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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
The front of this book presents it as a thriller, but I didn't experience it that way. (In fact, I listened to the first 2/3 of the book on my phone and was surprised when I switched to the print copy and saw "thriller" on the cover.) There IS a murder (which was not particularly difficult for me to figure out once Kavanaugh revealed the connections among the characters), but I didn't find it to be a particularly engaging part of the story.
What I did like was the way Kavanaugh presented characters dealing with trauma and grief. Most of her characters are flawed, and I didn't always like the choices they made, but they felt real--particularly Celia, Jim, and Tom.
What I did like was the way Kavanaugh presented characters dealing with trauma and grief. Most of her characters are flawed, and I didn't always like the choices they made, but they felt real--particularly Celia, Jim, and Tom.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a cracker - told from various different, but interconnected and surprisingly easy to follow, narrative viewpoints with an undercurrent of "Falling" throughout.
The lives of several people intersect in this novel. Cecilia, who has just left her husband, Tom Allison, is one of the few survivors of a plane crash. She returns to her home with Tom and considers what to do while Tom, a police detective, investigates the murder of Libby, the daughter of Jim Hanover, a retired police superintendent. At the same time, Freya Blake, the daughter of the plane’s pilot who perished in the crash, becomes obsessed with why the plane crashed.
Multiple points of view are used – those of Cecilia, Tom, Jim, and Freya. As a result, there is considerable character development as we learn the background of each narrator. What becomes especially clear is how a character’s past determines behaviour in the present. Tom, for example, refuses to do something because of what his father did in the past and how it impacted his life. Likewise, Freya has difficulty with relationships because of the type of relationship her parents had. Cecilia has issues because of trauma experienced years earlier. The author succeeds in making the characters realistic and believable.
Cecilia is the one character with whom I take exception. What happened to her in the past was certainly traumatic and she should definitely have received counselling after the plane crash, but she is so self-centred and self-pitying. Yet it is not just that she is unlikeable. Given what happened to her, it is unbelievable that she had any relationship with men, much less a sexual one and a marriage. She married Tom and then her past came back to haunt her?
There is a mystery involved as expected in a book tagged as a psychological thriller. Who killed Libby? This mystery most readers will probably solve about half way through. There is more to the book, however. It is its examination of relationships and parenting and their influence that most maintained my interest, though there is, of course, interest in finding out how the stories of the four narrators will converge.
The novel’s style could use some tweaking. There is annoying repetition of certain phrases, for example: “skin still crawling with the thought of Eddie,” “her skin alive, crawling,” “Skin crawling,” and “her skin crawling with impatience.” The smell of cinnamon is present everywhere: “The kitchen smelled of sugar and cinnamon” (Jim’s narration), “It smelled of sugar and cinnamon” (Tom’s narration), “a waft of cinnamon” (Freya’s narration), and “The smell of bread baking, cinnamon and honey” (Freya’s narration).
Another stylistic technique that may be disconcerting to the reader is the very abrupt shifts in time. Often it is only the change to the past perfect tense that indicates a flashback; it is the suddenness of these time shifts, sometimes in the middle of a paragraph, that is jarring.
The book examines how people cope when life causes them to stumble and fall. Cecilia literally falls out of the sky, but she fell and lost her way long before the actual plane crash. Tom stumbles through life because of a decision he made concerning Cecilia and their son. Faced with the death of his only daughter, Jim continues to “stand, even though all he wants to do is fall.” Though the novel is bleak at times, there is recognition that “you have to fall before you can begin to climb again.” And a bird may seem “Like it was falling” but may “Not [be] falling then. Flying.”
Despite its stylistic weaknesses, this book is worth reading. It has well-developed characters and thematic depth, showing how actions taken and decisions made by a person affect others in both the present and future. Those actions and decisions may well influence how a person copes after he/she falls.
Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
Multiple points of view are used – those of Cecilia, Tom, Jim, and Freya. As a result, there is considerable character development as we learn the background of each narrator. What becomes especially clear is how a character’s past determines behaviour in the present. Tom, for example, refuses to do something because of what his father did in the past and how it impacted his life. Likewise, Freya has difficulty with relationships because of the type of relationship her parents had. Cecilia has issues because of trauma experienced years earlier. The author succeeds in making the characters realistic and believable.
Cecilia is the one character with whom I take exception. What happened to her in the past was certainly traumatic and she should definitely have received counselling after the plane crash, but she is so self-centred and self-pitying. Yet it is not just that she is unlikeable. Given what happened to her, it is unbelievable that she had any relationship with men, much less a sexual one and a marriage. She married Tom and then her past came back to haunt her?
There is a mystery involved as expected in a book tagged as a psychological thriller. Who killed Libby? This mystery most readers will probably solve about half way through. There is more to the book, however. It is its examination of relationships and parenting and their influence that most maintained my interest, though there is, of course, interest in finding out how the stories of the four narrators will converge.
The novel’s style could use some tweaking. There is annoying repetition of certain phrases, for example: “skin still crawling with the thought of Eddie,” “her skin alive, crawling,” “Skin crawling,” and “her skin crawling with impatience.” The smell of cinnamon is present everywhere: “The kitchen smelled of sugar and cinnamon” (Jim’s narration), “It smelled of sugar and cinnamon” (Tom’s narration), “a waft of cinnamon” (Freya’s narration), and “The smell of bread baking, cinnamon and honey” (Freya’s narration).
Another stylistic technique that may be disconcerting to the reader is the very abrupt shifts in time. Often it is only the change to the past perfect tense that indicates a flashback; it is the suddenness of these time shifts, sometimes in the middle of a paragraph, that is jarring.
The book examines how people cope when life causes them to stumble and fall. Cecilia literally falls out of the sky, but she fell and lost her way long before the actual plane crash. Tom stumbles through life because of a decision he made concerning Cecilia and their son. Faced with the death of his only daughter, Jim continues to “stand, even though all he wants to do is fall.” Though the novel is bleak at times, there is recognition that “you have to fall before you can begin to climb again.” And a bird may seem “Like it was falling” but may “Not [be] falling then. Flying.”
Despite its stylistic weaknesses, this book is worth reading. It has well-developed characters and thematic depth, showing how actions taken and decisions made by a person affect others in both the present and future. Those actions and decisions may well influence how a person copes after he/she falls.
Note: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
This book did not capture my attention the way that I wanted it to, I found it really hard to care about the characters throughout the book. There were too many different points of view and not enough transition between the viewpoints in some chapters. I also found it hard to figure out what time frame some of the chapters were referring to. I will say I did not see the end coming, and I believe that was the saving grace for this novel.
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
God I loved this book. The way the four different points of views from each character overlapped. The twists and turns I speculated on but could not confirm. I didn’t expect for it to be Richard or for Oliver to be involved but wow. Each of these characters are tremendously flawed. I cried reading Cecilia’s rape and loved Maisie so much. I also thought the way Tom and Cecilia’s relationship progressed to a point that both could accept was so good. Oliver though, I can’t like him no matter what. He just did things he shouldn’t have over and over again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Murder
Moderate: Death, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy
Minor: Child death
"After We Fall" was my first book by Emma Kavanagh, though I've been thinking her mysteries sounded very intriguing for a while. I got this book very cheaply as an audiobook, and perhaps this was a mistake. The narrator in this case, has such a huge role in how the book comes across, and unfortunately, it wasn't terribly good for me.
The premise is actually very interesting, and I am always curious about authors weaving together strands of a story through multiple POVs. I felt that the narrator of this book just didn't bring across the emotion the difficult story should have evoked in its characters. The first half was a little slow and I have to admit, I was confused more than once about who was who and the time jumps. This became clearer near the second half, by which time the pace had also picked up. Based on the second half, I would give the book four stars, but as a whole, including the lackluster narration, I can't quite go that far.
Kavanagh has a nice writing style and the way she fleshed out her characters was effective, so I am curious to read another book by her (this time no audio for me, I think;-) and see how I like it. I ordered "Hidden" ages ago, and look forward to see how this next book by Emma Kavanagh measures up.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
The premise is actually very interesting, and I am always curious about authors weaving together strands of a story through multiple POVs. I felt that the narrator of this book just didn't bring across the emotion the difficult story should have evoked in its characters. The first half was a little slow and I have to admit, I was confused more than once about who was who and the time jumps. This became clearer near the second half, by which time the pace had also picked up. Based on the second half, I would give the book four stars, but as a whole, including the lackluster narration, I can't quite go that far.
Kavanagh has a nice writing style and the way she fleshed out her characters was effective, so I am curious to read another book by her (this time no audio for me, I think;-) and see how I like it. I ordered "Hidden" ages ago, and look forward to see how this next book by Emma Kavanagh measures up.
Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com
very well-written and atmospheric. a little "slow" in parts, but i enjoyed the author's deliberate character-building sequences. great narration.
I wasn't sure if this was a 2.5 or 3* read for me.
The beginning was kind of confusing since I was trying to figure out who all the people were and how they were connected. The middle was very slow and I contemplated giving up.... However, I really
The beginning was kind of confusing since I was trying to figure out who all the people were and how they were connected. The middle was very slow and I contemplated giving up.... However, I really