Review: Book review : A BED OF KNIVES by Elizabeth Jasper (Including Spoilers) (Read and penned review July 2012)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 27, 2012
I'm reviewing this as an ARR for We ' YA Books @ Goodreads.This story follows the lives and loves of four friends, from young adulthood to early/mid twenties. Ms Jasper does the four points of views of Gina, Rose, Eddie and Spider in such a realistic way, I needed to continue reading to see where their stories were going. The title perfect reflects the content of this story.We see how Rose and Eddie discover they love each other. How Spider, in typical young adult, fickle way, hankers after Rose until he becomes aware of Gina. Gina of course has been in love with Spider for ages. We see how they're torn apart and come together again.It's told in five year flashbacks which I had initially thought would irritate me but it fell into place nicely and flowed very well.These are real people, spots and all. There's no holding back on the awful situations life throws them into: ordinary things that happen to ordinary people. No frills, no fancies. All four of them are vulnerable, hurting and have their own share of problems to deal with.Rose is a lovely character despite the pain she bears. Eddie, poor, poor Eddie - I had to shake my head at the ironic situations he finds himself in - a disaster waiting to happen. All he wanted was to play football and be with Rose , but unfortunately fate had other ideas for him.Gina has many burdens to bear. I love her strength as she overcame her obstacles. Spider, sigh.....a misguided soul, helplessly falling into unfortunate life experiences. He's my idea of a beta hero, loved him, with his black hair, blue eyes, gangly long legged physique and the utterly pathetic circumstances he has to endure. I could clearly "hear" Spider - so well his part is written. Spider and Gina's story spoke to me the most and I wished that they had spent more time together so that their relationship developed realistically.I'd say this book is suitable for older YA because of language and sexuality. (Funnily enough, the author's and characters' names reminded me of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer : Jasper, Rose and Eddie.)The feel of the book makes me wants to label it as Chick Lit and not Contemporary Romance, although every relationship is wrapped up nicely by the end of the book. Not much detail is given to the resolution of major issues. I'd like to think this is the author's intention and not an oversight on her part. Because of this, the ending felt rushed, but the style of writing , descriptive surroundings and accurate, varying points of view kept me interested. It's not a book I would re-read but I CERTAINLY recommend it to anyone who likes an angst-filled, older YA, with romance, because it kept me wondering what could possibly come out of the desperate state of affairs of the protagonists. I read this book in one sitting simply because I HAD to know!