The Other Side of Night by Adam HamdyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
What the heck did you do to me, Adam Handy?
This story popped up outta nowhere and just attached itself to me then took a chunk out.
I may never be okay again.
I can't go too further into the plot than the blurb does - essentially, this is about three people and how their lives connect. Harri is the beat down cop looking to prove herself, Elliot is the orphan, and Ben is his carer and Harri's 'one that got away'. But there's the murder of Elliot's parents to solve, and someone is keeping too many secrets.
This is an absorbing novel that travels the full spectrum of human emotion. Ben is a questionable character and it's so hard to even guess at his motives. I felt a range of emotions reading about his actions because you really do question what his goal is. Harri rubbed me the wrong way to begin with but she grew on me and I really enjoyed the way she interacted with Elliot. All the characters were brilliantly written.
This is a story-within-a-story, and at times that aspect didn't really work for me. The reasoning for the 'author' having so much detail was a little weak to me and it tarnished the overall feel a little. Towards the end the logic made a little more sense, but I'm still not sure that story-within-a-story was the right way to tell this one. Still, the writing is quite concise and put together well, making this an easy read.
The way everything tied together at the end really threw me, and made this a standout novel in my eyes. I wasn't expecting it, and I loved how beautiful it became with its dedication to expressing love in all its forms.
A memorable novel that I'll likely be thinking about for a while. It may take a little patience to begin with but the payoff is worth it and those looking for something out of the ordinary will do well to pick this one up.
With thanks to Macmillan for a copy
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment