Review: I Still Want More!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 14, 2013
I am continuing my reviews in the same fashion that I threw myself into the books and became totally lost within them and that is by going from one straight to the next! The second installment of this series did not let me down in any way. I may not have really been able to splurge even on such a small purchase as this but I also knew that there was no way I could possibly wait until I could afford it to see what happened next so it is money well spent!I have a great appreciation for how the author knows when to give a basic skimmed over description of an event or set of circumstances and when to go into a great deal more detail thus allowing the reader to become more knowledgeable and invested in the characters. A good example is when little Toby has to go pee but because of the circumstances they just cannot stop the car so there is a detailed description of helping this toddler to pee into a bottle. Some could see this as mundane, excessive wasted information, or others can see as the situation unfolds how it all impacts one of the main characters who is struggling with many inner demons that sometimes something as basic as helping a child in need, even such a basic need, may just be the beginning of breaking thru the layers of walls built up around this person for so long that they had begun to seem completely impenetrable... except perhaps the cracks in even the coldest, most broken, protected of souls that can sometimes be created by the purity, trust and innocence of a small child... especially one in need. While some readers seem to feel there was often too much description, I do not feel a word was wasted, nor added unnecessarily... they all helped create the visuals that brought this story and every person in it to life for me.While this second book is direct continuation of the first it is largely split between four sub plots but done in such a way that I found it both easy to follow and each part wove into the next in a very natural fashion. Again I cannot speak highly enough of how much I enjoyed the way every person who was already in the story (or was added as the book, story, and adventures grew) was expanded upon as their individual personalities were grown along with their very human emotions and reactions to each and every circumstance as the story progressed. I felt as if I knew them and continued to become more and more personally invested in most of them to the point that at the loss of one individual (I will only refer to as W.H so as not to spoil anything for those who haven't read it yet, but also clarify for those who have) I found tears running down my face... not a response easily evoked from me by either books or movies. Sometimes I am not sure which I was enjoying more, the opportunity to experience an author who was doing an amazing job of bringing fictional characters to life for me in way I have seldom experienced by the way she so carefully gave insights into their thoughts, beliefs, feelings... almost their very hearts, whether they be pure and honourable or dark and depraved, or the actual adventures that were going on non-stop! What I do know is that when I came to the end of this book, just as I had already with this one after finishing the first, I found myself back on Amazon breaking my cardinal rule that no book is so good that it is worth buying it until I can afford to (which I really can't right now), but I could not leave things where they were. Not because it was a cliffhanger or any of that nonsense, but simply because I just could not, did not want to wait any more than a matter of minutes to pass before I could continue on with following the adventures of these now many people who I wanted so bad to see not simply survive, but to thrive if that was even an option... I still wanted (and needed) more so I picked it up and continued on...