This Is Not Forgiveness by Celia Rees

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Format: ARC

Published: 2^nd February 2012

Book: For Review*

Genre: Realistic-Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Thriller, Suspense, Psychological-Thriller, Action-Adventure, Mystery, YA

Recommended Age: 14+

Contains: Mild Sex, Drugs and Alchohol References, Violence, Death and Swearing

Author's Site: Celia Rees

Everyone says that Caro is bad news, but Jamie can’t help himself.  He thinks of her night and day and can’t believe that she wants to be his girlfriend.  Gorgeous, impulsive and unconventional, she is totally different to all the other girls he knows.  His sister, Martha, hates her.  Jamie doesn’t know why, but ther’es no way he;s going to take any notice of her warnings to stay away from Caro.

As Jamie falls deeper and deeper under her spell, he realises there is much more to Caro than he first thought.  She disappears for days on end, she has small scars on her wrists, she talks about revolutions and taking action, and then there are the rumours he hears about the other men in her life.

Always in the backgrounds is Rob, Jamie’s older brother, back from Afghanistan and traumatised after having his leg smashed to bits there.  Jamie wants to help him, but Rob seems to be living in a world of his won and is increasingly difficult to reach.  With Caro, the summer should have been perfect… but that isn’t how things work out in real life and Jamie is going to find out the hard way.

                                                                   Review:

“I can’t decide what to do with your ashes.

…

“You don’t deserve to be liberated yet.

…

“This is not forgiveness.  Don’t think that.”

Starting at the end with two funerals, we know Rob is dead.  And that he did something those closest to him cannot forgive him for.  The question is what?

Introducing Caro: mysterious, impulsive and dangerous.  Meet Jamie: sweet, naïve and desperate for Caro to notice him, although he never thought she would.  Finally Rob, wounded and damaged, a devoted solider who is no longer in the army.

It’s common knowledge that the beautiful Caro is trouble.  Everyone warns Jamie not to get involved, but he’s under her spell.

Over the summer, these threes’ lives are entangled, with explosive consequences…

I’m a huge fan of Celia Rees – she is one of my favourite authors!  I’ve become used to her historical fiction and the lyrical way she has of showing sometimes horrible events.  This Is Not Forgiveness?  The opposite.  It was shocking – in such a good way.  It was unlike anything I’ve read by her before, and like all her other books it has to be added to my favourites.

Caro was a complicated character, one I couldn’t figure out whether I liked or not for ages.  She was mysterious, a “trouble maker”, independent and unpredictable.  Although she was from a privileged background, I liked the three-dimensional aspect her political views and recklessness gave her.  Overall, though, she wasn’t exactly likeable, as she was manipulative and extreme, but she wasn’t as bad as she first seemed.  Well, not by the end, anyway…

Jamie was the average one, the ‘normal’ teenager.  He was a little shy, but cute.  However, the complete and utter obsession he developed for Caro?  Yeah, not so sweet.  It was like everyone else didn’t matter, only Caro: and let me tell you, the trait is as bad in a guy as it is in a girl.  But he was sweet, and sensitive, and I did like him: he was probably the most likeable of the three characters, even if he wasn’t the most interesting.

Jamie’s brother, Rob, completes our trio.  Now, Rob, for me, was the most complex and intriguing character for me.  A former soldier who had been injured while in Afghanistan, he was scarred both inside and out.  We got to see how being over there had changed him: it was astounding, and I think Rees portrayed it brilliantly.  It really showed how fighting in the war changes your mind and way of thinking, and all of this and Rob’s believable and rough voice made him feel so real and completely interesting.

Rob and Jamie’s sister, Martha was someone I felt could have been used more, as a rather ‘impartial’ onlooker, not involved.  She didn’t get to speak, but she made her thoughts known through her insistent warnings to Jamie.  I think reading from her point of view may have made the whole story richer and that we could have seen more into the past of the three lead characters.

The characters were amazing and so strong, each vividly believable.  They may not have been exactly loveable all the time, but each had charms that draw you in and getting into their heads gives us that exclusive inside peek.  And at the end.  Well, one completely shocked me, one pleasantly surprised me and one lived up to my expectations.  Who is who? you may ask.  Well, you’ll have to read it yourself and make your own opinions, because you definitely won’t regret it!

This Is Not Forgiveness tackles difficult issues effortlessly: war and how it affects those who have been there.  Extremist views – ones developed right here in England – and how the ones who believe in them are willing to do anything to get attention.  It also has sex, drugs and alcohol (no rock-n-roll, though) – maybe a little bit too much of those – that overall made the teens very teen.  The story was powerful and intense, the subject brilliantly shocking.  This may just be the best Celia Rees book ever!

I loved the writing, these three so distinct voices!  All too often you find dual narratives who sound so similar you can’t tell them apart.  This Is Not Forgiveness?  Not one of those, not even in the slightest: even without the names at the start of the chapter, I would have been able to tell who was who.  And the writing, well, I’ve always loved Rees’ style and it truly comes through in Caro.  All the writing had all her classic addictiveness, the one that keeps me totally hooked.  Beautiful, raw, edgy and so, so strong, it was perfect for the book and each voice was perfect for the character.

I was completely on the edge of my seat from start to finish.  The beginning throws us in at the end and makes us desperate to know: How?  What?  Why?  When?  And the story?  More powerful than anything I thought it would be.  I was just sucked in by the plot, absorbed, unaware of the ‘real world’.  The action started up and lasted until the end of the story, and God: I just couldn’t stop reading!  And I did not see that final twist coming; actually, I didn’t guess most of the twists! 

This was a powerful, hard-hitting book that had me completely and utterly under its spell all the way through.  Different lives and feelings wove together to create a brilliantly written, intense and explosive story that left me reeling.  Beautiful, terrible, shocking and moving, This is Not Forgiveness is not one I will be forgetting in a long, long time.

Star Rating:
4½ Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Celia Rees' Historical Novels

Saving Daisy by Phil Earle

Before We Say Goodbye by Gabriella Ambrosio

Kill All Enemies by Melvin Burgess

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2012 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

YA Contemporary Challenge 2012 (Hosted by Reading Angel & Katie's Book Blog)

British Books Challenge 2012 (Hosted by The Overflowing Library)

Happy Reading

Megan

* This book was received from Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review

Number of Pages: 228

Saving Daisy by Phil Earle

Publisher: Puffin

Format: Paperback

Published: 5^th January 2012

Number of Pages: 352

Book: For Review*

Genre: Contemporary, Realistic-Fiction, Psychological-Thriller, Mental Health, YA

Recommended Age: 14+

Contains: Strong Smoking, Swearing, Drinking, Mild Drug Reference, Self-Harming, Violence, Death

Author's Site: Phil Earle

“For as long as I could remember it was always about the three of us.

Me.

Dad.

And Mum’s shadow.”

Daisy’s mum is gone.

Her Dad refuses to talk about it.

As far as Daisy’s concerned, it’s all her fault.

As her life starts to spiral out of control, panic leads to tragedy and Daisy’s left alone.

But sometimes the kindness of a stranger can turn things around.

A stranger who desperately wants to save Daisy –

if she’ll only let herself be saved…

                                                                   Review:

I cried, I laughed, I loved, I grieved.  Saving Daisy was an emotional roller-coaster – one I adored and was sad to leave.  Or, more precisely, I was heartbroken to leave Daisy: I really, really loved her and Ade too.

Daisy never knew her Mum.  Her Dad won’t – can’t – talk about her.  In Daisy’s eyes, it was her fault.

As the fear, the misplaced guilt over her Mum’s death gets stronger and stronger; her ways of coping become violent, extreme.  But the one person she decides to trust does something they shouldn’t have, and once more Daisy tells herself she’s to blame.  Her life spirals out of control, and before she knows it, Daisy is all alone.

She doesn’t want help, doesn’t think she deserves it.  She’s bad luck in her eyes: everyone she lets in gets hurt or hurts her.  But can the kindness of a single stranger, one who is desperate to help, be enough to bring her back from brink.  Will Daisy Houghton even let herself be saved?

I love contemp books, especially ones that made me think, feel and (although I don’t know why I like it so much) cry.  Saving Daisy made me do all three of these things and more.  I loved every moment, wrapped up in Daisy’s world, her fears.  I was so completely addicted from start to finish, unable to put the book down, desperate to know what happened to Daisy…  By the end I desperately wanted to read the whole book all over again, and I need Being Billy.

Daisy Houghton was a wonderful girl: snarkily funny, film-addicted, clever…  She was also drowning in her fear and guilt.  I loved her from the word go, constantly telling her “It’s not your fault Daisy!”  She was so scared, betrayed by the ones she let it, always on the edge of everything.   To begin with I thought her guilt was ridiculous, but in her mind, she really thought she was responsible.  I felt so bad for her because I loved her so much.  She was just so strong, so stubborn and she had to grow up so fast.  I loved it when we got to see the sweet, grieving side of Daisy, rather than the guilt-ridden, self-blaming one.  She was so real to me: it felt like I was the only one she trusted…

Ade, Daisy’s key-worker, was lovely!  The moment she walked in, she made Daisy feel better, like she was “being saved”, and made me smile.  She really looked out for Daisy, was really smart, laidback, instructive without being bossy…  She was just so strong, and really understood Daisy and I loved her so much! 

Bellfield, the place Daisy was sent to “find the answer” was amazing: You had so many different characters… The overly friendly, sweet Susie, who didn’t really understand personal space.  The argumentative, snarky, slightly violent Patrick.  The constantly texting, perhaps-perhaps-not delusional, laidback Jimmy, who couldn’t quite tell the difference between fantasy and reality.  The moody, short-tempered, irrational, unpredictable Naomi.  The various careers: young, laid-back Floss; efficient, friendly, respected-by-all Bex; the lovely, kind, patient Ade.  All the different personalities made for a chaotic, volatile, never-dull place.  My favourite was by far Jimmy (Ade not included): I loved Jimmy-style therapy: watching washing machines – “sweet”!  You definitely have the “X-Factor” Jimmy!

The writing was amazing.  It was raw, emotional, powerful, addictive.  It was teenager, but the voice of a teenager who knows too much.  It was Daisy.  100%.  I adored the descriptions, brilliant but not too heavy.  I just loved the edginess, everything.  I just loved Earle’s writing.  Enough said!

I thought the plot would be straight forward from the blurb.  Boy was I wrong!  There were twists I never saw coming, plot turns I never would have thought of, character changes that surprised me.  I loved every turn, every unpredictable development.  I was completely hooked from start to finish.

What struck me straight away about Saving Daisy were the emotions.  Instantly, I was tangled in Daisy’s head, not exactly sure where my emotions stopped and hers began.  It felt like I was drowning in Daisy’s feelings, in my own.  It was overwhelming, in the very best way.  I was so wrapped up in the book, in Daisy: invested.  It was a roller coaster of emotions, the main ones pain, sadness, grief, love and sympathy.  I was almost constantly on the verge of tears, so the little bright spots, the small breakthroughs, the parts that made me smile, were even more potent.  But in some probably twisted way, I loved crying, the constant battling emotions.  Crying meant I adored this book and its characters and truly cared about what happened to them.  Because I did.

A heartbroken, guilt-ridden, scarred heroine, afraid to trust or love, a caring, always smiling care worker, with a secret of her own, and the hardest journey of all: facing your fears, you guilt and realising it wasn’t your fault, putting yourself back together…  Saving Daisy was an emotional, powerful read that left my head spinning.  I won’t forget you Daisy.  Not in a long time.

Star Rating:
5 Out of 5

Read this book if you liked:

Being Billy by Phil Earle

Kill All Enemies by Melvin Burgess

Entangled by Cat Clarke

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Challenges It's Taking Part In:

100 Books in a Year Reading Challenge 2012 (Hosted by Book Chick City)

YA Contemporary Challenge 2012 (Hosted by Reading Angel & Katie's Book Blog)

British Books Challenge 2012 (Hosted by The Overflowing Library)

Megan

* This book was received from Puffin in exchange for an honest review

Happy Reading