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A review by lyndajdickson
All That is Lost Between Us by Sara Foster
3.0
Seventeen-year-old Georgia, her cousin Sophia, and her friend Danny become victims of a hit-and-run driver as they walk home from a party one night. While Sophia ends up in hospital, Georgia suffers only minor injuries, thanks to Danny's quick actions. Things become complicated when Danny reveals his suspicion that this was no accident. With everyone in Georgia's family hiding a secret, and with her parents' marriage slowly imploding, it might just take a tragedy to bring this broken family back together again.
The story is told from the points-of-view of all four members of Georgia's family: Georgia herself, her mother Anya, her brother Zac, and her father Callum. Anya's version is told in the first person, while the others are told in the third person. There doesn't appear to be any valid reason for this distinction, except that maybe the author relates most closely to Anya. Anya's perspective, in particular, is overly-introspective, although there are some nice sentiments as she reflects on her first-born child leaving home soon - a situation echoed in my own current circumstances.
In telling her story, the author chooses to use the present tense, with flashbacks in the past tense. Unfortunately, this just doesn't work: the writing is clunky; the flashbacks are telling, not showing; and we hear the same story over and over again - first in the present tense from one point-of-view, then in the past tense from at least one other point-of-view. In addition, the whole story is told in excruciating detail, and none of the characters are remotely likable, with the exception of Danny and possibly Zac.
With all of these drawbacks, the author still manages to maintain suspense by slowly revealing each family member's secret. *Spoiler alert* She throws in a number of red-herrings throughout the story, only to introduce a twist right at the end that no one could possibly see coming; this felt like cheating to me, and I was ultimately left unsatisfied.
While the premise is interesting, this one fails in the execution.
I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Full blog post: https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com/2016/02/all-that-is-lost-between-us-by-sara-foster.html
The story is told from the points-of-view of all four members of Georgia's family: Georgia herself, her mother Anya, her brother Zac, and her father Callum. Anya's version is told in the first person, while the others are told in the third person. There doesn't appear to be any valid reason for this distinction, except that maybe the author relates most closely to Anya. Anya's perspective, in particular, is overly-introspective, although there are some nice sentiments as she reflects on her first-born child leaving home soon - a situation echoed in my own current circumstances.
In telling her story, the author chooses to use the present tense, with flashbacks in the past tense. Unfortunately, this just doesn't work: the writing is clunky; the flashbacks are telling, not showing; and we hear the same story over and over again - first in the present tense from one point-of-view, then in the past tense from at least one other point-of-view. In addition, the whole story is told in excruciating detail, and none of the characters are remotely likable, with the exception of Danny and possibly Zac.
With all of these drawbacks, the author still manages to maintain suspense by slowly revealing each family member's secret. *Spoiler alert* She throws in a number of red-herrings throughout the story, only to introduce a twist right at the end that no one could possibly see coming; this felt like cheating to me, and I was ultimately left unsatisfied.
While the premise is interesting, this one fails in the execution.
I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Full blog post: https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com/2016/02/all-that-is-lost-between-us-by-sara-foster.html