For me this was one of the harder book reviews to write. I actually tossed up whether to do it or not. I had it recommended on a fan site and heard
the chatter about it from others in the group and was expecting something a
little different. My feelings for this
book are slightly ambiguous. I love it
and I equally hate it too.
This is the first book in a series and is little more than
foundation laying. It covers only a day
or two in the life of Eli but the back-story covers so much more. What happened in London? Why does Eli wallow in so much self-pity that
even my empathy is exhausted?
I have little affinity with the main character. I was left to meander bemused through the
first half of the book, my attention caught first by one event and then another, to be
offered full insight into their story but in reality was gifted nothing more
than a mystery. And then to be tossed
from that character to another and then another and then another, to warm to
them and then to be abandoned to another tale of woe from the past. The author created intensity, I felt it
deeply. But my curiosity was never
really alleviated.
I only became invested upon hearing the thoughts of an angel, the struggle he had to do what was right when religion/god forbade him to interfere. His hands tied and unable to help. I felt for him, for his silence and the accusations of others which I know must have been painful. He would tell the truth if he could but he is stymied at every turn.
The book left me anxious, not alone for Eli, but for
Malachi; for the danger he was putting himself in and that for a creature he
loves unconditionally, but who in all likelihood was his murderer. I fear for Ethan, so human and fragile. I care about who he is and that he will
survive.
Mysteries are thrown at me from every angle and nothing is
resolved. Who is Ethan, what has
happened to his father? Who made Eli a
vampire in the first place, why does the devil want him so badly? Why the demonization of a man who was real,
and evil in his own right? Was that
truly necessary? Interesting though.
I love the diary section of the book, the revelations of
Isaiah, the innocence, the determination to offer himself as salvation for his
future wife. I loved their story, and
their tragedy. That’s not saying Ethan’s
mother Eva deserved to die, certainly not in the manner that it happened.
I don’t fear for Eli, although I suppose I should, after all
everything revolves around him, he is the centre.
The style of the book is slow, full of wonderful descriptive
phrases - luscious word pictures of misery - that tell you everything and yet
still keep their secrets. What happened
in London? What happened to Gideon?
I found some phrases jarring, mostly that used by Eli. This story is set in Germany during the war
and the incarceration of the Jews and yet Eli comes up with gems such as "fuck",
and "bum" for bottom, and "nada, diddly squat".
These terms sound so modern, so familiar, and while they indeed might
have been language used in the speech of the day, they didn’t feel quite right. The London event happened in Victorian
England in the age of Jack the Ripper, days when one had their mouth washed out
with the mere uttering of the word ‘damn!’
And in Hitler’s Germany I’m sure language would have hardly progressed,
especially for one who had hidden away for the last sixty years.
I give it a three because I will definitely re-read some
time in the future, possibly because all the information cannot possibly be
absorbed in the one sitting.
«««
Sydney Whyte
Rating Chart
«……………….A no goer
««……………Alright, but not a re-read
«««………..Liked it
««««…….Loved it
«««««…Amaze-balls – ticks all the boxes!!!
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