This is actually book three in a series, but since it can be read separately I have no qualms with reading and reviewing it here. Spoilers ahead.
Timba gets separated from his beloved brother Vati at an early age and gets adopted by a troubled boy named Leroy. Despite Timba's initial dislike for the boy, soon he starts to realize the sadness of Leroy's situation and he becomes Leroy's best friend and comfort. Together with Angie, Leroy's teacher, the duo set out on making things as good for the troubled kid as possible. But when Timba's brother Vati is in danger, Timba has no choice but to leave Leroy behind to go on a quest to help Vati.
Cute book. Overall, I mean. There is some really dark stuff in here, with scenes where child/animal abuse gets intricately described. But at the same time the ultimate conclusion of the book is pretty wholesome. It's nice to see Angie and Timba bond with Leroy, and seeing Leroy in turn slowly improve once he's away from is abusive mother.
That's not to say Leroy wasn't at first abusive towards Timba; he was, but you can't hold it against him because he's a kid who has never been taught how to handle an animal, especially not something as vulnerable as a tiny kitten. So any of the negative situations he put Timba through early in the book was with no ill intent and thankfully he ends up improving a lot by the end of the book.
The characters here are honestly pretty good. I liked seeing Timba and Leroy develop especially, both their bond but also just how they grow as characters. Leroy probably goes through the biggest change out of the two, but Timba also really matures and becomes a great friend to both Leroy and Vati. Vati himself also has a very sad story, with him being forcefully declawed against his will, but thankfully his story has a pretty happy ending.
The only part of this book I couldn't really get into (aside from like, the blatant scenes of abuse, which speaks for itself) it was the relationship drama between Angie and her partner (who is such a forgettable character that I can't even remember his name). He cheats on her, Angie is heartbroken, but in the end he comes begging for her to take him back. Which she does, and supposedly that's a happy ending. That's where I would personally draw a line and say "no, you've hurt me too much and broken my heart". But I guess Angie is more forgiving. I don't know, I personally found it frustrating that she ended up taking him back pretty soon after he apologizes.
Another thing that personally kind of bothered me but isn't all that bad in the story itself is that Leroy's abusive mother never really got any comeuppance for what she did. She abused her son relentlessly, neglected him, and then after about a third or so she's just gone from the story to be with her new partner, leaving Leroy behind. She never returns, she never gets any comeuppance for what she did. She just kind of vanishes.
Now, I'm not saying I wanted a redemption arc with her. Absolutely not, what she did to Leroy was unforgivable and even if they went this route I'd have been very insulted. But what I am saying is that she just kind of disappears with no real conclusion to her story. We don't even learn what happens to her after she vanishes, and if she got any comeuppance for being abusive. She's just gone from the story altogether. She is mentioned a couple of times after she vanishes, but never do we learn about what happened to her and if she got any punishment or repercussions for her actions. Which is just a bit unsatisfying to read. Especially after she was the main antagonist of the first third of the book, and very present there. Again, not saying this is downright bad or anything, but it just doesn't make for very satisfying reading, it feels kind of like a loose end that wasn't tied up, and with this seemingly being the last in the book series there very likely will not be any future books covering this.
Anyways, Timba Comes Home is still a good book. Definitely uncomfortable to read at times (if animal or child abuse is a trigger for you, I do recommend you stay away), but overall a good book with well-written characters, a great journey for Timba and good character development.
Rating: 4/5
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