Where did I get it? I saw someone on Twitter mention a book round robin, and I was intrigued, so I joined in. We each had to send a book we really enjoyed to a mystery person, and then receive a book from someone else. We have to read the book, give somewhat of a review, and send it on to the next person. Faye from Daydreamer's Thoughts sent it to me.
What's it about? Tamara's dad has recently taken his own life, bringing an end to Tamara's life in a big house with a pool near Dublin. She and her mum have to move to Meath to live with her uncle Arthur and aunt Rosaleen. The house is miles away from anything Tamara knows both literally and figuratively. Rosaleen is keeping secrets from Tamara, while Arthur says practically nothing. Tamara's mum is quiet, mostly asleep, lost in her grief. The house is the gatehouse of a castle, which is burnt out. Tamara takes to wandering through the grounds and feels like someone is watching her. One day, the mobile library turns out and Tamara meets Marcus. On the shelves of the library she finds a book, an old leather book with a clasp. When she opens it, the pages are blank. She tries to return it to Marcus but then discovers that she herself has written about the events of the next day. Things start coming true as the diary predicted, but can Tamara change the events by acting differently, and can she found out the truth about her family?
What age range is it for? See, this is a complicated issue. When I read Flawed by Cecelia Ahern last year I was pretty sure that was her first Young Adult novel. She is better known as a writer of women's fiction, and to begin with I thought this book came into adult fiction, even though the protagonist is sixteen. I do think that any fan of Young Adult could love this too, so I'm going to say it's a crossover with a Young Adult bent to it.
Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No
Are any main characters people of colour? No
Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? I'm going to say yes,
Is there any sex stuff? Yes, but it's not at all graphic.
Are drugs mentioned or used? Kind of.
Is there any talk of death? Yes, and obviously trigger warning for suicide
Are there swear words? No, not one I don't think?
What criticisms do I have? I feel like this book was striving to be something, but didn't quite attain what it was aiming for. It didn't quite make me care enough about the characters in order to care what the ending was going to be. We didn't get enough of the history for the denoument to matter to me, even though I really liked Tamara as a character. I felt like characters were being obtuse just for the sake of it, which I didn't like. I don't think this was a bad book, but it didn't feel polished enough to what it could have been.
Would I recommend the book? Yes, if you're a fan of stuff like this with fantastical elements.
Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? For the round robin at stated above!
What other books is it like? I'm going to say it's like We Were Liars by E Lockhart
How many stars? Three out of five.
Where is the book going now? Heading on its way to Emma!
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