The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

Hey guys, this is Abi here,

And I am carrying on with my many book reviews that I have yet to post, because those things aren't going to write themselves!

And the next one on the list is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett!

Enjoy!

Title: The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Genre: Historical fiction

Release date: 10th February, 2009

Status: Standalone

Pages: 444

Blurb: "Enter a vanished world. Jackson, Mississippi, 1962.

Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted

not to steal the silver...

There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the

hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is

nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from

college, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared.

Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny, no-one would believe that they'd be friends;

fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to

cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another.

Each is in search of a truth. And together they have an

extraordinary story to tell..."

My Thoughts

Picking up this book was a bit of a spontaneous decision. I'd finished my previous read, A Wrinkle in Time, sooner than I anticipated, and The Help was in the library. And it was also a chance to read it and get it off my TBR. So I picked it up.

And what an amazing book! It takes a while to get into it, because I wasn't too sure of how it was all going to play out. But once I got an idea of what kind of scenario these characters were in, I got pulled in right away.

The Help focuses on three characters: Aibileen, who is grieving the loss of her son after he is killed in a horrific accident; Minny, who is so sassy that every time she does something sassy, I'm holding my breath because the woman the hired them are like fire rockets- they will explode from just one match; and Skeeter, a white woman determined for the black society to have their voices heard, despite the notion that she will marry a rich man and produce adorable children.

What I liked about this book is that everything fit in really well into the story. The fact and the fiction was blended so well together, it was really easy to remember that this story wasn't just a story, this actually happened.

Another part of the story that merged really well into the story, were the extra parts to the characters. They gave each character more depth and added more to the story. Skeeter was finding out what had happened to her beloved nanny that she grew up with, and Aibileen was grieving the loss of her son, who died in a horrific accident. If anything, it made the situation of Aibileen and Minny and all the other black nannies that much more desperate in the story.

Truthfully, it was the characters that made this story.

And that, as a reader, you so desperately want there to be a change in the way that all the black nannies are treated.

Let me tell you what reading this book was like.

Once you got into the story, and you started rooting for Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny, any time when something would happen, maybe a threat would get thrown out, or somebody nearly found out about the book that was being written, but my heart would literally go crazy. Just because you become so invested in the story in such a quick amount of time, that I was literally shocked. (I am aware that I've used the word literally twice this paragraph.)

And finally, the ending.

I was not expecting what happened in the end.

I mean, as much as I wasn't expecting it, and I wasn't altogether happy with the ending, I understand why it went that way.

(Read the book, you'll understand.)

Altogether, this was a phenomenal read and I am so glad that I picked it up.

I honestly feel like this book will be around for generations, it was that good.

And it's an adaption of a true event, and I loved how authentic it was.

I highly recommend you all pick it up.

So that is my review of The Help! I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you all on Monday!

I hope you have a lovely weekend of reading- I'm reading Always and Forever Lara Jean and I am loving it!

Byeeee!

-Abi xxxxx