Rating: 
Summary: An Italian thriller
Review: "I'm not scared" slowly reveals the horrific cruelty adults can inflict on others through the eyes of its beguiling 9 year old hero Michele.
It's a thriller, so it gives away its story cautiously, keeping the reader hooked. It's brilliantly crafted: I couldn't stop reading it.
The relationships between the characters, full of shifts and betrayals and unexpected declarations of allegiance, lured me on from page to page. Like most very good thrillers, "I'm not scared" is character driven. One of the blurbs on my (Australian, Text) edition compares it to a Hitchcock thriller, and that's a good comparison - the master's thrillers are all about character.
Cruelty to children is one of its central themes, and there were some repugnant parts I felt like skimming over.
Ammaniti uses the 9 year old imaginations of the two boys at the centre of the story to great effect, interweaving their boyish fears and fantasies with the grim realities of the crime their parents are perpetrating.
The setting is a big part of the story. It's set in a dirt-poor rural hamlet in Southern Italy in 1978. The hamlet is in the grips of a sweltering drought. The heat adds even more pressure on an already high-pressure narrative.
There's a hanging ending, but I liked that: by the time I got to it, I was happy to get relief from the acute tension. I felt as though I'd forgotten to breath, and could now finally release a breath.
"I'm not scared" is a great book.
Rating:
Summary: As delicious as tiramisu...
Review: ...but there's nothing 'light' about it. In this coming-of-age story set in a small Italian village, the 9yo protagonist comes across a secret so powerful that it threatens to destroy his world. It's a tale of betrayal, morality, divinity, mystery, and redemption, set against the sere and harsh but beautiful background of Italy, circa 1980. And oh! the language! I know this is a translation, but it seems to me that the original in Italian must be spectacular for this gifted translator to produce such a masterpiece.
Highest praise: this is a book that will stay with you, haunt you, and may even transform you. Read it and give another copy to a friend.
Rating: 
Summary: Adolescent Terror
Review: Ammaniti's first book to appear in the U.S. takes the reader back 25 years to the summer of 1978, when a brutal heatwave swept Italy. Somewhere in the south, in the tiny village of Aqua Traverse, the handful of local children play soccer, set each other dares, and explore the surrounding fields and hills on their bikes. These latter two events lead nine-year-old Michele to creep though a scary abandoned house way up in the hills. There he makes a terrifying discovery that he will keep secret and will change his life. Not to spoil the surprise, but anyone familiar with the Italian political landscape of the late '70s will probably instantly work out what's going on. Michele, however, remains in the dark as he tries to figure out what the best course of action is. For the first part of the book, adults are largely absent-they "stayed shut up indoors, like toads waiting for the heat to die down." Then, Michele's truck-driver father returns, and a sinister stranger with some kind of hold over the other men of the town comes to stay. The heavy atmosphere grows darker as the adults quarrel violently among themselves. Unlike the reader, Michele doesn't fully understand what the arguing is about, but his innocence is gradually stripped away as he visited by betrayal and moral dilemma.The strongest element of the novel is Ammaniti's success at capturing the oppressiveness of the scorching summer, as well as the claustrophobic nature of the tiny town and all the pettiness it breeds. The life of an adolescent and Michele's confusion at how to deal with adults is also rendered fairly well. However, on the whole, the story feels very familiar. Similar themes are treated with greater skill and interest in works like Michael Frayn's novel Spies, Stephen King's short story "The Body" (filmed as Stand By Me), and Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island. Here, everything ends in a melodramatic climax that is jarring and rather preposterious. The novel was recently made into a well received film in Italy called "Lo No Ho Paura".
Rating: 
Summary: The Italian "Stand by me."
Review: Beautifully, artfully written. It is very suspenseful, and difficult to put down once you start. The author paints such an endearing view of Italy, you will wish you had grown up there, or even more so, you'll want to jump on the next plane out. It transports you back to the carefree days of youth, coupled with the fears and changes adolescence brings. A very fast read, great for a short sabbatical from everyday life!
Rating:
Summary: The Italian "Stand by me."
Review: Beautifully, artfully written. It is very suspenseful, and difficult to put down once you start. The author paints such an endearing view of Italy, you will wish you had grown up there, or even more so, you'll want to jump on the next plane out. It transports you back to the carefree days of youth, coupled with the fears and changes adolescence brings. A very fast read, great for a short sabbatical from everyday life!
Rating:
Summary: Breathless
Review: finished this book in an hour. It was heart stopping,told so clearly from a 9 year old's perspective that was uncannily erie.The book's tension gradually increased until its heart stopping ending.....and then the book continues to haunt you.I can't recommend this enough...
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Bibical Tones
Review: First, Ammaniti captures the perplexing world view of a child perfectly. If you liked Alice McDermott's Weddings and Wakes, you might also enjoy this book. I'm not sure it's a coming of age story per se: the protagonist, Michele, doesn't really judge any of the events of that summer of 78 in the re-telling. It's a present-tense recollection. I was left wondering how the impact of his parents' actions did affect him, in fact. The biblical overtones are many. First, Michele ponders the story of Lazarus as he raises a body back form the dead. Then, Michele's father is an echo of Abraham and Isaac, although Michele's father has loyalty towards his family, not towards God. And finally, in an imitation of Christ, Michele's actions indicate his willing to give up his life for another. I'm not sure any of the echoes are fully explored in this terse book, and like many bible stories, ultimately, all the humans are flawed imitations of perfect action. It is well-written, and there's a lot within the book to ponder. It's not long, and good weekend or beach read. Also worth noting is that "I'm not Scared" does not read like a translated book. Jonathan Hunt's translation is smooth and evocative of a hot childhood summer when you played outdoors, far away from the watchful eyes of adults.
Rating: 
Summary: Lost in The Translation ...
Review: I am sure this is a case of something being lost in the translation. I speak native Italian and the translation is stilted; mistranslating Italian words (i.e. He says the child is afraid of "vipers' ... it should say "the child is afraid of "snakes.") The translator has no sense of idiomatic use of language, and therefore we wind up with a book that is neither Italian enough, nor English enough. If there is anything lyrical in Niccolo's writing, it is lost in this version. I was very disappointed at the ending. Left hanging high and dry. Very unsatisfying conclusion to a plodding and unbelievable story line. Sigh.
Rating:
Summary: What is with THIS ending???!!????
Review: I felt the writing (translations) was good and it is a good fast read. I liked the characters (the children) in the book as they give it the personality. However, I do not like when the END comes and there are too many lose ends!!! I have an imagination...but give me something to work with here!!!
Rating:
Summary: I'm not scared, only of the hideous writing of this book!
Review: I finished reading this book about an hour ago. I didn't take long because it is so exciting and well-written. A blend between a book about growing up and a thriller.
Ammaniti writes in a poetic rather laid back style with lots of dialogue. His portrait of the characters especially the children are convincing and brings back memories from one's own childhood. He also gives you a good sense of the place, the poorer parts of southern Italy.
I won't say anything about the story. Read the book I 'm convinced you will enjoy it.
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