My Sweet Orange Tree is a very bleak book; even though there are lighter moments interspersed here and there, the core of the story is the difficult childhood of five-year-old Zezè, marked by abuse and poverty. I have to say that the relentless physical violence against him was the most difficult aspect to read about.

I felt like the narration had a slow start but, once it got in motion, I was captivated. I think the author did a great job at portraying a child's perspective, describing the combination of boundless imagination, innocence and mischievousness, until the very painful shattering of that naivety by the harshness of life.
Zeze's emotions were described in such a powerful and visceral way that I found myself on the verge of tears so many times throughout the narration.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I was pleasantly suprised and I'm looking forward to picking up the sequel later on.