A review by francesmthompson
Him by Clare Empson

2.0

Wanted to like it, the way the main character was in an institution all mute and unavailable in the present day and yet had this strong internal dialogue that seemed very sane, but as the story went on (and the internal dialogue didn't flipping stop!) and the twists rolled out I felt they weren't worth the wait or build-up and likewise, the main character's muteness and disconnection from the world felt very unbelievable. However, this is no reflection on the author or the book itself as I just do generally struggle with this genre that seems to have too much inner dialogue that doesn't just ignore the whole "show don't tell" approach to writing it practically sticks up two fingers at it. It's just not my cup of tea I think... so I should probably not get tempted by 99p offers on Kindle - that is the lesson to be learnt here!