Review: A Different Take on the Dark Side of Life
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 10, 2014
From the very beginning of this novel, I could see that Severs was stretching his literary prowess. Having already read his other book about mining in Australia, I was expecting something along the same lines, but this novel was far more character-centric, and while the setting of the city and the country certainly played significant parts in the background of the story, there was a very different tone to the story. Severs invested in human nature more than nature itself, and he peeled back the layers of struggle and strife that drive people to do previously unthought of things. I particularly liked the unusual perspective on prostitution and dependency, as well as the complex emotions that are involved between Stefan and and Echo. The loss of Echo, the difficult decision to return to a painful past, and the harsh reality of facing something/someone who had been left behind make this a tense and gripping story that was oddly easy to relate to. It was also considerably easier to read than Severs' other novel, in terms of flow. There weren't as many high-stakes or tense moments, yet I was still pulled along by the story and finished the book in a few days. I thoroughly enjoyed his ability to immediately engage the reader into caring about the characters, rather than having them be stock personalities that have been read and experienced in dozens of other stories in the past. It was a unique perspective on an area of the world and the seedier side of personal choice than most people will have ever encountered, and you will find yourself rooting for unlikely heroes in this brilliantly crafted novel. It was funny at times, and tragic at others, but all in all, it wasn't a book I was able to put down. I wouldn't call it great literature, but it was certainly entertaining and showed the flexibility of a talented author.