I’ve completely slacked on the blog pretty much the entire month of October. Not intentionally, it just happened. But I’m vowing to start writing again. And I’m starting today with a book review, which I’m hoping (and currently planning) will be more often on here. As many of you know, I read A TON. Definitely not like some of those book bloggers out there, but I’m always reading something. And since I’m always reading, I figure it only makes sense to start reviewing some of those reads on here. It is, after all, a huge part of my world.
Today’s book review: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson.
Synopsis: From GoodReads
On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born, the third child of a wealthy English banker and his wife. Sadly, she dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in any number of ways. Clearly history (and Kate Atkinson) have plans for her: In Ursula rests nothing less than the fate of civilization.
Wildly inventive, darkly comic, startlingly poignant — this is Kate Atkinson at her absolute best, playing with time and history, telling a story that is breathtaking for both its audacity and its endless satisfactions
My thoughts: My first experience with a Kate Atkinson book was Case Histories when I was 19. And it was not a good experience. I was bored and couldn’t wait for it to be over. I know there are a lot Kate Atkinson fans out there who would probably argue with me on this, but I’ll be honest, I just didn’t like it.
Fast forward about 10 years, and hundreds of books later, I could not put Atkinson’s latest book down. The complete opposite situation from Case Histories. Life After Life was enjoyable, interesting, mesmerizing, and a page turner. I hate for a good story to end. I suffer from ‘book hangovers’ all too often. What I loved about this particular book was that just as a story was taking a turn for the worst, it ends and a new one begins. What I found was that as a particular story was about to end, there were times when I wanted it too. Was the story an uninteresting one? No, it was usually taking a turn that I didn’t like, or something really awful was about to happen. And when the story started over, I found myself relieved and breathing a sigh of relief that Ursula’s life wasn’t over and her life could continue again.
Verdict: If you get confused easily, this is not the book for you. It jumps back and forth quite a bit between story lines, and I found myself reverting back to certain chapters to remind myself of characters, events and places. Not in a bad way, of course, just to remember who is who and so on. Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Atkinson has an incredible way with words and is quite the storyteller. This book was unlike anything I had read before, and definitely caused a ‘book hangover’ when it was over.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
