A complex, dark, enlightening, bright, engaging story of a boy on an inner and existential journey while on a true journey.

This is a coming of age book told by a young man in glossary entries, starting with "Absence" (where he wonders how his mother died) and moves on through the alphabet and the next chapters of his life, living with his uncle with both parents gone (mother dead, father missing).

The author does a good job of making the various entries work and continue to move the plot along. Some of the later (and longer) entries did seem to meander quite a bit before connecting the glossary term with the plot point. The other downside to this method of telling a story: the voice of the story sounded so matter of fact, like it truly was a glossary in the back of a textbook. On the whole, this was a well done debut

I go back and forth on the precocious boy books, but from the description, this one sounded interesting. At first, the book written as a glossary was a innovative way to tell the book’s story. But I grew weary of the plot device, and of the plot itself, pretty quickly. It just wasn’t my kind of book, but others might differ.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The ebook version of “Treehouse Living” was almost a DNF for me. Luckily, the audio version, read by Michael Crouch, became available at my library, and I tuned in on a long drive where I had hours to listen.

Although the book uses a gimmick, the story is told as an (almost) alphabetical list of words important to the narrator, Elliot Reed still manages to convey a strong sense of time and plot moving forward.

I recommend a bit of patience through the first part of the book. It gets its rhythm going at about the 25% point and moves along engagingly from there.

I appreciate the interesting premise and format, but I had a difficult time getting into the book. I found myself skimming past a lot of the meandering thoughts, hoping for more details and plot about the character's unusual living circumstances. Mildly disappointing.

Most reviews for this book focus on the structure of the book--with good reason, it's a huge factor in the readers' enjoyment of the text. For me, it was both a blessing and a curse.

As a writer, let me start by saying I appreciate the author for having the guts to do something so different with the structure. While at first the index of topics seems disjointed, the longer you stick with the book the more the narrative circles back to topics in the list. The list makes cohesive sense in the grand scheme of things.

Beyond the structure, this is a beautiful book with some touching moments. The book is nearly poetic in its efforts to tell a story through these small interconnected snapshots of a boy's live. In fact, by the time you get to the later half of the book (i.e. his river journey to find more information on his father) you're not even really aware of the structure any longer. The book transcends its form and the story starts to flow backwards and forward regardless of the limits of its narrative form. I really enjoyed that.

However, for me this evolution of the story was also the book's weakness. I didn't really enjoy reading the first half of the book at all. I mainly stuck with it because I had read reviews that said I should do so because the format would become less annoying as I went (totally true, BTW).

In the end, the part of the book I enjoyed the most was the part where the index seemed almost irrelevant. In other words, how much did I REALLY appreciate the author's moxie and experimental approach if the only part of the book I enjoyed was the part that transcended it?

I guess, overall I was more impressed with the ambition and artistry of the book than the book itself and I connected more to the story when it started being presented in a more traditional narrative structure/hero's journey. That could of course be the fault of the reader (me) than the text.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

In regards to the newly released A KEY TO TREEHOUSE LIVING by Elliot Reed, I very much like the cover and at times peaceful vibe of this book, but I found the text – which is essentially a series of dictionary-like entries – to be too difficult to follow. I totally agree that it is a very inventive work and the character has an interesting voice, but the eBook version at least did not hold my interest and I therefore would be unlikely to recommend this to students (who often struggle with multiple narrators much less non-linear tales) or to teachers.

If you’re the person who reads books sporadically over several months, please don’t read A Key to Treehouse Living by Elliot Reed. You’ll lose track and miss elements and blame the book. It’s a novel, but it’s also a guide: kind of like the dictionaries William Tyce loves. And it’s too good a story to be overlooked for being difficult.

William writes a glossary of life to impart his knowledge of the world on others. It’s alphabetical and keyword based and uses William’s experiences as examples, which makes it his memoirs. Except I’m not sure William, with his innocence, would know that they are memoirs. A starts with ABSENCE when William is about ten years old and living with his uncle in America’s mid-west. It’s just the two of them in the mansion. William’s mother died when he was very small, and his father is missing. William spends a lot of time building and staying in treehouses in local parks.

Because the novel is a glossary of life, it’s not totally linear. Some things are referenced that happen later and then some words in the alphabet complete stories that happened earlier. It’s also is William’s naive telling, so you often have to make assumptions on what’s happening. Late in the alphabet (when William is about 15 or 16), he’s seduced by a lonely woman exactly twice his age. I was in giggles knowing what was coming, but William was so shocked that her kindness MC-A-Key-to-Treehouse-Living-Elliot-Reed-Fiction-Book-Review-Mass-Consternation-Featured-Quotecame with expectations. It was a big learning for him, so he knew it had to make an entry. The entries get longer, with more complex language showing William aging. An early favorite is BEANS, JELLY for its description of Easter.

Some entries have long keywords to make the entry work, like OCCUPANTS OF HOLDING AREAS IN RURAL JAILS. Which is also a really funny entry.

William meets many people along the way. We see hints of his uncle’s gambling to try and get out of financial trouble. It doesn’t work, so he burns down the mansion for insurance money. Also doesn’t work, and we get entries about being a ward of the state. But this is where I started confusing who is who. I don’t remember who Patty is, and a later reference to El Hondero confused me. Update: while checking the spelling of El Hondero I found Patty at the start of the book.

I want A Key to Treehouse Living to be a success. However, the format is different and could intimidate.

Oh, and I realized how many of my reviews are positive. I’m picky with the books I select. See: INTENTIONAL

Thanks to NetGalley, Tin House Books, and Elliot Reed for the opportunity to read this most unusual debut novel. I love quirky and unusual books and this one fit the bill perfectly - I've definitely never read a story told in this format before.

William is an orphan, being raised by his uncle in name only - he is basically raising himself. He tells his story by way of a glossary of words - Absence, Lonely - starting with A and going through the alphabet, giving us a glimpse of the story of his life and the lessons he has learned along the way.

A sweet coming-of-age book - William will tug at your heartstrings! This is definitely an author to look for in the future.

I requested this book because the premise sounded so interesting; a book written as a glossary? However--and I know I'm in the minority here--it just didn't work for me as it did for many others. Apparently I have more of a linear brain as I struggled with the structure. And as sweet as the story was, I just kept wishing it had been told in a more traditional form as my mind kept wandering. Again, I think it's me, not the book as it is a tender and heartwarming story.

'Expectation The Brain spends a huge amount of time expecting things. The brain lives on patterns the way a blade of grass lives on sunlight.'

This is a lovely novel written in alphabetical order, to make some sense of the disorder in orphan William Tyce’s life. There is a lot of talk about absence, as both his mother and father have vanished from his life for different reasons we slowly begin to understand. Living with an eccentric, wealthy “bugling” uncle who lets him run free, there are still secrets beneath the surface, things his uncle has yet to tell him about his parents. When he isn’t exploring, or floating boats in a flooded basement he is entering neglected forts in the woods or meeting locals from all walks of life. Each entry shows wisdom beyond his ears, a coming of age in the rural midwest, and the setting is beautifully rendered by an entry as simple as canoeing through the reeds.

It is a look into a boy’s life that is sometimes an adventure, other times heavy with sorrow and confusion but always engaging. Sometimes he finds trouble, other times trouble finds him. Even when the adults try to give him gravity, they let him go like a balloon see under Facts– the first sad fact we learn in life… This novel has a certain charm in how it reveals William’s life through glossary entries, it hints at, it guides us through what is happening, much the way we all come of age with our missteps and lessons. We ease into things or get hit in the face by them.

He is abandoned by his father, his mother is dead but we don’t quite know why anymore than he does, until later. Life unfolds as he gets older and loses his childhood innocence (blindness), comes more and more into adult consciousness, as happens to all of us. We confront his life through his reflections, written from the male perspective as he isn’t looking for pity or a good cry, he is just stating the facts with the protective shell most boys use. Not to say boys feel any less, he certainly has depths to swim but it’s more quiet revelations. He becomes very real for the reader. I always enjoy these stories that make me feel like I am getting a birdseye view into another’s life. There is a connection but it’s not forceful, it’s not begging you to feel bad for the character, but you do anyway as life beats him up but he is funny too! “Dogs, however, are an exception, and they love to mate in public. It’s possible they do this because they enjoy being squirted with water hoses in the act.” It’s a journey with beautiful writing, though you are reading a coming of age, it’s very relatable to adults. He is wounded but keeps on trucking! Yes, read it!

Publication Date: September 4, 2018

Tin House Books

A different sort of read which tells the story William, a teenaged orphan, through a glossary. This is the epitome of a non-linear novel. While much of the language is wonderful and the entries intriguing, the structure made it difficult, at least for me, to work up a head of steam about William. I suspect this will be a love it or hate it for many readers. I fell squarely in the middle-I liked much of it and I admire Reed for his creativity. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Unique. Subtly powerful. Hard to put down.

A slice of life told through words defined. The reader gets to connect the dots although the definitions point the way. Somehow, a very intimate portrait of a life turned upside down only to float down a muddy river to an answer, brutal, but leading to an index completed.

This book was written in a very creative format but because of this, I found it hard to follow. If I had to set it down to make dinner etc., I had a hard time remembering what was going on when I picked it back up again. I really wanted to like it but it just wasn’t my favourite.

Absolutely gorgeous book. Written in a way that no other book has been written, it is wise and full of laughs. Very clever and a good story too/.

I loved, loved, loved this book. Writing about subjects alphabetically allows the reader a unique way of getting to know William Tyce, one of the most engaging protagonists to come along in years. A KEY TO TREEHOUSE LIVING is a short book, which makes it perfect to give to reluctant readers. It would be an especially good choice for high schoolers.

A mesmerizing tale told in an nontraditional manner. Who knew that reading a glossary list could tug at your heartstrings making you laugh and moan in pain? Part of me wishes the ending were a bit neater and well tied. I want to know that things worked out for this boy I became so invested in. The ending certainly pointed in that direction, but was no mean decisive. On the other hand, it felt very real, and when do any of us get a neatly tied conclusion to our struggles? An intriguing and haunting story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tin House Books for making an advance reading copy available for an honest review. (less)