Monday, 31 March 2014

Empty Shelf/Mad Reviewer Challenge #16 - "blueeyedboy" by Joanne Harris.

This author really knows how to pack a punch.

On the back of the book under the blurb there is an extract from the Mirror's review:
"...beware unreliable narrators along with a huge plot twist at the end."

Even with this and several other hints, nothing could have prepared me for what was in store.

"blueeyedboy" is the online name for the main narrator of the story, B.B. He is forty two and lives with his mother in Malbry, Yorkshire, with the bulk of his life played out in "fics" that he writes on his webjournal, "badguysrock". He has several regularly posting fans who are, for the most part, certain that what he writes is just really good - if disturbing - fiction/ However, one of his readers, "albertine" knows the truth. She and blueyedboy go way back and are entangled in each other's lives in very complicated ways.

The story is brilliantly paced and plotted, not to mention thrilling. It will keep you sat at the edge of your seat because there really is no guessing what happens next. All of my theories were wrong, and when I did find out, I just stared at the book for five minutes before heading back a few pages, trying to make sense of what had just happened. It was very similar to the way I felt reading "Gentlemen and Players" (by the same author) - there seemed to be no warning for what was going to smack you in the face.

And then, just when I thought I had recovered from that blow, Harris smacked me again with something else. At this point, though, I was just in a hurry to finish the book - simply to see if Harris wanted to mind-screw her readers with anything else - before I could sit back and properly process it.

I would recommend any of Joanne Harris' work, to be honest, but there was just something about this that makes me want to go and shove it under people's noses until they sit down and read it (though I won't do that). It really is that good and will probably still play on your mind for a while after you've finished. Utterly fantastic.

Until next time!

1 comment:

  1. Oh this looks interesting. Thanks for such an informative account. .

    ReplyDelete