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2.5 Stars rounded down because it had so much potential that was never reached.
I am so not with the crowd on this one!
There are some very good descriptions and it's an interesting period in history. In fact, it was an amazing period of history. Paranoia over Germans and foreigners during WWI, while the real killer, Spanish Flu, rips its way through the young and healthy population of a small American town. That should have been brilliant!
The narrative, however, is weak, the "romance" pathetic (and troublesome, very very troublesome initial sexual contact, not true to 1918 or the character). I saw the twist coming but that was not a problem. Actually, I liked the twist, I was hoping it would pick up a bit from there with some good speculative fiction. Again huge disappointment. The simple problem is the novel failed to allow me to Suspend my Disbelief. Avoiding spoilers (the fact there are Ghosts is in the blurb), there are physical realities about what Ghosts can and can’t do.
To add to the novel's problems I was listening to it on audio and the simple truth is that the narrator (Emily) should not be allowed anywhere near a book containing European accents. I eventually decided she was trying to imitate Arnold Schwarzenegger when she was doing the German accent. Arnold is Austrian and not German and doesn’t even have a typical Austrian accent. There is no inflection in how German's pronounce vowels. However, not all of the accent was the narrator's fault, some of it was the dialogue as written. One sentence of Irish Brogue had me saying words I should not be saying outloud on the bus. :)
Overall, not recommended for Europeans and definitely not on audio.
I am so not with the crowd on this one!
There are some very good descriptions and it's an interesting period in history. In fact, it was an amazing period of history. Paranoia over Germans and foreigners during WWI, while the real killer, Spanish Flu, rips its way through the young and healthy population of a small American town. That should have been brilliant!
The narrative, however, is weak, the "romance" pathetic (and troublesome, very very troublesome initial sexual contact, not true to 1918 or the character). I saw the twist coming but that was not a problem. Actually, I liked the twist, I was hoping it would pick up a bit from there with some good speculative fiction. Again huge disappointment. The simple problem is the novel failed to allow me to Suspend my Disbelief. Avoiding spoilers (the fact there are Ghosts is in the blurb), there are physical realities about what Ghosts can and can’t do.
To add to the novel's problems I was listening to it on audio and the simple truth is that the narrator (Emily) should not be allowed anywhere near a book containing European accents. I eventually decided she was trying to imitate Arnold Schwarzenegger when she was doing the German accent. Arnold is Austrian and not German and doesn’t even have a typical Austrian accent. There is no inflection in how German's pronounce vowels. However, not all of the accent was the narrator's fault, some of it was the dialogue as written. One sentence of Irish Brogue had me saying words I should not be saying outloud on the bus. :)
Overall, not recommended for Europeans and definitely not on audio.
“This road, this hungry road, eating us up”.
A post-apocalyptic novel, set in a bleakly beautiful and desolate Ireland. In the first scenes, we are introduced to the mysterious Orpen who is making her way from the West coast to the East coast together with a grey skin Maeve who is lying unconscious in a wheelbarrow. Why is Ireland abandoned, and who is Open and where exactly does she think she is going? All of these are answered over the course of a fast-paced and quite short novel. Of course, there are even more questions by the end, suggesting that this may be the first in a series perhaps?
This novel has a strong sense of place and characters and both scream Ireland; uses simple but evocative language and description; and cleverly has built a world of human devastation, zombie-like skrakes, banshees, and breeders with what seems like little or no effort on the authors part.
Recommended for those looking for a dystopian post-apocalyptic Irish drama. Maybe something a little different for your St Patricks Day reading.
A post-apocalyptic novel, set in a bleakly beautiful and desolate Ireland. In the first scenes, we are introduced to the mysterious Orpen who is making her way from the West coast to the East coast together with a grey skin Maeve who is lying unconscious in a wheelbarrow. Why is Ireland abandoned, and who is Open and where exactly does she think she is going? All of these are answered over the course of a fast-paced and quite short novel. Of course, there are even more questions by the end, suggesting that this may be the first in a series perhaps?
This novel has a strong sense of place and characters and both scream Ireland; uses simple but evocative language and description; and cleverly has built a world of human devastation, zombie-like skrakes, banshees, and breeders with what seems like little or no effort on the authors part.
Recommended for those looking for a dystopian post-apocalyptic Irish drama. Maybe something a little different for your St Patricks Day reading.
Not without its faults but loved it anyway!
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