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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
This is the first Richard and Judy Summer Book Club 2013 that I have read this year and I think it was a great first read. Especially as I actually read it on holiday ☺.
Katie and Mia are two very different sisters. Katie is the sensible, must do it right one (sounds a bit like me!) and Mia is the more reckless of the two, the one that just does what she likes, but knows at the same time that she is mucking things up.
The story is told from Katie and Mia’s viewpoints- each chapter alternates between them. I like it when stories do this as it really gives the reader a true understanding of the main characters and their relationships with each other. It was also really interesting to see the aftermath of conversations and arguments the characters had had with each other when alone.
Mia sees Katie as the sensible one and always thought that Katie was better than her in everyway. There was always a niggling doubt in Mia’s mind about how they could possibly be related. Katie on the other hand just can’t seem to understand why her sister acts so aloof and unfeeling at one point exclaiming ‘I don’t know who you are.”
I thought the below sentence really summed up the older-younger sister relationship (from the older sister’s perspective):
“I was handed the role of older sister: sensible, protective reliable. You were handed younger sister: wild, independent, selfish”.
I thought the author got the sister relationship across extremely well as it was almost like she was describing the relationship I have with my younger sister. (Since she’s had a baby though we get on much better ☺).
Because I think I am more like Katie as a character at the beginning of the story, I found Mia’s recklessness so frustrating and I could feel myself tensing when she was just making snap decisions to go places and not really seeming to worry about the consequences or the money involved. I liked though that the reader was able to see what exactly was going through Mia’s mind, something that sadly Katie did not learn until too late.
I thought the journal idea was great as it helped the reader and Katie get to know and understand Mia better. Without the journal I think Mia’s character would have stayed aloof, so this was brilliant idea from Lucy Clarke.
When I read the Q&A at the back of the book I discovered that the author really had been the places described in the book, and I could see how well this had come across in her writing. She had made the places really come alive for me. I thought the author really got the feeling for the hot countries across and I could even feel the warmth of the places portrayed in her writing and really felt like I was there.
I genuinely enjoyed reading this. I kept wanting to know where the novel would take me next and at times wondered where the author was going to go from there.
This was a great debut novel from Lucy Clarke and I am really looking forward to more from her.
Katie and Mia are two very different sisters. Katie is the sensible, must do it right one (sounds a bit like me!) and Mia is the more reckless of the two, the one that just does what she likes, but knows at the same time that she is mucking things up.
The story is told from Katie and Mia’s viewpoints- each chapter alternates between them. I like it when stories do this as it really gives the reader a true understanding of the main characters and their relationships with each other. It was also really interesting to see the aftermath of conversations and arguments the characters had had with each other when alone.
Mia sees Katie as the sensible one and always thought that Katie was better than her in everyway. There was always a niggling doubt in Mia’s mind about how they could possibly be related. Katie on the other hand just can’t seem to understand why her sister acts so aloof and unfeeling at one point exclaiming ‘I don’t know who you are.”
I thought the below sentence really summed up the older-younger sister relationship (from the older sister’s perspective):
“I was handed the role of older sister: sensible, protective reliable. You were handed younger sister: wild, independent, selfish”.
I thought the author got the sister relationship across extremely well as it was almost like she was describing the relationship I have with my younger sister. (Since she’s had a baby though we get on much better ☺).
Because I think I am more like Katie as a character at the beginning of the story, I found Mia’s recklessness so frustrating and I could feel myself tensing when she was just making snap decisions to go places and not really seeming to worry about the consequences or the money involved. I liked though that the reader was able to see what exactly was going through Mia’s mind, something that sadly Katie did not learn until too late.
I thought the journal idea was great as it helped the reader and Katie get to know and understand Mia better. Without the journal I think Mia’s character would have stayed aloof, so this was brilliant idea from Lucy Clarke.
When I read the Q&A at the back of the book I discovered that the author really had been the places described in the book, and I could see how well this had come across in her writing. She had made the places really come alive for me. I thought the author really got the feeling for the hot countries across and I could even feel the warmth of the places portrayed in her writing and really felt like I was there.
I genuinely enjoyed reading this. I kept wanting to know where the novel would take me next and at times wondered where the author was going to go from there.
This was a great debut novel from Lucy Clarke and I am really looking forward to more from her.
This book is so good! I got swept away in the story many times. It was a little difficult getting into the sisters' descriptions, but only because the timing was different (one being past and other being present). It was really moving to read from each perspective though, and always feel like you're getting a first-hand account.
Huge thank you to the Clarington Public Library for getting this book (a brand new copy, no less) for me to carry on my reading love affair with Lucy Clarke!
Huge thank you to the Clarington Public Library for getting this book (a brand new copy, no less) for me to carry on my reading love affair with Lucy Clarke!
3.5 stars
A quick, intriguing read about two sisters, one who mysteriously commits suicide while traveling and the other left to mourn and find out what would cause her younger sister to do such a thing. It took a few chapters for me to get into the story but since it alternates between the two sisters, in past and present, it helps to keep the story going and I couldn't put it down.
A quick, intriguing read about two sisters, one who mysteriously commits suicide while traveling and the other left to mourn and find out what would cause her younger sister to do such a thing. It took a few chapters for me to get into the story but since it alternates between the two sisters, in past and present, it helps to keep the story going and I couldn't put it down.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
This was a good, quick read, though I had hoped to be more surprised by the plot twists. I enjoyed Lucy Clark's prose, for the most part, and wanted to keep reading on to find out what happened. I thought Mia deserved a hell of a lot better than her ending, though, and was a bit disappointed by the message of it.
Abandoned this book about a third of the way into it. Not horrible, but I've seen these plot points done better. There were comparisons to Sister, which I really liked, but I didn't think the writing was on the same level. Too many other bookfish in the sea.
Originally known as 'The Sea Sisters'. I picked this up with fairly low expectations, tbh, but found myself totally absorbed. A story about sisters, the sea, the sun and grief. Well written, but with that slightly unbelievable ending too many books have.
Whether the fact I was travelling with my sister, reading the book between train stops and swims in the sea influenced my love of this book I don't know - but I suspect it would have read differently on a rainy uk winter's day!
Whether the fact I was travelling with my sister, reading the book between train stops and swims in the sea influenced my love of this book I don't know - but I suspect it would have read differently on a rainy uk winter's day!
This was captivating enough, if not a bit long-winded at times. I much preferred Mia's chapters, even though I could feel and understand Katie's grief and actions in hers. The male characters were, as a whole, meh. I wasn't totally sold on the conclusion and its reveals, but the ultimate answer to "what happened" wasn't the sole purpose of this book, so I wasn't too bothered. The family dynamics were really nicely done and, yeah, read this book for the sisters and not for the men or the mystery.