.

I have a number of problems with the book. By trying to tell the story from the point of view of too many characters Gavin doesn't seem to make any of the characters really come alive. The timing is also very strange - at times there is a lot of description giving the characters back history which does get quite dull, and at other times much more exciting elements seem hugely rushed. The ending in particular almost reads as if the author had got bored with the book and just wanted to finish it as quickly as possible - the fate of the villain is left completely blank. I don't mind an ambiguous ending if it's there for a purpose but this reads as if the author just couldn't be bothered to put it in. And I wasn't 100% convinced by some elements of the eighteenth century atomosphere. So overall - an OK read - but could have been done so much better. ( )