Torment (15/08/14)

I have literally realised that I had missed on posting a review from back in August. Luckily I had it saved so have been able to copy it over now.

So a couple of months back I read Fallen and was decidedly unimpressed with the whole story in general. I still can’t explain why I decided to read to follow up book Torment. But I’m glad I did. Once again, it could have been better, I’m not saying it was as good as some of the books I have read lately, but it was much better than the first book.

This book sees Luce sent off to a posh school on the west coast (there happens to be special classes about angels and demons, which made me pull many faces when reading it). Daniel, the uber love interest of the first book, Luce’s ‘one true love’ send her here after the events at the end of fallen with the premise of keeping her safe. Rebellious teenage acts ensue, and as you can guess, Luce ends up not being very safe. I still have real issues with Daniel as the love interest. We know nothing about him, he hasn’t done a single thing to endear me to him, and I kind of route for Luce to screw him over a little bit and date someone who doesn’t control her every move without giving her even a glimpse of understanding as to why these things keep happening to her.

Other than that actually the general way the story is going was much more interesting to read, Luce had more backbone and the new characters that were introduced as her friends were well rounded and well written into the story. I can see where the story may head now, which is saying a lot as I didn’t get the first book at all. I can honestly say I will now read the rest, I just hope that the author carries on developing the story and possible try to include a few less cliché type scenarios.

The Lovely Bones (23/08/14)

This is another book I have felt the urge to read after watching the film. I probably would never have picked this book up if I hadn’t seen the film previously. The Lovely Bones is not the easiest story to read, as it is the story of a 14 year old girl, Susie Salmon, being raped and murdered. Told from the perspective of Susie in her heaven watching over her family, friends and murderer as they carry on with their life in the years after her death. The story develops from the initial stages of grief and devastation felt by her family and friends to how the move on and, not forget her, but learn to live again.

This story could be hard work to read due to the subject matter, but in fact it is beautiful in all the right places. It is raw in detailing human emotions, and how people can feel guilty for feeling normal after the death of a loved one occurs. It is a lovely thought, of people moving onto a place where the heaven is what they make of it, that it is different for each person and that they can build upon it and still have the ability to watch over the family they left behind. 

My one bug bear with the book was the character of Susie’s mother, Abigail. I understand that grief affects everyone differently but I couldn’t warm to her due to the actions she took in the subsequent years after her eldest daughter was killed. But I found all the other characters interesting and well developed including in particular Susie’s sister Lindsey, who had to grow up to quickly and Susie’s could have been boyfriend Ray, who didn’t let being accused of her murder destroy him. Even the killers’ character was interesting to read about and whilst I never sympathised with his past history as it is told, it felt important to include more about him than just having him defined by the murder he committed. Probably the most developed and grief stricken character was Susie’s father Jack, the way he dealt with his emotions is more how I imagined a parent would act after losing a child this way. It really pulled at your heart when he had to push down his grief to still try to be a father to his two remaining children, but the whole time feeling guilty that Susie wasn’t there which obviously made it harder for his to let go. I would recommend this book but due to the subject matter, no matter how delicately it is written and dealt with, still may not be for everyone.

The Goddess and the Thief (03/08/14)

The Goddess and the Thief is a work of fiction based in Victorian England and briefly at the beginning in Lahore, India. It tells the story of Alice Willoughby, who after living all her life in India with Her father Charles, is moved to England to live in the care of her Aunt Mercy whilst her father returns to Lahore were is works for the English residency as a surgeon. Her Aunt Mercy works as a spiritual medium and after events including the death of Alice’s father and the introduction of the enigmatic Lucian Tillsbury, Alice’s aunt endeavours for her to join the clairvoyant profession. All events lead to dramatic and catastrophic events for Alice.

Considering all the elements such as; gothic Victorian era, Hindu mythology, intrigue, drama and the paranormal I feel I should have liked this book more than I did. There is nothing particular wrong with the book, it works well and is written fine with no obvious errors that I have observed in other books. I just wasn’t my style of book. I have read other reviews that have liken Essie Fox’s writing style as similar to Sarah Waters, who I have read previously and also not found to my taste. Perhaps if books written in the style of Sarah Waters is your cup of tea you may appreciate this tale more. Having said this the inclusion of the Hindu mythology was really interesting and differently added a lot to the story development. There are twists and turns along the way and this is by no means a ‘bad book’ as said just not to my taste.

Fallen (05/07/14)

So, Fallen. What do I think? Well I’ll start with the phrase, “I’ve read worse.” But not many.

Whilst that doesn’t seem like a good place to start it’s pretty much all I have for this book. A story based around ‘star-crossed lovers’, fallen angels, slight love triangles, blah, blah, blah, your get the picture. So the story centers on Luce, a girl who has been sent to a reform school and goes through her first couple of weeks there. The love element starts pretty quickly but in my opinion never really goes anywhere. He blows hot and cold and then there is a big realisation of love. It feels like a rehash of every other YA romance/para going.

The author has tried really hard to make it a different type of YA book. But seemed to lack the ability to structure the book in a way of you coming to realisations on your own as a reader. There were often times a Luce would be in a conversation, and then ‘think’ so far ahead of the story you felt push to that conclusion, or that it had been handed to you on a plate rather than having a ligthbulb type moment due to good writing.

I know there are others in this series, so it may be hard to judge this as a stand-alone book as the story seems to go somewhere within the last two chapters. But I honestly don’t think I liked it enough to bother with the rest. It felt like a chore to read and I don’t think it’s even worth reading to form your own opinion of it. Pretty disappointing on the whole.