Review: a great read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 30, 2011
This book is brutal. Brutally good. Raw, rich, and unexpected. I wasn't sure what to think going in, having read some of the reviews for it, but from the opening, I was captivated, wanting to know what happened in order to get to the place where the book starts (9 months from now).This is most definitely not a young adult novel, I never thought it was, but apparently YA has taken over the world so much that some people assume if the main character is a teen, then it must be YA. It was actually refreshing to read an adult novel written about a teenager, and I really enjoyed the philosophical conversations that Cassie has with her new friend Amy, and Amy's father as well.There are a lot of these conversations. The dialogue is heavy, yet intelligent and while at times it doesn't seem as though it has a point, in the end, I think it all does. This is not light reading, but it's interesting and engaging.I don't typically read literary fiction, but this book has a dark core to it which really appeals to me. There are lots of subtle hints, and threads of tension and threat running through it. Every now and then I would think I knew what was coming, but I was never right. These moments of relief never alleviated the underlying sense of unease that seems to be inherent in the novel.And the climax? It will blow you away. It's not easy reading at times, but despite this it seemed entirely fitting. I would never have guessed what was coming, yet when it did, it felt like it evolved naturally from all the things that went before. It was beautiful and desperate and sad and weeks after reading it, I am still thinking about it. Still feeling the impact of it.I actually think I will read this book again, and I don't often revisit novels. There are so many new ones to read that it seems indulgent to go back and read something twice. This one, I feel like I need to.If you like a thinkers book, if you like intelligent, dark, literary fiction which doesn't pull punches then you'll probably enjoy this book. But I warn you, it is not for everyone.