Oh my god. I've been putting off reading this for a while, thinking it might be a little twee. I've had to re-read twilight to get my head around it.
It's about these two girls who're groomed by their teacher when they're 15. As the book goes on the reminisce about all the awful things he made them do, or the awful things he did to them. It's set 20 years in the future, because there was one night where something went wrong and he ended up dead. Only one of the girls was found guilty, so it's set at the time for her release.
It's a little hard to read, she's not graphic, but she paints this picture of innocence throughout so the juxtaposition of what happened to them and the way they were is that much harder.
However ... the ending jarred for me. I mean, the character I thought had killed him did, but the final chapter, the 'what really happened' chapter, was in first person, in the teacher's voice. Which is fair enough, but he talks the same throughout and after the murder. Something doesn't work for me. Third person would've been better, because although the writer obviously did her research on victims, she hasn't got into his mind enough, not really. If the end had been in third person, she wouldn't have had to worry about it, it would've left a mystery more, you know?
Monday, 11 October 2010
Sunday, 3 October 2010
Vanished
So, I finally got around to reading the latest Billings book released here. God it's gone downhill.
I mean, compared to the fact the lead character was always being manipulated or blackmailed or just put in mortal danger. I liked that aspect of the books, it was unintentionally funny.
But this book ... it felt like Kate Brian had disassociated with Reed a little. The panic was written, but I didn't feel it. The paranoia and blaming her friends for sabotage didn't feel as convincing.
But fine, I could take that Noelle was kidnapped. I could take that it turns out Noelle and Reed were in fact half sisters. I could take all that, but the little twist at the end is the thing that's pissed me off.
Reed and Noelle found a spellbook. The original Billings girls were witches.
WTF? Sorry, I read these books because they weren't witch-type books (actually, I read because the blurb on private sounds a little like the concept I'm working on, so it was technically market research) and now, after like, thirteen books, they're about witches?
I'll still read the 14th book, the Billings book of Spells. Since I want the whole story. But I won't enjoy the witchcraft aspect easily. If I wanted The Worst Witch that's what I'll read.
I mean, compared to the fact the lead character was always being manipulated or blackmailed or just put in mortal danger. I liked that aspect of the books, it was unintentionally funny.
But this book ... it felt like Kate Brian had disassociated with Reed a little. The panic was written, but I didn't feel it. The paranoia and blaming her friends for sabotage didn't feel as convincing.
But fine, I could take that Noelle was kidnapped. I could take that it turns out Noelle and Reed were in fact half sisters. I could take all that, but the little twist at the end is the thing that's pissed me off.
Reed and Noelle found a spellbook. The original Billings girls were witches.
WTF? Sorry, I read these books because they weren't witch-type books (actually, I read because the blurb on private sounds a little like the concept I'm working on, so it was technically market research) and now, after like, thirteen books, they're about witches?
I'll still read the 14th book, the Billings book of Spells. Since I want the whole story. But I won't enjoy the witchcraft aspect easily. If I wanted The Worst Witch that's what I'll read.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)