review

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Just Finished…Death by Jade Varden

So The Tower, Book 2 in Jade Varden’s Deck of Lies series left us with a real cliff-hanger, so what did the third book Death deliver?

Death is a great third addition to this series of books, after the flood of revelations and lies that came out in The Tower, which got to the point of being near overwhelming, Death has a more mellow pace – it’s like that period of disquiet (I certainly can’t call it calm) that comes after a storm…or perhaps that odd come down you feel after a major adrenaline rush and reality begins to sink in. Rain/Chloe/? our protagonist is still in the thick of it, with lies, odd family connections and dirty deeds seeping out of every brick in the fancy mansion she lives in…

Rain continues her quest for the truth – but what truth that is continues to change: her hunt for her identity led to a murder, her hunt for a murderer led her to more of her own secrets… Death delivers a good dose of reflection on the previous rollercoaster of events from Books 1 and 2, whilst continuing to throw up more surprises. I really liked the development of Rain’s character in this book – her experiences are certainly changing how she operates in the vicious world she’s found herself in. The re-appearance of one of my favourite characters was also nicely dealt with – definitely some good potential there for the last book in the series Judgement.

Deck of Lies is a fantastic YA mystery series, with plenty of twists and fans of soaps like Dallas, Days of Our Lives and Sunset Beach, will love the mad hookups and random family relationship relevations. Jade’s writing is style is vivid and concise, helping you to completely immerse yourself in her stories.

Overall Verdict: 4.5* If you’re not already into this series and enjoy a good contemporary YA read, then you’re missing out! I can’t wait for Judgement…

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Emily Read…Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Cover Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 Stars


Synopsis: Nora Grey can’t remember the past five month of her life. After the initial shock of waking up in a cemetery and being told that she has been missing for weeks – with no one knowing where she was or who she was with – she tried to get her life back on track. Go to school, hang out with her best friend, Vee, and dodge mom’s creepy new boyfriend.But there is this voice in the back of her head, an idea that she can almost reach out and touch. Visions of angel wings and unearthly creatures that have nothing to do with the life she knows.And this unshakable feeling that a part of her is missing.Then Nora crosses paths with a sexy stranger, whom she feels a mesmerizing connection to. He seems to hold all the answers…and her heart. Every minute she spends with him grows more and more intense until she realizes she could be falling in love. Again.

I have really enjoyed the Hush Hush series so far and I think this one was just as good as the rest. Silence is set five months after Crescendo. Nora was kidnapped and she doesn’t remember a thing. She doesn’t remember a month before she went missing either. Everyone is giving her the version of the past that they want her to believe. Then Nora meets a gorgeous ‘stranger’ who of course is not a stranger but Nora doesn’t know that. At times I got annoyed at the amount Nora didn’t remember. She didn’t know who kidnapped her – we did – she didn’t know who Jev was – we did. It just got very frustrating.

I found Nora annoying, as always. The way she act’s is just so… ugh. I don’t know how everyone puts up with her. She is even more irritating without memory. Patch wasn’t as awesome as I remember him and he had times when I was just wanting him to tell her everything but aparently he wanted to keep her in the dark ‘for her own good’. I hear those words in litrally every book I read and it annoys me every time. Why did you lie to me? For your own good. Why wont you let me go? For your own good! Ugh. It really gets on my nerves. I liked Scott a lot more than in the other book and he was the only one who would actually be honest with Nora so for that he gets a big thumbs up!

Overall the book was okay. Not one of my favorites but at the same time I did enjoy it. The pace was slower than I would have liked but it wasn’t too bad. I would recomend this book to people who have enjoyed the rest and like a good angel book. To be fair this series was my first GOOD angel book with the others failing miserably beside it. A good read.

My Favorite Quote: 
“He inclined his head at my dress. “What’s the occasion?”
“Homecoming,” I said, twirling. “Like?”
“Last I heard, Homecoming requires a date.”
“About that,” I hedged. “I’m sort of…going with Scott. We both figure a high-school dance is the last place Hank will be patrolling.”
Patch smiled, but it was tight. “I take that back. If Hank wants to shoot Scott, he has my blessing.”

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Emily Read…Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Cover Rating: 3/5 Stars
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 Stars


Synopsis: Sookie Stackhouse likes living in Bon Temps, Louisiana, and she likes working as a cocktail waitress at Merlotte’s. But she is having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no one seems to care. Then she comes face-to-face with a beastly creature which gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn’t enjoy it).
The point is: the vampires saved her life. So when one of her bloodsuckers asks for a favour, she obliges-and soon Sookie’s in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She’s supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave, and let the humans go unharmed. But that’s easier than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for thing to turn deadly…

I am really beginning to regret buying most of the series in advance now. The first book was quite good but in this one the little things began to get to me. The fact that nearly every character in the book is sexist, racist, homophobic and not very clever is just one of them. It seems the only people who sound slightly intelligent are the vampires so technically it’s species-ist too. All the discrimination may be normal for that part of the world but I hate it. The co-worker of Sookie’s that is murdered is a black, gay man and automatically that causes people not to care all that much but then when Sookie, a blond white women is nearly killed in the previous book everyone is all stressed out. It is fluffy but at the same time very crude. All that aside the book does have a few redeeming qualities. It is fairly entertaining and quite short so is good for a quick read.

I do not like many of the characters. Sookie is so stereotypical; blond, ditsy, waitress, relies on her boyfriend for everything. She is literally a feminists nightmare. Her stubbornness may make her a little more of a strong character except from the fact every time the author lets her do something that involves standing on her own two feet she is then captured, attacked or something along those lines. It’s as if the author is saying that every time our heroine does something that her possessive boyfriend doesn’t want her to do she is punished one way or another. Speaking of her possessive boyfriend, Bill is a pathetic excuse for a vampire. If Sookie was a smart girl then the moment Bill referred to her as his property she would have got as far away as possible but no, she thinks he’s sweet. The only two characters I like are Sam, Sookie’s boss who is sweet and loyal but also seems a little too obsessed with Sookie, and Eric, who is a way more badass vamp than Bill and I really want to see more of. It was Eric’s scenes that kept me reading. The only funny parts of the book belonged to him and I love funny.

Overall this is an average book in an average series but has a couple of entertaining elements. I’m going to carry on the series just because I already have the other books and it would be a waste not too. I would recomend this series to someone who want’s a quick read and doesn’t mind some offensive language and downright annoying characters. This is a very popular series but at this point I am at a loss to see why.

My Favorite Quote:
“You’ve reached Fantasia, where the undead live again every night, for bar hours, press one. To make a party reservation, press two. To talk to alive person or a dead vampire, press three. Or, if you were intending to leave a humorous prank message on our answering machine, know this: we will find you.”

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Emily Read…City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Cover Rating: 3/5 Stars
Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars


Synopsis: The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She’s training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And – most importantly of all – she can finally call Jace her boyfriend. But nothing comes without a price. Someone is murdering Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war.When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.
Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever…

Alright I think I can safely say that Cassandra Clare is one of the most amazing authors ever to have walked this Earth – and no I’m not exaggerating. Every one of her books is sheer perfection. Okay I didn’t love the last one all that much but I think that has more to do with the fact I was in a slump than anything else. My only problem is with the synopsis “the stakes are higher than ever”, the saying is so overused. Someone has to be original one day and just say “the stakes are as high as they’re going to get” or “the stakes are as high as in the previous book”. I suppose they’re not as catchy. City Of Fallen Angels I think was so much better than City Of Glass. It is set after the events of the war and everything is slowly going back to normalcy. Until a chain of murders begin to arouse suspicion and Jace begins to separate himself from Clary for no reason. Simon is also having problems of his own, I mean having two girlfriends can be SO annoying sometimes.

Clary isn’t a particularly exciting character but I don’t hate her. She’s normal, which I like even if she can be irritating at times. Jace, I do love him but his self-loathing complex is getting on my nerves. He doesn’t believe he deserves anything including Clary even when he can be with her. I liked Jace originally because he was funny and totally arrogant but he seems to have lost it. I started off hating Simon. He seeing two girls at the same time! But later he did grow on me and about time too! I loved Alec and Magnus as normal though they weren’t in the book all that much. Alec showed his jealous side too which seemed strangely sweet to me. I was very disappointed we didn’t see much of those two; I just love them both.

Overall Cassandra Clare hasn’t tarnished her flawless reputation with this book. It was fast paced and left me yearning for the next book. As always I recommend this book for everyone who has the ability to read. You’d be mad not to try it. The City Of Bones movie is coming out soon so I hope more people will read these books in anticipation for it. I am excited for it but I think they’ve made some questionable casting choices. My hope is that they will grow on me during the film but at the present time I’m not really glad about any of them.

My Favorite Quotes:
“You’re just worried they’ll hire a male instructor and he’ll be hotter than you.”Jace’s eyebrows went up. 
“Hotter than me?”
“It could happen,” Clary said, “You know, theoretically.”
“Theoretically the planet could suddenly crack in half, leaving me on one side and you on the other, forever and tragically parted, but I’m not worried about that either. Some things,” Jace said, with his customary crooked smile, “are just too unlikely to dwell upon.”

“So what was that all about?”
“I think,” Jace said, “that she asked if she could touch my mango.”
“She said that?”
Jace shrugged. “Yeah, then she gave me her number.”

“Hey,” said Jace. who was sitting on an overturned speaker, looking at his cellphone, “do you want to see a photo of Alec and Magnus in Berlin?”
“Not really,” said Simon.
“Magnus is wearing lederhosen.”
“And yet, still no.”

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Emily Read…The Fairytale Keeper by Andrea Cefalo

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Cover Rating: 3.5/5   Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: Snow White was a pet name her mother had given her, but her mother’s dead now. Adelaide hates that name anyway. A rampant fever claimed Adelaide’s mother just like a thousand others in Cologne where the people die without Last Rites and the dead are dumped in a large pit outside of the city walls. Adelaide’s father is determined to obtain a funeral for his wife, but that requires bribing the parish priest, Father Soren. When Soren commits an unforgivable atrocity, he pushes Adelaide to her breaking point, but if she seeks justice against the cruel priest, she risks sacrificing everything: her father, her friends, her first love, and maybe even her life.

I was kindly sent a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. To be fair I was slightly hesitant about starting this book because I’ve never read a fairy tale retelling before but I was pleasantly surprised. The book centers on Adelaide aka Snow White after her mothers death. She is refused a funeral for her mother and after that they begin to see all of the flaws that the church has. And there are many. Back when this is set the church was a big part of life so you can see how this would be a problem. Throughout the book there was sections from well know fairy tales and then the chapter afterwards would have some kind of connection to that story. This aspect I found especially interesting. The writing in this book was old fashioned but it was meant to be so it suited perfectly.

The main character Adelaide, I found to be quite annoying at times but in no way as annoying as a lot of other heroines. She won’t be on my top ten anytime soon. I did like some things about her though. She was brave and didn’t need a guy there to hold her hand all the time. I loved her best friend Ivo. He was really sweet! I loved how Adelaide and him made such a great team and he tried to look after her. One person I didn’t like was her father. He just seemed to hopeless to me.

I really did enjoy this book even though apart from her appearance I don’t know what the connection to Snow White was. Maybe we will find out in later books. As a whole this book was a good, quick read that I finished in one sitting. I would recommend this book to fairytale and historical fiction lovers. I would give this book 3.5/5 Stars and look forward to the second one in the series. Thanks to the author for letting me read it before it’s release.

My Favorite Quote
“Snow White is a name I do not enjoy.  It is a term of endearment from my mother, but a phrase of torment used by the artisan and merchant children who mock me for my fair skin and black hair.  I would never tell mother for it would hurt her to know, and while I have no love for the name, Snow White, I do have love for the way she speaks it.”

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Emily Read…Ill Wind by Rachel Caine

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Overall Rating: 4/5

I’ve read two books in one day, I think that may be a record! Anyway on with the review. I picked up Ill Wind thinking it was a Young Adult book because the author wrote my beloved Morganville series. I was mistaken. I really need to start checking books out, I think this has been the third I’ve picked up and found it was adult. I didn’t mind too much though.
Ill wind is about Jo Baldwin, she’s a Weather Warden… on the run. A Weather Warden’s job is to keep people by delivering the world of dangerous weather but that’s easier said than done. Joanne is searching for Lewis, the only person she knows that can help her avoid the certain death that is approaching. One problem, he’s also on the run after having stolen three Djinn’s. So not only is he on the run but he is the most wanted man in the world – things couldn’t get much better for Joanna – but if she’s going to survive then she has to find Lewis. And fast.

“Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden. Usually, all it takes is a wave of her hand to tame the most violent weather. But now, she’s trying to outrun another kind of storm: accusations of corruption and murder. So, she’s resorting to the very human tactic of running for her life…  Her only hope is Lewis, the most powerful warden known. Unfortunately, he’s stolen not one but three bottles of Djinn-making him the most wanted man on earth. Still, she’s racing hard to find him-before the bad weather closes in fast…”

I enjoyed this book mostly because I love Rachel Caine’s writing style, I don’t know what it is but I always love anything written by her. This was a good book, not as good as Morganville, but good. As it’s the first book I didn’t really get to know any of the characters well but I quite liked Jo and David. Lewis, to say he’s the main part of the book, is hardly in it so I don’t know how I feel about him just yet. Some parts of Ill Wind confused me slightly but by the end I got it. I am really looking forward to book two. I wouldn’t reccomend this to younger readers but its a good read. I would give it 4/5 stars.

My Favorite Quote
“People talk about nature as a mother, but to me she’s always been Medea, ready and willing to slaughter her children.”  

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Emily Read…Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Noughts and Crosses is quite a complicated and intriguing novel about a divided society. There is the Noughts and the Crosses. Sephy is a Cross, a member of the dark-skinned higher class. They can have what ever they want. Callum is a Nought, a member of the ‘colourless’ lower class. They have no rights.

Noughts and Crosses is a tragic story about love, loss and justice. Callum and Sephy have been best friends since they were children but what happens when that friendship turns to love? Noughts and Crosses explores the relationship between a Romeo and Juliet style couple in a world when love is unimportant. If you need more details here is the synopsis:

“Sephy is a Cross – a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a nought – a ‘colourless’ member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood. But that’s as far as it can go. Until the first steps are taken towards more social equality and a limited number of Noughts are allowed into Cross schools…Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity by Noughts, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum – a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger…”

I thought that Noughts and Crosses was a highly fascinating and realistic read. It highlighted some issues that still happen around our world today. It explores racism and prejudice in depth and really shows us what our world could be like today if we let it be. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes an intense read and stories about forbidden love. I would rate this book 4.5/5 stars. I hope you enjoyed my review.

Favourite Quote:
“‘Just remember, Callum when you’re floating up and up in your bubble, that bubbles have a habit of bursting. The higher you climb, the further you have to fall’”

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Emily Read…Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

 Emily is our Goodreads pal and all-round lovely lady! 🙂 And, as you’ll know from our side-bar, her blog Confessions of a Bookaholic is one of our favourites. Throughout August and September, we will be featuring some of her book reviews on Aside from Writing so you can get to know her too!

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Cover Rating: 3/5   Overall Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: “Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker – his classmate and crush – who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.
Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and learns the truth about himself-a truth he never wanted to face. Thirteen Reasons Why is the gripping, addictive international bestseller that has changed lives the
world over. It’s an unrelenting modern classic.”

The Review

WOW! I have no idea why I picked this up, I saw the synopsis and thought that looks really depressing. My next thought? I have to read it! I wasn’t expecting to like it I just had the urge to read it. Well I started it at 12 am thinking that I would just read a few pages. I couldn’t stop though until I had finished it. At 4am. Even after that I was kept up thinking about it. The whole book was so
real. At first I was thinking why did they keep passing on the tapes knowing all their secrets were being revealed to the other twelve people but then I realized they were doing it out of fear. They knew what would happen if they didn’t. I really liked Clay and personally I don’t think he deserved to be on the tapes.

I got very annoyed with myself halfway through because I couldn’t help hating Hannah. No this time it’s not just for the sake of it. Hannah making these tapes be passed around was cruel, she was blaming her death on these people who would have to live with it for the rest of their lives. Some of them may have deserved it but not all of them. Some of the people on the tapes had been trying to help her but she had taken the help the wrong way. Those kind people are given this guilt to carry. I hated myself for it but I began to think Hannah was being very selfish in what she did but if you think about it she needed her story told and this was the only way she could think of to do it. Apparently there is going to be a film of this book staring Selena Gomez, personally I probably wont go to see it – I don’t like seeing books I love Disney-fied.  I would recommend this book to people who like a serious book that will play on their minds long after being read. I would give this book 5/5 stars.

My Favorite Quote
“You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life
but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not
messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and
selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with
their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything.” 

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Want to know more? Check out the links!

Read Emily’s interview with us here!

Goodread Group: Books, Blogs, Authors and More

 http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/62777.Books_Blogs_Authors_and_More

My blog: http://emily-confessionsofabookaholic.blogspot.com/

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Just Finished…Fall for You

Fall for You is a younger adult book, aimed at early teenage girls (I imagine). It is loosely based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and you know what? I liked it! After reading plenty of ‘heavier’ books recently, I was in the mood for something quick, easy and light – and that’s exactly what I got.
The story is set predominantly in the grounds of the Jane Austen Academy, a prestigious boarding school, which up until recently had been solely for girls. In this it reminded me of a modernised version of the Mallory Towers or St Clares books by Enid Blyton, which I loved as a child: who didn’t want to play lacrosse and have jolly tea parties on the pavilion with the other gutsy girls who filled the dormitories of those books? Maybe just me then. But Lizzie – our leading lady surprisingly enough – certainly had shades of this about her.
As a character I found Lizzie irked me a little in the first couple of chapters – she was a tad on the bitchy side and I just thought she was mean with Anne and Emma particularly. However, I also get that this was part of her character establishment – after all she needed to be a little snooty and judgemental didn’t she. Thankfully, she mellows out pretty quickly and in with some slightly Louis Lane style tendencies sets off to investigate the mystery surrounding the new owners who are making so many changes to her beloved Academy.
This was a little jaunt down memory lane for me in terms of reading as I don’t tend to do ‘girlie’ romance stuff very often. But the younger girl inside me who devoured Sweet Valley High books (please don’t judge me too harshly!) in her early teens and wanted to go to boarding school, really enjoyed this lightly fluffy, fun take on Austen’s book. It is well-written, with good dialogue and enough variety in the supporting characters that they have depth and interest. The main characters are only ‘lite’ versions of the originals – Georgiana, Dante and Lizzie being the most like their counterparts – and the events of Fall for You only pick up some key scenes from Pride and Prejudice rather than being a complete re-telling, which I think worked well for the story. Nice reflections of the original book, without trying too hard to replicate and mimic, which I think would have felt very contrived.
Overall thoughts: if you like a little romance, fluff and fun, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy this! 3.5* 
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Just Finished…Underneath by Michael Cargill

To accompany Thursday’s interview with author Michael Cargill, here’s our review of his fantastic new novel Underneath. If you’d like to get your hands on a free copy, simply pop a comment on this post or Thursday’s interview and we’ll select up to ten lucky people to  get Smashwords download codes for your preferred e-book format.

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Synopsis

Look at the person sitting just across from you. It doesn’t matter whether they’re a loved one, a friend, or a complete stranger.
Now look at their face. Are they happy? Are they sad? Or are they angry? Can you even tell?
How well do you actually know the people closest to you?
Have you ever seen the real person that lies just underneath what you see…?

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Sounds creepy? Well, it should because the main character we follow throughout the book – Hugh – is a scary chap!

Underneath is a relatively short book – more a novella I’d say at circa 50k words – and flits between two worlds: Hugh-land and Copsville. Hugh’s world is an interesting one, as you see a lot of his life from his own confused and skewed perspective: one minute he’s happily shopping and buying garlic, the next he’s freaking out at the automated till and then forgotten where he is or why he’s there. His psycholigical switches and memory lapses quickly show the reader that Hugh is not firing on all cylinders, but as the story progresses, very scarily he also seems to be very aware of his own flaws and a-human responses (particularly in his relationship with a certain young lady).

Very early in the book I started to get an American Psycho feel, with a nice British twist – and it certainly gave you this as things developed. One of my favourite things about Michael’s writing is his ability to ‘be real’ – he gets right into the heads of his characters, making their responses and thoughts very realistic – from the mundane to the outright terrifying, he seems to be able to ‘get people’ when he writes about them.

This style continues in the sections of the book revolving around Claire and Robert – ‘Copsville’ for me. The introduction of these other characters is nicely done in a ‘sliding doors’ type moment and there are several more of these tying the plot together as the story progresses. I think Robert is my favourite character in the book: he is the bacon sandwich king! Again he and Claire are very ‘real’ and I believed in their personal motivations, thoughts and actions as they are presented in the story. The banter and interplay between them feels genuine and – even on mundane subjects – the dialogue works well, all centred in the work-world they inhabit.

Overall Thoughts: 4* I really like Michael’s writing style; it’s clear, concise, often funny and I enjoy the realisim of his characters. As an extended piece – I’ve previously read his short stories – it works well and follows similar themes and ideas to his previous work. I enjoyed Underneath and it works as a thriller, but have to say I think I prefer something with a slightly more supernatural twist, like Borger the Bunny when Michael’s writing. (See my review for Shades of Grey, also my Michael Cargill here). Definitely recommend for a fast-paced, character-driven read with quirky British bits to smile at 🙂

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This review was originally posted at Mel Cusick-Jones’ author blog on 18th June 2012.