What I Was

by Meg Rosoff

'I was at boarding school in East Anglia, my third. I didn't want to be there. But if there had been no school, there would be no Finn. He lived in a hut on the coast. He was like the hut, in fact - it took a while for both of them to warm up. But that is all I longed for. Finn, warming to me. A nod. Half a smile. Asking me to help on the boat. Not asking me to leave. I didn't want it to end. Now I am waiting for the end, and looking back to the beginning.' Haunting, intense and with a surprising twist in the tale - "What I Was" is unlike anything you will have read before.

• ISBN10: 0141383437
• ISBN13: 9780141383439
• Publish Date: 30 August 2007
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Out of Print: 8 June 2009
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Puffin Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 208
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

I don’t think what I’m going to say amounts to spoilers, as such, but I’ll tag it as such just in case.

Anyway, apparently, this was a whole different book for me than what others read. The “huge,” “never saw it coming” surprise I guessed just from reading the jacket cover, so the whole book felt like trying to shake “H,” the narrator, awake. At least he admits as much himself, in hindsight. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine making it through the first chapter without recognizing the end, but then I’m always able to guess twists or endings miles ahead so don’t take my word for it.

Still, the writing was sturdy, if not adventurous, and witty, if not sparks and flame. It would have been forced as a novel, but hovering somewhere between a short story and novella, Meg Rosoff just gets away. There were enough solid passages I thoroughly enjoyed that I’m bumping the rating up a grade despite the indulgent “twist!”