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A review by redhead_haze
Clawing Free by Josh Roberts
5.0
“You attempt to better understand that which you can’t explain. As to whether you can control it, that’s still an unknown. But the closer you come to knowing a thing, the less likely you are to let it control you.”
First of all, I want to thank Josh Roberts for this ARC; it was the book I didn't know I needed and proved to be exactly the right experience at the right time.
The story follows the events from a small town from Colorado, where the only thing out of the ordinary is the monster that is said to reside in the Diamond Lake. After the mysterious death of Mia and her friends, 11 years prior, Lissy lives a solitary life, mourning her sister and isolating herself as much as possible from the people around her. But when she discovers a new body, with the same claw marks her sister's body had presented and weird dark visions start messing with her head, she needs to face the reality and ask herself if there might be more to the rumors and legends than she originally thought.
“Why couldn’t there be something out there that you wouldn’t find in a textbook? There’ve been new creatures found before. We know for a fact that the ocean is full of animals that are yet to be cataloged. Heck, until a couple of years ago, giant squid were considered myth. That is, until they started washing up on beaches.” He stared hard into her eyes. “Now go ahead, tell me why there can’t be something out there we haven’t seen yet?”
I've spent the first half of the book trying to place it into a genre: horror, mystery, paranormal, thriller? But then I understood that it was never about any of that: it's a reminder for each and every one of us that we have a choice in our daily life. We can embrace the good, the love and fight for our happiness, or we can succumb to our fears, letting our worries and grief devour us. It's about hope, about finding the light inside us. It's a very interesting and unique portrait of the battle between evil and goodness.
“Life’s got a way of amplifying the bad and forcing out the good, sis. And I won’t lie; it’s hard to stop the process sometimes. We tend to remember tough experiences more than easy ones. We see flaws before we recognize beauty. We’re quicker to remember someone’s hate than their love. But life’s so much better when we fight with everything in us to hold on to what’s good."
A nice touch was the shy romance between Neil and Lissy and, as a girl that has exclusively read books with males written by women this year, let me tell you that I was shocked of how much I adored Neil. I mean, honestly, where can I get one? They don't make them like that where I'm from...
“You okay?” He was watching her now.
“Yeah. Just thinking.”
“About?”
“Mortality, spirituality, murderous dragons . . . you.”
He smirked. “I’ve never been lumped into a list like that before."
It was a very good book and it's definitely the best standalone I've read this year. I enjoyed it more than I was expecting and I've read it in a go, unable to put it down before reaching the end. It kept me hooked, from beginning to the final chapter.
‘Love always wins. You might feel afraid sometimes, or angry, or hurt—but if you respond with love, the bullies can’t win.’
First of all, I want to thank Josh Roberts for this ARC; it was the book I didn't know I needed and proved to be exactly the right experience at the right time.
The story follows the events from a small town from Colorado, where the only thing out of the ordinary is the monster that is said to reside in the Diamond Lake. After the mysterious death of Mia and her friends, 11 years prior, Lissy lives a solitary life, mourning her sister and isolating herself as much as possible from the people around her. But when she discovers a new body, with the same claw marks her sister's body had presented and weird dark visions start messing with her head, she needs to face the reality and ask herself if there might be more to the rumors and legends than she originally thought.
“Why couldn’t there be something out there that you wouldn’t find in a textbook? There’ve been new creatures found before. We know for a fact that the ocean is full of animals that are yet to be cataloged. Heck, until a couple of years ago, giant squid were considered myth. That is, until they started washing up on beaches.” He stared hard into her eyes. “Now go ahead, tell me why there can’t be something out there we haven’t seen yet?”
I've spent the first half of the book trying to place it into a genre: horror, mystery, paranormal, thriller? But then I understood that it was never about any of that: it's a reminder for each and every one of us that we have a choice in our daily life. We can embrace the good, the love and fight for our happiness, or we can succumb to our fears, letting our worries and grief devour us. It's about hope, about finding the light inside us. It's a very interesting and unique portrait of the battle between evil and goodness.
“Life’s got a way of amplifying the bad and forcing out the good, sis. And I won’t lie; it’s hard to stop the process sometimes. We tend to remember tough experiences more than easy ones. We see flaws before we recognize beauty. We’re quicker to remember someone’s hate than their love. But life’s so much better when we fight with everything in us to hold on to what’s good."
A nice touch was the shy romance between Neil and Lissy and, as a girl that has exclusively read books with males written by women this year, let me tell you that I was shocked of how much I adored Neil. I mean, honestly, where can I get one? They don't make them like that where I'm from...
“You okay?” He was watching her now.
“Yeah. Just thinking.”
“About?”
“Mortality, spirituality, murderous dragons . . . you.”
He smirked. “I’ve never been lumped into a list like that before."
It was a very good book and it's definitely the best standalone I've read this year. I enjoyed it more than I was expecting and I've read it in a go, unable to put it down before reaching the end. It kept me hooked, from beginning to the final chapter.
‘Love always wins. You might feel afraid sometimes, or angry, or hurt—but if you respond with love, the bullies can’t win.’