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cnannery19's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Murder, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cancer, Medical content, Pregnancy, Bullying, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Self harm, and Sexual assault
adamskiboy528491's review against another edition
5.0
“It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” - Lewis Carroll, Alice In Wonderland.
[b:The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder|35478989|The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder|Sarah J. Harris|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1509631846l/35478989._SX50_.jpg|56873365] by [a:Sarah J. Harris|6175223|Sarah J. Harris|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1526844459p2/6175223.jpg] is a very authentic murder mystery ever since I read Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Our main detective is written sharply & interprets a perfect canvas of the world around him.
Told through the eyes of Jasper, a 13-year-old boy who has Synaesthesia (he "sees" the world in colour, each sound has its individual & unique colour) & Prosopagnosia (he can't see faces, but can only recognise them through the colour of their voices), he immediately believes that he has murdered his neighbour, Bee Larkham. & what follows is Jasper looking back over the time leading up to her killing by repainting the colours that he has seen each day. As he puts his brush to canvas, we find ourselves dragged into an ever-darkening tale of secrets, obsession & deception.
The story is filled with colour, lots of details about parakeets & plenty of misunderstandings, which is the point. Unreliable narrators don't come better than Jasper, as we are looking through the eyes of our kaleidoscopic protagonist while he paints an exciting journey of wonder & darkness. If there is ever a film adaptation in the works, it should be animated - I can already imagine the beauty & texture of its art style.
sjg1703's review against another edition
4.0
I nearly gave up on this a few times in the first half, but finally it gripped me & then I couldn’t put it down.
hundredacreofbooks1990's review against another edition
2.0
In the tradition of the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, a captivating mystery about a boy with Synesthesia — a condition that causes him to see colours when he hears sounds — who tries to uncover what happened to his beautiful neighbour, and if he was ultimately responsible.
Thirteen-year-old Jasper Wishart lives in a world of dazzling colour that no one else can see, least of all his dad. Words, numbers, days of the week, people’s voices—everything has its own unique shade. But recently Jasper has been haunted by a colour he doesn’t like or understand: the colour of murder.
Convinced he’s done something terrible to his new neighbour, Bee Larkham, Jasper revisits the events of the last few months to paint the story of their relationship from the very beginning. As he struggles to untangle the knot of untrustworthy memories and colours that will lead him to the truth, it seems that there’s someone else out there determined to stop him — at any cost.
Both a refreshing coming-of-age story and an intriguing mystery, The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder is a poignant and unforgettable read—perfect for fans of bestselling authors such as Fredrick Backman and Graeme Simsion.
The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder was certainly unique in the way it was narrated and how it all unfolded to the reader. You are introduced into a world where colour is the centre of attention, rather then a specific character. The author really tried to showcase Autism and Synesthesia in their main character Jasper, 13, which was very interesting, and it was a unique way of displaying different disabilities in mainstream society.
I didn't connect with all of the characters like I was hoping I would, however I think Sarah J. Harris has done a wonderful job of painting a collection of different personas with flaws, skills, wants and problems. The challenges characters faced were realistic and dealt with in an appropriate time frame and manner for the plot line. Although I wasn't particularly captivated by the book, I found that I could still sympathise with Jasper as we both are living with a disability.
Given the length of the story and the continuous change in subjects, such as parakeets, his paintings, and Bee Larkham's constant demands; it made it difficult to enjoy reading as it felt more like a chore to finish, and I found my concentration wandering. I really wanted to immerse myself in Jasper Wisheart's world as I heard so much about the outline of this book, and i'm a sucker for bright bold cover art. However, I wasn't one hundred percent sold on trying to solve the story line myself, even though it was tied up nicely in the end.
I had great intentions of tucking into this book and getting lost in it's world. Sadly that wasn't the case as I felt as if it was tedious at times, and unorganised. With being such a blind book in the beginning, and with a confusing middle, the slow start will hopefully have you surprised and enthralled to be involved in Jasper's unique perception of life.
Ultimately I wasn't sold on the story and was unable to feel a lasting connection to the plot line or it's characters. I would recommend this to bookworms who are comfortable reading a slow paced novel, however I did not feel this to be suitable for young teenagers as it covers some intense subject matters including inappropriate age gap relationships, that even made me uncomfortable. I would like to think anyone who enjoys mystery, fiction, contemporary or crime genres will add this to their list.
Thirteen-year-old Jasper Wishart lives in a world of dazzling colour that no one else can see, least of all his dad. Words, numbers, days of the week, people’s voices—everything has its own unique shade. But recently Jasper has been haunted by a colour he doesn’t like or understand: the colour of murder.
Convinced he’s done something terrible to his new neighbour, Bee Larkham, Jasper revisits the events of the last few months to paint the story of their relationship from the very beginning. As he struggles to untangle the knot of untrustworthy memories and colours that will lead him to the truth, it seems that there’s someone else out there determined to stop him — at any cost.
Both a refreshing coming-of-age story and an intriguing mystery, The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder is a poignant and unforgettable read—perfect for fans of bestselling authors such as Fredrick Backman and Graeme Simsion.
The Colour of Bee Larkham's Murder was certainly unique in the way it was narrated and how it all unfolded to the reader. You are introduced into a world where colour is the centre of attention, rather then a specific character. The author really tried to showcase Autism and Synesthesia in their main character Jasper, 13, which was very interesting, and it was a unique way of displaying different disabilities in mainstream society.
I didn't connect with all of the characters like I was hoping I would, however I think Sarah J. Harris has done a wonderful job of painting a collection of different personas with flaws, skills, wants and problems. The challenges characters faced were realistic and dealt with in an appropriate time frame and manner for the plot line. Although I wasn't particularly captivated by the book, I found that I could still sympathise with Jasper as we both are living with a disability.
Given the length of the story and the continuous change in subjects, such as parakeets, his paintings, and Bee Larkham's constant demands; it made it difficult to enjoy reading as it felt more like a chore to finish, and I found my concentration wandering. I really wanted to immerse myself in Jasper Wisheart's world as I heard so much about the outline of this book, and i'm a sucker for bright bold cover art. However, I wasn't one hundred percent sold on trying to solve the story line myself, even though it was tied up nicely in the end.
I had great intentions of tucking into this book and getting lost in it's world. Sadly that wasn't the case as I felt as if it was tedious at times, and unorganised. With being such a blind book in the beginning, and with a confusing middle, the slow start will hopefully have you surprised and enthralled to be involved in Jasper's unique perception of life.
Ultimately I wasn't sold on the story and was unable to feel a lasting connection to the plot line or it's characters. I would recommend this to bookworms who are comfortable reading a slow paced novel, however I did not feel this to be suitable for young teenagers as it covers some intense subject matters including inappropriate age gap relationships, that even made me uncomfortable. I would like to think anyone who enjoys mystery, fiction, contemporary or crime genres will add this to their list.
aliciaxingram's review against another edition
4.0
a truly original voice telling a twisty and colourful story, slow in some places but immensely thrilling in others - very much like the curious incident of the dog in the night time by tackling more mature subjects
amberlinn's review against another edition
3.0
“My life is a thrilling kaleidoscope of colors only I can see.”
This was a VERY unique mystery. I loved having an autistic MC with synesthesia. It made for the most unique mystery reading experience where I couldn’t predict what was really going to happen because of experiencing it through Jaspers unique POV.
While there were times where I truly had no idea what Jasper was trying to communicate...that was the point, wasn’t it? Experiencing how difficult navigating the world, let alone trauma, must be for someone like Jasper.
Interestingly enough, this book drew attention to me to the damage that “normal” people can inflict and how often this is worse than those we deem “abnormal”.
Trigger warning: there is some TW content in this book which I feel like I can’t share without giving spoilers.
This was a VERY unique mystery. I loved having an autistic MC with synesthesia. It made for the most unique mystery reading experience where I couldn’t predict what was really going to happen because of experiencing it through Jaspers unique POV.
While there were times where I truly had no idea what Jasper was trying to communicate...that was the point, wasn’t it? Experiencing how difficult navigating the world, let alone trauma, must be for someone like Jasper.
Interestingly enough, this book drew attention to me to the damage that “normal” people can inflict and how often this is worse than those we deem “abnormal”.
Trigger warning: there is some TW content in this book which I feel like I can’t share without giving spoilers.
dogearedandfurry's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this. I have synesthesia too, albeit letter and numbers as colours. But the book dragged on, and dear lord I got sick to the back teeth of reading about how long everything too, the colour of absolutely every sound in the book, and the parakeets. Over and over and over again.
notesonbookmarks's review against another edition
2.0
10 days. 9 days to get actually interested in this book. And then one more day to finish it. Yeesh. I wanted to love it so much! I love the entire concept of this kid who doesn't process faces, but DOES process sound as color. I love that he did or saw something, and we're trying to piece it together with him, but his sensory processing differences make it so hard. I love that we don't know who to trust. But seriously, the build up and the development of the story is just not there. It shouldn't be this hard to get into something that otherwise has so many qualities that you know you'll love. I'm sorry to say that I can't recommend this one, because it just went too slow. But, if you feel like you've got interest in this type of story, hit me with other recommendations for the unreliable narrator/SPD combo, because I am FOR it!
another_typo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Cursing
Minor: Animal death, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Vomit