The most personal and tender novel yet from Patrick Ness, the twice Carnegie Medal-winning author of A Monster Calls.
It's Saturday, it's summer and, although he doesn't know it yet, everything in Adam Thorn's life is going to fall apart. But maybe, just maybe, he'll find freedom from the release. Time is running out though, because way across town, a ghost has risen from the lake...This uplifting coming-of-age novel will remind you what it's like to fall in love.
Amy is a keen children’s book nerd and spends a lot of time reading and reviewing picture books with her toddler, Fenrir. But it’s not all colourful pictures! Her passion is getting kids reading, and her life's mission is to get the right books in the right hands. Ask her for advice or recommend something to her and watch her eyes light up!
I devoured this book. Patrick Ness has quickly become one of my top favourite authors. His previous book The Rest of Us Just Live Here was so amazing in its quirky mishmash of genre that I couldn't put it down so when I received this book I carefully lined it up for my regular Friday book blog, except I couldn't wait that long and now that I've read it, I'm glad I jumped on it earlier. Similar to the previous book, the double story hooked me in. The main narrative is contemporary fiction. Adam is the younger son of a very religious family, gay and scared to come out, working for an Evil International Mega-Conglomerate with a manager who sexually harrasses him constantly, he thinks he's still in love with his ex but his boyfriend is an amazing and supportive guy and his best friend is moving away so he's going through a pretty rough time. The story follows him and his friends and an underlying story of a teen murdered by her drug addled boyfriend makes this an intriguing contemporary read.
The other side of the story is the ghost of the murdered girl and how she has captured the Queen of the spirit world within herself. It is about vengeance and answers. Told mostly through the eyes of a ghostly faun, it's spooky and heart warming at the same time. The way Patrick Ness weaves magic in and around his characters is really amazing and you really, really feel it. Similar to More than This, the spirit side feels a bit like a Hayao Miyazaki film.
I cannot recommend this book enough. The dialogue is awesome, there are so many quotes I find myself using all the time now, 'because let's talk about pizza, because.. pizza.'
