Dying to Know You is a rather unusual book, so much so that when a friend asked me what it was about I really struggled to describe it. I told her that it was sort of like the film with Gerard Depardieu where the character played by Gerard writes love letters on behalf of a young man who can’t put his feelings into words.

IMDB tells me that the film is called Cyrano de Bergerac, and actually that story is slightly different as the writer of the love letters is in love with the recipient as well.

On the surface that is sort of the story here; Karl, a teenage boy tasked by his girlfriend to write her letters revealing his true self, asks a famous writer to help him put his feelings into words.

But it’s so much more than that.

Dying to Know You is written from the perspective of the famous writer (is it Aidan himself? I don’t think so, though elements may be based on fact) and is mostly his recollections of conversations between himself and Karl. But it’s not just a story about a young man trying to claim the heart of a young lady.

It’s about an old man who recognises himself in Karl and tries to help ensure that this young man does not make his mistakes.

It’s about a young man who is trying to find his way in the world following the death of his father.

It’s about discovering the you you are meant to be and being brave enough to let go of the things that aren’t right for you in life.

Again Aiden Chambers has captivated me with a Young Adult novel that stands head and shoulders above it’s counterparts. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy when it’s released on April 1, 2012 (or pre-order it now so you don’t forget).

–SPOILER ALERT–

It’s not often that I use the highlighting function in my Kindle, maybe I’m still getting used to it being there, but I found myself using it on several occasions while reading this book. Here’s some of the passages I captured:

“But then, I said to myself, don’t I have within me more than one self? I’ve seen two Karls tonight, but I’ve been two of myself as well. We’ve both been our summer selves, bright and confident and warm, and our winter selves, distressed and dark and cold.”

This one really struck a chord with me, I know that there are sides to my personality, the happy confident me that I wish I could be at all times, the anxious me that I try so hard to fight and the heartbroken me that I discovered recently. I like this notion of summer and winter selves to put words to those different sides.

“I asked myself what I’d do if this were one of my novels. What would I do at this point to push the plot on? but after trying this idea and that and each time being defeated by crumbling logic, every move lacking truth-to-life conviction, I accepted that this real life problem couldn’t be solved as if it were fiction, because in a novel I’d go back and change the plot so the stalemate would be avoided. But real life evolves its own unpredictable plots over which we characters have little control and only by hindsight, if then, discern the reasons and purposes.”

I thought this passage very clever, since this is a novel and therefore Aiden could very simply have changed the plot to solve the problem. But I also like the sentiment, that life has to be lived and that the problems we face cannot be undone simply by erasing the path that was taken and conjuring up a new one.

“This brings me back to that endlessly puzzling, endlessly fascinating question: When I’m talking to myself, whom am I talking to and who is doing the talking? Are we all in fact two people, not one? Are we all One and Another? What I know is that I have an “everyday self” […] and an “inner self”, the one I think go as my real self, the self who observes everything my everyday self does, comments and judges, praises and dispraises, considers what would be best to do and not to do, and assesses the results.”

I think I may have highlighted this one simply because that’s exactly how I think of myself, as two selves, and it’s reassuring to read that someone has had similar thoughts and therefore I am not mad!

“Sometimes the course of our lives depends on what we do or don’t do in a few second, a heartbeat, when we either seize the opportunity, or just miss it Miss the moment and you never get the chance again.”

Enough said.

Thanks for reading Dying to Know You by Aidan Chambers, a post published on Blue Archipelago Reviews. Why not visit us and leave a comment :)

In the opening pages of the book Laura Brandon loses her father, and his dying wish is that she looks after a woman she has never heard of. Back home Laura tells her husband Ray about her father’s strange instructions, and he pleads with her not to pursue it any further. Torn between pleasing her father and her husband Laura leaves her five year old daughter in Ray’s care and goes to the Nursing Home to visit Sarah who is suffering from the early onset of Alzheimers and has never heard of Laura’s father. As Laura returns home more confused than ever she finds her husband dead from a gunshot wound, and her five year old daughter mute.

As always Diane has woven a complex tale that didn’t fail to keep me guessing all the way through, as the story of Sarah Tolley was revealed piece by piece. Diane moves the story seamlessly between the present day – where Laura Brandon has to deal not only with the suicide of her husband, but with the sudden muteness of her daughter – and the past – as Sarah Tolley tells Laura about Saint Margaret’s hospital and the dramatic events that resulted in the loss of her husband and her daughter.

At the heart of the story is the psychiatric hospital Saint Margaret’s, where Sarah discovers that instead of looking after his patients the award-winning Doctor P is using them as guinea pigs in shocking experiments designed to result in mind control. As far fetched as that might sound the US government really did fund such experiments in the 1950s and it’s quite shocking to think that people were hospitalised against their will and lobotomised as part of an experiment.

Breaking the Silence is one of those books where you think you’ve figured out the plot, only to realise that the author has lead you up the garden path on purpose, just to keep you guessing. Diane hasn’t disappointed with this one and I’d highly recommend that you treat yourself to a copy if you haven’t read it already.

—SPOILER ALERT—

I was intrigued by Laura’s relationship with Sarah and as each piece of the puzzle was revealed I guessed that the two of them were related, and that Laura’s pendant held the key. I was right on some level, but I never would have guessed that Laura was Sarah’s daughter. And the twist with Gilbert threw me for a loop entirely!

Some people might consider the relationship between Dylan and Laura to be quite trite, but I was actually rooting for them to end up together, after discovering that her whole life has been built on a lie it’s good that she gets to end up with one of the good guys.

There was just one question that was left unanswered for me at the end of the book, if Sarah’s Alzheimers is so bad that she doesn’t even recognise her own husband all those years later, how on earth did she recognise Stuart and mistake him for Gilbert?

And I suppose the other one was: I understand why Emma stopped talking, but what made her start again? Did Sarah say something to her after they ran away, or was it because of the experience that Dylan shared with her in the park? Or did she really just need time to work things through in her own head and realise that she really wasn’t to blame for Ray’s death?

Thanks for reading Breaking the Silence by Diane Chamberlain, a post published on Blue Archipelago Reviews. Why not visit us and leave a comment :)

Strangely enough that day came about sooner than I had expected; I was running out the door to a doctor’s appointment when I realised my Kindle was out of juice – I glanced desperately at the bookshelf and the nearest book was Sanctus. When faced with the dilemma of staring at blank walls while waiting for a doctor’s appointment that are notoriously delayed, or reading this book I opted for the latter.

And do you know what?

I was shocked to discover that by the end of the first page I was hooked in and from that point on I pretty much had my nose stuck in this book every chance I got!

The reality is that it does fit in the same genre as the Da Vinci Code; you know the drill: man discovers religious secret that could change the world forever, story proceeds to battle between the good guys and the bad guys as the former seek to reveal it while the latter try their damnedest to keep it hidden. Oh and usually you can throw in a bit of a love interest.

Sure it’s formulaic, but is that such a bad thing. The same can be said for pretty much every romance novel ever written but it doesn’t stop you reading another.

The key really is not in the formula, but the way it’s implemented, and in that respect Toyne does a fantastic job, which is pretty impressive since this is his debut novel.

If you’ve not read Sanctus already and you don’t like spoilers then you might just want to skip out here and head over to Amazon and stick a copy in your basket or download it to your Kindle.

If you have already been introduced to the order of monks that protect the Sacrament, or you don’t mind a spoiler or two then stay with me…

—SPOILER ALERT—

I think it’s pretty standard stuff for books of this kind to end with a death of the secret keeper, and usually the more gruesome or mysterious that death the better. Toyne introduces us to Brother Samuel, a monk who has been ordained as a Sanctus and shown the age old secret of the Sacrament. Despite many months of careful preparation the sight rocks his beliefs and leads him to attempt to escape the ancient Citadel and reveal the truth to the world. I had hoped he would complete the escape, but then that wouldn’t make for a very good story so of course it had to end with him leaping from the top of the walls of the Citadel and coming to a gruesome end in front of a shocked group of tourists. The way he died, as well as his final acts before he jumped are the clues that both the other characters and indeed the reader needs to solve the mystery and discover the secret of the Sacrament.

Toyne keeps the novel moving at an immense pace, incredibly short chapters, sometimes of no more than a page or two, maintain the intensity as well as allowing Toyne to switch viewpoints between the goodies and the baddies (as my grandma used to say). I admit to being a little confused at times as I kept confusing the names of the characters, and then I couldn’t work out whether Liv (Brother Samuel’s estranged sister) was being kidnapped by good or evil!

There were a few events that weren’t fully explained that added to my confused state, including Liv’s meeting with Dr Anata. The meeting itself was all well and good but how on earth did Gabriel know she was there in order to rescue her? I assume Anata is a member of the Mala but it was never really made clear.

I found myself really invested in the characters as time went by, and I think this adds to the intensity of the story line, when you desperately want someone to succeed in their quest you can’t stop turning the pages to ensure that they come out in one piece! I admit to a sharp intake of breath when I realised that Liv had unwittingly put Bonnie’s life in danger, and then breathed a sigh of relief when the new mother came out of that encounter alive and well, though sadly not with her family intact.

Toyne builds the pace bit by bit as the novel races towards it’s explosive conclusion when the secret of the sacrament is finally revealed.

And didn’t that make me stop and think.

To imagine that Eve was a God and not a mere mortal. And that rather than Adam and Eve being a couple and the start of the human race that Adam was a jealous man who lied about Eve and turned other men against her so that eventually they captured her deep in the depths of a mountain and imprisoned her there for thousands of years until the day came that the sacrament would be unlocked and destroyed.

Sometimes I read a book and when I’ve closed the last page I head straight for Google to see whether there is any truth in the basis of the story, or just to learn more about the subjects touched on my the author. And this was one of those books, I was trying to learn more about the Heretic Bible, was it real or just a figment of Toyne’s imagination? Did he start from something and develop it into this Sacrament? I have to admit that I didn’t get very far so if anyone knows the answers I’d love to hear them.

The book ends, not in the Citadel, but in the local hospital where we discover the fate of Arkadian and Liv and the other brothers of the Sacrament. I do like such lose ends to be tied up, but as I read throughout he last page I was quite disappointed with the ending – although it became more clear when the facing page stated that Coming in Spring 2012 is the exciting sequel called The Key (it’s due out in April and is available for pre-order from Amazon). So it would seem that the ending of Sanctus is not really an ending as such, more a cliffhanger of what is to come next. While slightly annoyed at not having everything resolved here and now I am also pleased at the thought of continuing on this adventure with Liv, and I assume Gabriel, and discovering the rest of the secrets that Toyne is yet to reveal.

Thanks for reading Sanctus by Simon Toyne [TSS], a post published on Blue Archipelago Reviews. Why not visit us and leave a comment :)

Thank you for sending me a copy of your memoir, Unnaturally Green; I’ve never seen the musical Wicked but it’s on my theatre bucket list so I was really interested to read more about what it’s like to take part in the show.

I love musicals but until I read your book I never really thought too much about the sheer scale of them, the set changes and the costume changes and the attention to detail that makes such an amazing experience for the audience each and every night.

I was intrigued to learn that the main characters have standby actors waiting in the wings to cover for them, and that in turn the Standby also has a standby in the form of the Understudy. I have to admit that I think I’d prefer to be the Understudy, because at least they get to appear one show each night in the Ensemble. I’m not sure I’d have the patience to sit around just waiting for the star to call out. I also think that having to perform so infrequently would fill me with dread!

I stopped part way through reading to look your performances up on YouTube and you are pretty amazing, I especially love Defying Gravity.

I’ve really enjoyed spending the last few days getting to know you and learning about your short spell (hee hee) in San Francisco as you in turn got to know what it was like to really be Elphaba.

Felicia you have a wonderful writing style and I wonder if you might try your hand at fiction one day. Be sure to look me up if you do.

P.s. are you still green behind the ears?

Thanks for reading Unnaturally Green: A Memoir by Felicia Ricci [TSS], a post published on Blue Archipelago Reviews. Why not visit us and leave a comment :)

Ten years, and I can still recall that day as if it were yesterday, and I’m sure you can to. Ask anyone and they will be able to tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing on that fateful day. Me I was actually fast asleep in a hotel room in Vegas, I remember being awoken by the clock radio and heard the words 747 and World Trade Center collapse and thought it was some sort of story. Then we switched on the TV and realised the sickening truth, that this atrocity was really happening and events were unfolding right before our eyes, there on the television screen.

Richard ‘Pitch’ Picciotto is one of the fire fighters who entered the North Tower that day in an attempt to rescue innocent victims from what he thought was just a fire, a big fire by anyone’s standards, but a fire nonetheless. Like many other fire fighters who entered the towers that day he wasn’t supposed to be there. His battalion had not been called to fight this fire, but like those other men who simply volunteered their services that day he couldn’t stay away.

In Last Man Down Pitch tells his story of what happened to him on September 11, 2001, as he found himself entering the North Tower, matching himself up with the men of  110 Truck and fighting their way up the chaotic stairwell in search of people trapped on the 21st and 25th floor. He shares the thoughts and feelings that he experienced up there on the 35th floor of the North Tower, in the 10 seconds that it took for the South Tower to collapse as they stood like stones waiting for the roar to reach them. “A thousand trains. A thousand rushing beasts. A thousand inconceivable terrors, and then a thousand more. Hell, make it a couple thousand, and it still wouldn’t have covered it, that’s how impossibly loud it was.” With the sickening realisation as to what had happened in the South Tower Pitch made a call to evacuate the North Tower. He did not wait for orders from a higher rank, he simply made the call, that every fire fighter in the North Tower must evacuate, and that they needed to get out as quickly as they could.

Pitch saved many a life making that call as the fire fighters and office workers on the lower floors were able to exit the Tower, but Pitch and a handful of men hadn’t made it past the sixth floor when the rumbling started again: “It was 29 minutes after then o’clock in the morning, not a half-hour since the first tower had fallen, and I suppose if I hadn’t just lived through the same muted roar across the plaza, and learned of the destruction that had come with it, I would have saved myself a few seconds of complete anguish and fear. As it happened, though, I knew. In a split second, I knew. And I knew for certain. There was no mistaking the sick rush of wind. There was no mistaking the violent, all-over shaking. It was terribly, terrifyingly clear. I even found time to give these thoughts voice, I learned afterwards, because as it registered what was happening, I blurted out, ‘Oh Shit, here it comes!’. Not exactly the most memorable parting phrase in the history of last words, but I said it without thinking.”

As the Tower collapsed around them Pitch, the other fire fighters and Josephine Harris (a 59 year old book-keeper) found themselves trapped in the stairwell somewhere around the 5th floor of the building. From here Pitch documents the minutes and hours that passed as they sought desperately for an escape route, and eventually found themselves on the outside of the building faced with: “Utter devastation. No signs of life, or movement. No noise but the rip of wind. Naturally this was the first I was seeing of the unfathomable, mind-boggling destruction on that plaza that morning. To burst on to such a scene, essentially unaware, was to question your place on earth. I had no frame of reference for a sight like this, no way to prepare for it.“

The Miracle of Stairwell B

Videos from a documentary which also recounted the events that took place in Stairwell B that day.

Thanks for reading Last Man Down: A Fireman’s Story by Richard Picciotto [TSS], a post published on Blue Archipelago Reviews. Why not visit us and leave a comment :)