SuitabookClose Your Pretty Eyes
Sally Nicholls
- Reading
- Consider reading alongside the child rather than presenting Olivia’s account as straightforward fact. Pause after frightening sections to discuss what is known, what Olivia believes and whether the emotional intensity feels manageable.
- Themes
- Belonging and rejection: Olivia moves through repeated homes and behaves as though she must prove that carers will reject her. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Fear, perception and responsibility: Olivia believes a ghost threatens her new family, while the danger may instead come from within her troubled perceptions. The ambiguity invites readers to question what is supernatural and what is psychological without making either explanation definitive.
- Worth knowing
- Expect frightening material involving abuse, children dying, a criminal history and a threatening ghostly presence. Olivia’s care experiences are repeatedly painful, and the book builds towards a disturbing placement crisis.