review: born scared by kevin brooks

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Elliot has been scared his entire life. The only people who don't absolutely terrify him are his mother, her sister, and his doctor. His doctor prescribed pills, but Elliot is still housebound. Even though the pills don't seem to do him much good, Elliot is obsessed with them so it makes sense that the pills would be the catalyst for everything that happens to Elliot on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, Kevin Brooks doesn't quite create an understandable sense of Elliot's fear. There's a lot of Elliot worrying about things and conversing with his imaginary friend/twin sister who died at birth, but the anxiety he's experiencing never creates tension. Although he does eventually face something horrible (as Brooks weaves in the alternating plot which was a bit of a distraction), the ending leaves much to be desired with no real explanation as to what happened.
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Candlewick.