Skip to main content

Things we have in common - Tasha Kavanagh



Yasmin would give anything to have a friend . . . 
And do anything to keep one.

The first time I saw you, you were standing at the far end of the playing field. You were looking down at your brown straggly dog, but then you looked up, your mouth going slack as your eyes clocked her. Alice Taylor. I was no different. I used to catch myself gazing at the back of her head in class, at her silky fair hair swaying between her shoulder blades.

If you'd glanced just once across the field you'd have seen me standing in the middle on my own, looking straight at you, and you'd have gone back through the trees to the path quick, tugging your dog after you. You'd have known you'd given yourself away, even if only to me.

But you didn't. You only had eyes for Alice.


Let me just begin my review by saying WOW!

I'm not sure why I chose to review this book. It may have been that it said it was similar to "Curious Incident of the dog in the night time". I started to read it and I wasn't sure what it was all about, and the one thing that I still miss about having a "real" book is referring back to the cover. So I re read the synopsis and started again. 

It took me a while to get into the fact that the book is told through the eyes of a teenager called Yasmin. However, once I did - boy I could not put this book down. For me it was reminiscent in plot to "Gone Girl" which I thorough enjoyed. It also had echoes of "The Lovely Bones". But enough comparisons because this book really deserves to stand in its own limelight.

So began my train of thoughts -  "is she making it all up in her head", "is this really happening". Then I went onto - "yes, I knew it" followed later by being completely wrong! It is on reflection a very dark book but because it is told through Yasmin that never really hit me whilst I was reading it. A few really clever twists that I never saw coming or even had time to guess because I was reading so fast I wanted to know what happened next.

The writing is absolutely brilliant, and I totally forgot that an adult had written this. It was just like being inside a teenagers head - scary at times, yet so insightful. There were parts when my heart was literally in my mouth as I felt for Yasmin and what she was going through.

I'm just still trying to come to terms with the ending. I do like a book where it is all done and dusted rather than being left thinking "so what happens now?".............

My thanks go to Netgalley for allowing me an e copy of this book to review.

Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Those leaving a comment on any post on this blog do so in the knowledge that their name and blog link are visible to all who visit this blog and by providing their comment they have published their own personal details on this blog and also consented to our use of that personal information for that specific purpose.

Popular posts from this blog

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

Description THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER. YOU DON'T KNOW HER. BUT SHE KNOWS YOU. Rear Window  meets  Gone Girl , in this exceptional and startling psychological thriller Review I must be one of the last people to read this book. I did apply for a review copy but unfortunately wasn't successful. I then waited for the book to come down in price which it didn't - so I decided I would buy it and read it straight away! I'm sure it will be a film and before anyone gives away what happens I felt I really needed to get it read, so it jumped the TBR queue. There is not much plot outline from the publisher as you can see in the description above, so there wasn't a lot to go on when I began to read the book. First of all the book jumps around date wise - past and present and also between the main characters. I did have a little trouble remembering who was who and which time frame we were in - but that soon settled down. I also had to re-read the beginning because I th...

The Second Chance Book Club - Stephanie Butland

I'm on the Blog Tour for this wonderful book today. Description Dear Ms Blythe We are dealing with an estate of which you may be a beneficiary. Please send any documents in your possession that relate to your birth and adoption. September is at her wits' end. There's never enough money to support her boyfriend and herself. September has nothing to look forward to. Then the letter comes. September has inherited a house from a great-aunt she never knew she had. It would make sense to sell it. But when sees the place - the orange gate, the garden, the tree, the bumblebee door knocker - she doesn't want to let it go. Not yet. Then the members of the book club arrive, and she begins to discover the story of the family she didn't know. And to make new friends. September feels safe here. But money alone can't bring contentment. September is just at the start of a journey full of surprises, shocks – and opportunities, if she's brave enough . . . Review As soon as I...

The Ghost Cat - Alex Howard

  Description Early morning, 1902. In a gloomy Edinburgh tenement, Eilidh the charlady tips coal into a fire grate and sets it alight. Overhearing, a cat ambles over to curl up against the welcome heat. This is to be the cat's last day on earth. But he is going to return... as The Ghost Cat, a spirit-feline destined to live out his ghostly existence according to the medieval proverb of "The Cat with Nine Lives" - For Three He Plays, For Three He Strays, For Three He Stays. Follow The Ghost Cat as he witnesses the changes of the next two centuries as he purrs, shuffles and sniffs his way through the fashion, politics and technological advances of the modern era alongside the ever-changing inhabitants of an Edinburgh tenement. As we follow our new spirit-feline friend, this unique story unearths some startling revelations about the mystery of existence and the human condition and provides a feel-good read full of charm for any fan of history, humour and fur-ridden fun. Revi...