Bought for my creative writing course.

Very strong start, but it loses its way a bit towards the end. The story is very powerful and moving and the character of Precious is excellently drawn, but some of the supporting characters don't have a lot to them, and their backstories seem a little shoehorned in at the end. Some of the poetry was pretty unbearable too. And it felt slightly patronising trying to mimic the writing style of someone with very little formal education. One of the few times I'd say the film is better than the book.

On the shelf.