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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
verosnotebook's review against another edition
4.0
“Nothing is ever quite enough. No matter who you are, there’s always something more to be had, which could be yours if only you were someone else.”
Feeling a bit perplexed...
On one hand, I absolutely loved this novel, especially the idea at its core of 'ghosts' inhabiting people's bodies as skins, jumping from one person to another on a whim. Not only is it gripping, catching your attention pretty quickly on, but it raises many questions too (identity and gender the most obvious), such as what makes these entities 'tick' when nothing that we value is relevant to them. Considering all this, North succeeds in portraying Kepler and indeed the others in a very effective way. The thriller aspect is very well handled too, with a break-neck race through Europe, actions scenes, but also slower, more reflective and poignant sections.
However... I did find it sometimes really hard to connect with some of the skins and their stories, which is weird because they were all interesting. I guess having a main character that doesn't just inhabit a person, but takes on their attributes, can be confusing? I'm at a loss.
Anyway, on the whole a very good read :O)
Feeling a bit perplexed...
On one hand, I absolutely loved this novel, especially the idea at its core of 'ghosts' inhabiting people's bodies as skins, jumping from one person to another on a whim. Not only is it gripping, catching your attention pretty quickly on, but it raises many questions too (identity and gender the most obvious), such as what makes these entities 'tick' when nothing that we value is relevant to them. Considering all this, North succeeds in portraying Kepler and indeed the others in a very effective way. The thriller aspect is very well handled too, with a break-neck race through Europe, actions scenes, but also slower, more reflective and poignant sections.
However... I did find it sometimes really hard to connect with some of the skins and their stories, which is weird because they were all interesting. I guess having a main character that doesn't just inhabit a person, but takes on their attributes, can be confusing? I'm at a loss.
Anyway, on the whole a very good read :O)
rebekka_m's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ibegyourpardon's review against another edition
4.5
This goes to show that a talented writer can put a unique and engrossing spin on a less than unique idea. I have come across the concept of a parasitic life form that can jump from person to person before (one of the perspectives of David Mitchell’s ghostwritten, for example) but North still captured my imagination by thinking every little part of the fabula out to its logical conclusion. Not just the practical considerations of how the so-called ghosts can procure money, or how you can prevent yourself from being possessed, but the emotional and spiritual ramifications of being such a parasite and of having one take over your life. At its heart, it’s a modern vampire story; the same dynamics are at play. The relentless quest for survival at the expense of other human beings, the beguiling fantasy of becoming this powerful, quasi immortal being that can do whatever it wants whenever it wants, the connection between the creatures and Demons of old and the religious fervour that their enemies pursue them with, the time spanning narrative, the quest to produce children and to be understood by another being a few of the only things that these creatures cannot accomplish – All of this would be right at home in a vampire: the masquerade campaign.
We’re north set self apart from lesser contributors to the vampire meth is in her pros style and characterisation. For some, the scattershot, constantly shifting perspectives was a drawback, it took them out of the narrative. For me it works perfectly, each jump or switch feeling natural and smooth (except for those moments that are deliberately disconcerting – the twin hosting in the Miami docks being a particular highlight). North writing is wonderfully vivid, and she describes all of the different locations with such a confidence that I genuinely don’t understand how someone who was so young when they wrote this book could have travelled and experienced so many places. She has either spent most of her life as a tourist or she has a bravery and shamelessness to make a vicarious judgements through films and photographs that I could never imagine. Whatever the truth is, it really works.
Kepler, our somewhat nameless protagonist (the name Kepler is not one they choose for themselves) is a wonderfully beguiling protagonist. What they are doing so clearly crosses ethical boundaries and ruins peoples lives from a utilitarian perspective, let alone their autonomy and sense of self that the victims lose even if they are completely unaware of their possession. And yet you cannot help but admire this creatures tenacity and staying alive, even if it has to lie to itself that it loves its hosts to do so.
The plot is riveting for the most part. I’ve read that some people found the middle to be a bit flabby, but I didn’t think so. If I have one big criticism, it’s that the climax did not really pay off. For one, I thought the revelation of who is behind (or at least partially bank rolling) The Aquarius organisation didn’t make a whole lot of sense, as I can’t see how this person could have set up this organisation in the timeframe presented. Secondly, and more frustratingly, I didn’t find the mind games at the possession equivalent of a Mexican stand-off believable at all. So the ending is a little disappointing, but the journey is more than worth it. I need to reread the first 15 lives of Harry August and read Claire North’s other fiction at some point in the future.
mahjabinmeem's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars.
Claire North is just full of amazing and unique ideas! All her books have such intriguing premises, and they don't fail to deliver. This is my first Claire North book and I'm thoroughly impressed. Claire North writes books that often don't fall into a certain genre. I'll classify this as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Thriller.
Most of the time thrillers have average writing with minimal character development(except psychological thrillers) because most of the writer's focus goes into developing the plot. But Touch has all these elements balanced out beautifully. The writing is flowing yet quite crisp at the same time which I think suited the tone and the pace of the book perfectly. The pacing differs throughout the book but never lags. Its not a very action packed book, compared to mainstream thrillers.
The strongest part of this book is the characters in my opinion. Because our main character jumps from so many body to body, we get beautiful and descriptive insights into various different personalities. Reading this book will fill you with a sense of longing and melancholia. It shows that love can come in any shape or size or form. There are some beautiful historical elements in the book also which I always appreciate.
The timeline of this book is not linear. It jumps from past to present many times. The story is told from a "1st person" pov. I loved the voice of Kepler. With its uniqueness and excellent writing, this book just stole my heart. I highly highly recommend this to everyone. I know sometimes we are reluctant to pick up a fairly unknown book on someone's random recommendation, but trust me on this. Give it a try. This book deserves this much at least with its originality and fresh ideas.
"Have you been losing time?"Kepler is a "Ghost". An entity which can switch its consciousness from body to body just by touching. Kepler means these host bodies no harm — and even comes to cherish them intimately like lovers. But when one host, Josephine Cebula, is brutally assassinated, Kepler embarks on a mission to seek the truth — and avenge Josephine’s death.
Claire North is just full of amazing and unique ideas! All her books have such intriguing premises, and they don't fail to deliver. This is my first Claire North book and I'm thoroughly impressed. Claire North writes books that often don't fall into a certain genre. I'll classify this as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Thriller.
Most of the time thrillers have average writing with minimal character development(except psychological thrillers) because most of the writer's focus goes into developing the plot. But Touch has all these elements balanced out beautifully. The writing is flowing yet quite crisp at the same time which I think suited the tone and the pace of the book perfectly. The pacing differs throughout the book but never lags. Its not a very action packed book, compared to mainstream thrillers.
The strongest part of this book is the characters in my opinion. Because our main character jumps from so many body to body, we get beautiful and descriptive insights into various different personalities. Reading this book will fill you with a sense of longing and melancholia. It shows that love can come in any shape or size or form. There are some beautiful historical elements in the book also which I always appreciate.
The timeline of this book is not linear. It jumps from past to present many times. The story is told from a "1st person" pov. I loved the voice of Kepler. With its uniqueness and excellent writing, this book just stole my heart. I highly highly recommend this to everyone. I know sometimes we are reluctant to pick up a fairly unknown book on someone's random recommendation, but trust me on this. Give it a try. This book deserves this much at least with its originality and fresh ideas.
thedjentleman's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
rhyttinen's review against another edition
5.0
I loved another book by this author, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, so I was excited when this book came to my attention, as it sounded right up my alley.
Touch is a unique sci-fi/thriller/espionage story that follows an entity known as Kepler, who is referred to as a “ghost”; that is to say, a being who has the ability to jump from one body to another, basically, hijacking the other person’s body. The ghost then lives that person’s life: it drives the person’s car, is married to the person’s spouse, can spend the person’s money, and have sex using the person’s body. The person whose body they take over (the host) is pushed aside and has no memory of anything that has occurred while the ghost is in control. Ghosts can leave a body at any time by simply touching a different person, and the only thing ghosts leave behind when they move on is bewilderment and confusion.
The story takes off when the host body that Kepler was wearing, Josephine Cebula, is brutally murdered. The kicker is that the assassin was not only out to kill Josephine but also Kepler. Kepler now occupies the assassin’s body and is determined to find out the truth about who or what is behind the assassination — and why.
This story kind of reminded me of Every Day by David Levithan, in which the entity wakes up in a new body every day, except they have no control over who they occupy. In this story, our main characters can jump into any body they want, whenever they want.
I loved the original premise of this story, of how the ghosts can live any type of life they want. They can be whoever they want, look however they want and go wherever they want. If you want to, you could be a movie star or even a leader of a country.
Of course, this isn’t so great for the hosts, who can lose days, months, years, or even an entire lifetime to a ghost. Imagine that you’re seventeen-years-old and shake hands with a stranger. The next thing you know, you’re 77 with children and grandchildren, and you don’t remember any of the prior 60 years. So in this way, the story deals with the morality, implications, and ramifications of wearing someone else’s body. Many interesting moral issues were brought up throughout the book, especially those such as free will, identity, and the nature of love. It also raised some interesting questions about the nature of reality.
Have you ever found yourself in another room and forgot why you’re there? Hmm…perhaps a ghost just took a ride in your skin.
I loved the depth in which the author examined the life of a ghost and found it utterly compelling and fascinating. We learned how such an untethered soul survives by stealing the consciousness of others and are, in essence, immortal (unless their host dies before they can touch another person). It struck me that, in a way, Kepler and their kind are a sort of “parasite” and one can certainly understand someone’s desire to eradicate such beings. And that’s the interesting aspect of this story; that though ghosts are indeed parasites, they are also people.
Regardless, however, there are those who hate and fear ghosts and consider them to be nothing more than monsters who steal people’s lives and deserve to be eliminated. But the villain in this story — a serial killer — has motivations much grander and more dangerous than merely eliminating ghosts.
Even though there was quite a bit of body jumping going on in the story as well as numerous flashbacks, I was never confused. I loved journeying along with Kepler as they described their mesmerizing life, both in the past and present. I found this fast-paced story to be so addicting that, even though the book was over 400 pages, I tore through it in two sittings. The gripping storyline and the short chapters helped in that manner.
All in all, this story ranks up among my favorites, especially with its likable yet morally gray protagonist. The writing is beautiful, the plot is utterly unique and engaging, and the story execution flawless. This dark and brilliant story really took me by surprise and did not disappoint. Loved it!
Touch is a unique sci-fi/thriller/espionage story that follows an entity known as Kepler, who is referred to as a “ghost”; that is to say, a being who has the ability to jump from one body to another, basically, hijacking the other person’s body. The ghost then lives that person’s life: it drives the person’s car, is married to the person’s spouse, can spend the person’s money, and have sex using the person’s body. The person whose body they take over (the host) is pushed aside and has no memory of anything that has occurred while the ghost is in control. Ghosts can leave a body at any time by simply touching a different person, and the only thing ghosts leave behind when they move on is bewilderment and confusion.
The story takes off when the host body that Kepler was wearing, Josephine Cebula, is brutally murdered. The kicker is that the assassin was not only out to kill Josephine but also Kepler. Kepler now occupies the assassin’s body and is determined to find out the truth about who or what is behind the assassination — and why.
This story kind of reminded me of Every Day by David Levithan, in which the entity wakes up in a new body every day, except they have no control over who they occupy. In this story, our main characters can jump into any body they want, whenever they want.
I loved the original premise of this story, of how the ghosts can live any type of life they want. They can be whoever they want, look however they want and go wherever they want. If you want to, you could be a movie star or even a leader of a country.
Of course, this isn’t so great for the hosts, who can lose days, months, years, or even an entire lifetime to a ghost. Imagine that you’re seventeen-years-old and shake hands with a stranger. The next thing you know, you’re 77 with children and grandchildren, and you don’t remember any of the prior 60 years. So in this way, the story deals with the morality, implications, and ramifications of wearing someone else’s body. Many interesting moral issues were brought up throughout the book, especially those such as free will, identity, and the nature of love. It also raised some interesting questions about the nature of reality.
Have you ever found yourself in another room and forgot why you’re there? Hmm…perhaps a ghost just took a ride in your skin.
I loved the depth in which the author examined the life of a ghost and found it utterly compelling and fascinating. We learned how such an untethered soul survives by stealing the consciousness of others and are, in essence, immortal (unless their host dies before they can touch another person). It struck me that, in a way, Kepler and their kind are a sort of “parasite” and one can certainly understand someone’s desire to eradicate such beings. And that’s the interesting aspect of this story; that though ghosts are indeed parasites, they are also people.
Regardless, however, there are those who hate and fear ghosts and consider them to be nothing more than monsters who steal people’s lives and deserve to be eliminated. But the villain in this story — a serial killer — has motivations much grander and more dangerous than merely eliminating ghosts.
Even though there was quite a bit of body jumping going on in the story as well as numerous flashbacks, I was never confused. I loved journeying along with Kepler as they described their mesmerizing life, both in the past and present. I found this fast-paced story to be so addicting that, even though the book was over 400 pages, I tore through it in two sittings. The gripping storyline and the short chapters helped in that manner.
All in all, this story ranks up among my favorites, especially with its likable yet morally gray protagonist. The writing is beautiful, the plot is utterly unique and engaging, and the story execution flawless. This dark and brilliant story really took me by surprise and did not disappoint. Loved it!
guavagoblin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
sokerchick's review against another edition
4.0
Great book. Very interesting and unique concept. I like this authors writing style generically although I can see how someone find it a bit jumpy. Not quite as good as first 15 lives but excellent nonetheless.
shag3rh0us3n's review against another edition
1.0
The concept of the storyline is great, but I personally did not care for the writing style. The constant back and forth was confusing and variety of “ghost” characters and identity changes made it hard to follow.
thewildyarden's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75