There is a trend happening with my March releases, and I am not certain I like it. I do not know if it is a coincidence, a reflection of the current state of the world, or if publishers are deliberately selecting such novels to release at the same time. Either way, this trend is not for the faint of heart, weak of stomach, and sensitive in nature. To what am I referring? I am referring to the fact that almost every novel I have read that was published in March covers disturbing topics and does so without trying to soften any imagery. The latest in this trend is A Guide for Murdered Children.

Do not let the cover fool you. This is not a sweet novel with a happy ending for everyone. This is a dark, dark novel. Between the deaths of the adult landlords, the deaths of the children, and the figurative demons that haunt our hero, there is very little joy and too much pain. In addition, the language is stark, almost clinical in nature, which serves to enhance the feeling of bleakness that permeates the pages. To make matters even graver, Ms. Sparrow is unflinching in her portrayal of violence, especially of that done to the children. She may not describe every scene in great detail, but sometimes sentences which have the appearance of being throwaway ones contain much more information than we ever want, need, or anticipate. This all makes for a novel that you can read only during an emotionally removed state. To read it while fully empathetic is to open yourself up to too much pain and sorrow.

Yet, there is a real need to carefully read A Guide for Murdered Children for it is not an easy novel to understand. The story flits from Willow's point of view to various deaths to the Porter who runs interference and guides the newly returned children through their last mission. At first, there is too much to absorb, and you are left with one too many WTF moments as you work to understand what is happening. Eventually, the shifts in perspective and narrative make sense, and you find yourself settling into the task of following Willow as he makes his way ever closer to his purpose. However, the chore that is reading the first few chapters means paying closer attention to everything, setting yourself up for heartache and stomachache.

A Guide for Murdered Children is not an easy book to like and it is most definitely not for everyone, yet I find myself strangely drawn to reflect upon the story and its commentary on justice. The crimes against the children, even though obliquely mentioned, still linger within my memory, but I cannot let go of this odd story. Ms. Sparrow raises so many questions and provides few answers, and I am okay with this. Her story about lost souls who are able to return to achieve a state of balance is hopeful, if bleak, and I think we need hopeful right now. Rather, I need hopeful right now. Besides, as appalling as the children's deaths are, there is a strange satisfaction to be had by the fact that they are able to find peace. It is even more satisfying that Willow is able to find peace. It means that there is good to be found in this world, even if it is difficult to see.

So I was looking around on NetGalley and this cover called me to check it out! Pink and the title says A Guide for Murdered Children well I knew I needed to check out the blurb to see if it would be something good.
It took me a good 54 to 60 percent into the book to actually get into it and start to truly understand what really was going on. We have adults who have died and children who have died take their place yet the adult who died is still there sort of. Though the child will get a moment of balance when they get the person who murdered them and pretty much will get the peace they deserve. I thought it was a neat idea.

Though for some reason it just seem to drag on and there wasn't really anything cool or interesting happening until towards the end, where we learn that one person has two souls that have entered him and everything seems to come full circle.

As far as characters go I didn't really get into them too much, Willow just didn't seem to be on point very much and was torn between being down on his luck, being friendly with his ex, to trying too solve a cold case. Yet there never seem to be much going on what they really had or actually interviewing people.
It was kind of weird that the children would engage in adult behaviors while inhabiting the body of the adult yet I could understand why they were doing it to keep up appearances.
These children are guided by a porter and follow a guide that gives them advice on how to take care of the body they are in, and what they should be doing.
The changing of the characters names in the middle of paragraphs bothered me and I really had to pay attention to who was actually talking. Example being Maya would be talking then all of a sudden the name would switch to Lydia who is the adult that Maya took over. Not sure if the author was just reminding us that there were two people in the same mind frame or not, yet it sometimes was confusing.
The author seems to have a good way of writing a story yet I feel as though she overdid it with just way too much of different things trying to come together in one.
I would have liked more backstory on the porters especially Annie because she seems like a mysterious being.
Overall 2 stars, I think with a bit of polishing up this could be a good story to give out to the readers.

My review is a 3.5. The book is hard to understand at first. I have read other books like start like this book where the book starts out with several stories In the beginning it is hard to see how this bits and pieces come together. If this this were my only issue with the book I would give it a four.

The book has a lot of potential. This novel has an interesting and different premise. The book had both suspense and humor. I liked some of the characters.

However, the book had some major flaws. The first is the number of murdered children. The novel seems to imply that there are many groups for murdered children across the country with about five members each year. passing through each group. This statistic is way too high. Maybe if it was one meeting location in New York City where all the murdered children from everywhere in the US attended., the novel might be believable..

The other part of the novel that I did not like is that it raised many questions that it did not answer. Some situations the book presents are supposedly very irregular I wanted to see how and if things returned to the books normal. I wanted a better resolution and closure in the book.
In short, I felt this was a book with some very good parts but failed to pull all its different themes effectively together. Also I found some of the premises of the book unbelievable even though it is a fantasy novel.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

I just couldn't make it through this book. .

When I first saw this cover I absolutely had to get my hands on a copy! Well I read the synopsis and was even more intrigued by the book. Not just the cover but the title and synopsis had me completely intrigued! I could help but drool once I got my hands on it!

And naturally I couldn't wait to dive in but I needed to wait until closer to the pub date, which was SOOOO HARD!! But I was finally able to pick it up and I dove right in head first and wasn't even close to looking back!

I have to say at first I was a bit confused, but once I reread the synopsis things starting making more sense, (also I was riding the struggle bus coming off of a thriller high.) But I absolutely loved the characters and how the story built up. I couldn't stop reading because I had to know how everything would work within the given manual.

The story was so well plotted and executed and it was a huge plus for me, especially when I had so many questions about what all was going to happen. Much like the children in the story I had to wait for my moment of balance. And once it came, majority made sense. I am just hoping that there will be a sequel so I can learn even more about that world!



Thank you so much to Blue Rider Press and Penguin Randomhouse for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

The name grabs you, right? Well, this book would make a great film and I’ve been wondering since I read this book months ago whether the producers would keep its strong name (I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see). Welcome to the world of Willow Wylde, a former homicide detective who is haunted – not by the gruesome cases he once investigated but by the other-worldly instincts that made him so great but also destroyed him. As Wylde slowly discovers what these “abilities” are he realises that true justice does exist: murdered children can return to the world of the living temporarily in order to destroy their killers. It’s Wylde’s job to guide them, in an AA-style support group, on their mission but these are some very young souls and they need an awful lot of guidance. This is a refreshingly dark fantasy novel about karma that makes you wish were true.

I received this book from the publishers via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at just over 20%. I just couldn’t connect with it at all. I honestly thought the synopsis sounded pretty great, but in the first 20% I’m honestly not sure what was happening and why. If I’d not read the synopsis I’d have had no idea what was going on, and I shouldn’t have to rely on that.

Side note that as I didn't finish the book I have not posted this review to my blog.

Thanks to Blue Rider Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I think that we can all agree that this combination of title and cover will have a lot of people curious and wanting to pick up a copy. Don't let this pretty pink unicorn cover fool you, this is not a happy-feel good story. A GUIDE FOR MURDERED CHILDREN by Sarah Sparrow covers some topics that are not for everyone - this story depicts rape, abuse, and murder towards children.

This book has a truly unique premise that I haven't seen before. I can see this being a tad confusing for some readers in that there are a lot of characters to keep straight. I think that part of the synopsis sums up what the book has in store very well:

"We all say there is no justice in this world. But what if there really was? What if the souls of murdered children were able to return briefly to this world, inhabit adult bodies and wreak ultimate revenge on the monsters who had killed them, stolen their lives?"

This is a story about revenge. There is some police procedural mixed in and some elements of fantasy thrown in. If the synopsis has any YA vibes, it definitely doesn't fall into that category. This is a genre bending/mixing that might not sit well with some readers and it's really hard to pinpoint exactly who this book would be for (if that makes sense).

My main issues stemmed from some of the errors within the galley copy. I'm sure these got fixed and corrected in the finished copy, so that shouldn't be a problem other readers experience. It just affected my reading experience and threw off the flow of the book in places.

Overall, I'd say that if the synopsis intrigues you and you go into it knowing that there are some harder topics covered, then I would recommend it. I appreciate the uniqueness of the plot and if you want a good revenge story, then this will be for you.

I give this 3.5/5 stars - rounded up for rating

The plot for this book is incredibly creative! I love it when I come across a book that takes genre-normal and blows it all to pieces! With that said, there are some dark events in this book that some might not want to delve into -- murder, rape, etc of children. Now given the title of the book, that's not a surprise, but just be aware before you read this story.

The basics: The spirits of murdered children get to return to the Earth for a limited time to exact revenge on their killers. The spirits inhabit the bodies of certain adults while on Earth. These landlords are dead people who are reanimated for the sole purpose of assisting the murdered children. The murdered kids attend secret meetings disguised as AA meetings at churches to discuss their journeys. In the course of an investigation, former NYPD detective Willow Wylde discovers these meetings. When he realizes those attending are actually slain children, Willow learns a whole new understanding of life and death.

This story is incredibly creative, inventive and mind-blowing. But in places, the execution was a bit rambling and confusing. There are just too many side characters and subplots going on all at once. It muddied the waters a bit too much, making the plot a bit confusing at times. That being said, the story itself was so interesting and bizarre that it kept my attention the entire book, no matter how rambling things got. I love the character of Willow. He's middle aged, feels tired and washed up. Alcoholism has robbed him of a lot, but he's trying to pull it together to do something with the rest of his life. Very realistic character.

All in all, an interesting book. I enjoyed reading it, and I loved the creative plot. But it could have been a bit more focused. The completely cool concept kept me reading. I enjoyed this book despite the plot chasing rabbits a bit.

The front cover is totally perfect!

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Penguin via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

A Guide for Murdered Children by Sarah Sparrow is a serious read; not a feel-good happy book. If you enjoy reading something that pushes the limits of what is possible, especially about a subject people don’t want to discuss, you would get into this book. I kept notes as I read, jotting down each character and their relation to others if known. This helped me as I got further into the book. It involves a lot of different types and personalities of people and jumps to different time frames instantly. Because of my notes, I was able to follow easier and this really helped me follow the storyline.
Children who are murdered are, without asking, given a chance to live again thru another person, hunting for their killer and seeking the “moment of balance”. The person whose body they inhibit wasn't asked either. They’ve died some sort of instant death, but in the few moments after death, they draw a breath again, but now share two souls in the one body. This concept is interesting and I think the author did an excellent job of transitioning between the adult and the young child, especially in regard to love, family, and sex.
As I got into the story, it seemed that something at the weekly meeting was going wrong. The Porter (the person in charge of helping these shared souls coexist, again without consent), seemed to be losing touch with 2-3 of the children. A mistake had been made when a murdered child was entered into the body of a criminal. Here lies the major plot of the book. At times humorous, sad, intriguing, and at some points a bit slow, it’s a read that will keep your attention.
I enjoyed the writer’s style. It required an effort on my part. Some sections I had to reread, others I had to flip back to refresh my memory. All in all, I wanted to complete this story and learn how it ended. If the plot of this could possibly happen one day I’d find some comfort in knowing that the lives of the helpless children had been avenged.
My thanks to Penguin Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Don't let the pretty pink cover with the sparkly unicorn fool you! This is not a sweet little story. This is the story of murdered children who come back to inhabit bodies, track down their killers, and get their revenge. Or, find their "moment of balance" according to the lingo of the book. And in theory this all works well. But the beginning of the book was confusing as it bounced around to introduce the different characters but didn't stay with any of them long enough to carry over once the story moved on to introduce the next character. Then things stop going as expected and my questions about the whole process increased and the book seemed to get a bit off target. I felt like Ms. Sparrow was trying to put too much into the book and instead of finely focusing on the central plot things were a bit too scattered.

Rating: 1.5 Stars

CW: language (particularly regarding an autistic side character and the R word, then potentially autistic children in general), fat-phobic terminology 

A lot of time there's no justice in the world. I think that's at least part of what made me want to request this book, the idea that murdered children could get revenge on those that had wronged them. It's a brilliant concept,  I thought, and while the cover is a bit bright for my tastes, it wasn't too bad. 

The contents, on the other hand...

From the very first page the writing seemed very crass. It was very uninteresting and I struggled with reading it. There was no connectivity to Willow, the ex-narcotics detective we're seeing this story through, other than the author painting him as a physically abhorrent person. The language is used isn't great, such as "fatty", and a lot of time is spent on his health, whether it be potential cancer (liver or skin) or sexual performance ability (he praises Cialis).

He is a stereotypical has been cop, a self proclaimed American Mythic Washed-up Cop. This admission doesn't make his story better, it makes it sadder. He knows it, the author obviously knows it, and yet the reader is still made to endure more tired descriptors. I kept waiting for trumpet music from a classic movie to play over this tripe.

It was hard to get a grasp on the story and get into it. The passages that were spent with Willow were especially bad because it felt like I was reading the inside of his brain. Willow's a recovering (maybe?) alcoholic and the narrative felt like what would happen if you cracked his head open and poured the contents out through a word processor. 

The parts that were flashbacks were no less clear. Introducing new characters only seemed to make things worse. They were convoluted, bringing new threads to tangle and make into a big mess with unclear relationships and motivations that were in turns nonsensical and insulting. I spent more time going back and forth trying to figure out who people were, who they were related to, and what they were supposed to be doing then actually enjoying the book.

There was some coolness with the "magic system" or whatever you'd call it that that had the ghosts/souls returned to the living world and into bodies, or tenants and landlords. It was a bit tricky because there were metaphors abound and you had to remember them or you'd be lost; not just the ones for the children and their hosts, either, but also for Annie, a "porter" who guides the children, for example. She was actually kind of an interesting character that I liked reading about.

Overall, the beginning of this book damaged any hope there was of finishing it because it was so poor. The writing was not to my liking, I did not care about the characters, and even reading further and finding one good one wasn't enough for a narrative that turned out to be, quite frankly, dull.

This book started out well and quite interestingly.... unfortunately I found for me, by the end, it was all so far fetched that even I, who can stretch my imagination and stay with storylines well past many others I know, couldn't stick with it.

I hate to admit it but I gave up about a third of the way through because I was just so confused as to what was going on. The only thing that made sense to me was Willow's story but the rest of it was a little more out there than I wanted. I didn't understand how Honeychile fit in with Maya and Troy. I think Sparrow has an interesting idea here that probably would have become clear had I kept reading. Others will enjoy this but it just wasn't for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

I am disappointed to say that this book was not for me. The plot was very intriguing to me & I'm sure some readers will really enjoy it. The author's writing style was difficult for me to follow, & while I don't mind foul language, this was excessive. This is a did not finish for me.

I really really wanted to like this book because the premise is so intriguing. Sadly, a cast of unlikeable characters and a bizarre, almost stream of conscious writing style derailed what could have been a great read.

I tried, really tried, to read this but didn't get 10% before throwing in the towel. It's a giant NOPE for me.

Recommended. Well written thriller/satire/ mystery. Definitely different which makes it rewarding to read. Almost anything I say can act as a spoiler. So just read it.

If you have any reservations about reading potentially triggering material, this isn't the book for you. It would take me a day and a half to list all of the ways that this book pushes harm at its readers.

A Guide for Murdered Children is complex and slow and took a lot out of me. At times while reading I felt uncomfortable, or sad, and while there was humor mixed throughout the entirety of the book, I never got a chance to feel truly happy or comfortable with the characters. I was always somewhat unsettled or on edge.

The narration is also very twisted, weaving between characters and challenging you to remember names and timelines. I'll admit that it wasn't until my second read through that I understood the plot wholly. This isn't a fault of the book's-- but it made me less willing to pick it up. There was so much happening all at once and there were moments where seemingly nothing and everything was going on.

A Guide for Murdered Children hit me less as a thriller and more of an aggressive puzzle. It dared me to understand it while also making me deal with the harsh realities it threw at me.

There are people who will love this, I'm just not sure if I'm one of them.

A Guide for Murdered Children is separated into three books: "Closely Watched Trains", "The Spirit Room", and "Local and Express". While reading the first 25% of this book the first time around I was terribly confused. I honestly had no idea what in the world was happening. The story flipped from past to present and it was challenging to keep everything straight. I almost decided to stop reading it, instead I flipped to the beginning to try again. I'm SO GLAD that I did, because I understood it much better the second time around.

Detective Willow "Dubya" Wylde is presently at a rehab in Arizona. He's made some really bad choices in life, ruining his career and family. It's time to make amends and restore balance. The story flips to the past where we meet brother and sister, Troy and Maya on the day they were murdered in Saggerty Falls, Michigan. Back to the present we meet Deputy Lydia Molloy as she falls to her death at the Macomb Orchard Trail and Deputy Daniel Doheny, who dies from a heart attack. In the present eleven year old Winston is also murdered around the same time that Renée "Honeychile" Devonshire dies from an asthma attack. The murdered children's spirits enter the body of those who have recently died (usually adults except for Honeychile) in order to achieve their moment of balance by killing the person who took their life. As the murdered children's spirits enter their "landlords", the "landlord" body comes back to life - so the people who know the "landlords" don't realize they have died. I hope that made sense. I'll wait while you go back and re-read that part...Okay, you following me?

Annie, the Porter, greets the new arrivals on the train, giving them the address for the meeting. There are also Subalterns on the train, who are ancient, shadowy beings. Annie, The Porter, knows her replacement is coming soon but doesn't know who it is yet. At the meeting the murdered children are given the Guidebook of rules they must follow.

Detective Willow has a recurring dream of being on a train. In the dream the Porter gives him an address. When he wakes up he decides to go to the address, discovering it's the new house of his ex-wife and her new husband Owen, who is Willow's old cop partner. He makes up a story that he's there to make amends with both of them, and Owen asks Willow to join his new Cold Case team. In Book Two and Three there are a lot of twists and turns, it kept me turning the pages wondering what in the world was going to happen next.

A Guide for Murdered Children is an extremely out-of-the-box concept of balance and forgiveness. It's a little far-fetched for a Mystery/Thriller, you'll have to put aside your questions and just let it be revealed to you.

The main character, Willow, is seriously annoying. I don't think he experiences enough of a transition to make me like him in the end. If you like unlikable characters he might be right up your alley. Although I did not enjoy Willow's character, I enjoyed Annie, and Willow's ex-wife. I would have loved more information about the Subalterns.

The book is too long and can benefit by an editor not afraid to trim the unnecessary bits. If you can get past the first 25%, and let your mind wander outside of reality, then I think you'll enjoy this thriller.