Friday, June 29, 2012
This Is Not Forgiveness, by Celia Rees
Everyone says Caro is bad, but Jamie can't help himself. She is totally different from the other girls.But he soon realizes there is more to Caro—much more. Consider: How she disappears for days at a time, or the scars on her wrists, or her talk of revolution and taking action. Jamie's also worried about his older brother Rob. Back from Afghanistan and struggling with PTSD, Rob is living in a world of his own. Which is why it's so strange that Rob and Caro know one another—and why their secrets feel so very dangerous.
With Caro, the summer should have been perfect ... but that isn't how things work out in real life, and Jamie is going to find out the hard way.
No holds barred. This book is really rather awesome. Rees doesn't sugarcoat, doesn't even provide hope. It just is what it is...and real life is that way, too.
It's really deep, with some intense undertones in the back story that shape the front line of the story, thought somewhere along the way you wind up not really sure which story is meant to be the central story line. It's so webbed and interconnected that there isn't just one main line.
NetGalley has this book tagged as "Family and Everyday Life." That's baloney. Short of the "boy meets girl" aspect, there is absolutely nothing "everyday" about this book. The effect of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on a family is harrowing, frightening. And all too vivid a story line.
Rees has, frankly, done it again. This story is in a different vein from other books I've read from her, but it's masterful.
***Note, the print release of this title isn't due in the US until October 2012, though it was previously released in the UK much earlier. However, in researching that publication date, I did find that you can purchase paperback copies of the UK print through Amazon-affiliated book sellers. Also, the Kindle version appears to be available.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Bloomsbury Children's Books through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Creative Commons
This work is licensed by Jennifer Turney under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
0 thoughts:
Post a Comment