60. The Rapture by Liz Jensen

I wish I could remember who recommended this one, I owe them a massive thank you. It is definately one of my memorable reads for the year.

Bethany is troubled to say the least. Currently being treated in a youth mental facility after violently killing her mother. As a last resort the facility begins sessions of ECT, electroshock therapy. Suddenly, Bethany claims she can predict the natural disasters that are plaguing the world more and more often. Her new therapist Gabrielle, who is fighting her own personal demons, is put to the task of getting to the bottom of it, but the bottom is not what anyone expects. Bethany predicts a disaster like none other....one that will be the end of everything as we know it.

Both Bethany and Gabrielle are fighting their demons, and they need each other to fight them off. The characters we both fascinating to me. The way they interact is perfect. Their story unfolds and brings other characters to them in a way that takes you to into the story as well. The story ends in a way that I never quite saw coming, and in a sad way everyone gets what they want (I'm really not giving much away here I promise).

If you can get your hands on this book...do it. You will not regret it.

5/5 ( )

There is something about Liz Jensen's writing style that I do not like (it was present in Ark Baby, and is present here too). Someone else commented that it felt "overwritten" and this nearly describes my issue. Her paragraphs are long (unless it's dialogue which is short) and has lots of medium-size words - "see Dick run" would be "view as Richard mobilizes"

Not that it's poorly written, just... too many words really.

The concept? Well... it's kinda cool. I knew going in that it had a religious "tone" to it, and that it had a global warming "belief" in it so neither of those areas came to bother me.

But... I didn't like any of the characters. Jensen spends a LOT of time trying to flesh out Gabrielle, her past, her love life, her professionalism... but I just wanted to skip it all and get to something "happening".

It was a very difficult book to finish - and I will admit I skipped paragraph after paragraph (and didn't seem to miss anything by doing so) just to get through it. ( )

I came very close to quitting this book in the first hundred pages, and looking back, I probably should have. The writing was just sort of overdone, and the story didn't have much of a payoff in the end. ( )

Gabrielle Fox is an art therapist trying to rebuild her life after a devastating car accident and at the same time work at Oxsmith Adolescent Secure Psychiatric Hospital.
Bethany Krall is a teenage killer with the ability to foresee natural disasters and is one of Gabrielle Fox's students. Initially the natural disasters Bethany claims will happen are believed to be just coincidences of a paranoid delusional patient. However, when they become more frequent and Bethany starts to offer up real geological facts with the hint of a global disaster, Gabrielle is torn between what her profession taught her and what her gut is telling her.
Written with a gothic tone, Jensen builds a very disconcerting relationship between Gabrielle and Bethany so much so that Gabrielle must choose between faith and science.
I really enjoyed this book, and the ride you take with your feelings toward Bethany.There is scientific lingo placed in this book, but it is explained well enough for a layperson to understand the results of a world-altering cataclysm.
A mixture of evangelistic religion, science, and geophysics this book will keep you at the edge of your seat until the very end.
Highly Recommended ( )

Gabrielle Fox is a therapist working with some of Britain's most violent and most disturbed children. One of her patients is Bethany Krall who brutally killed her mother and has till date never given a reason for this behavior. Bethany is rude, crude and is constantly pushing Gabrielle's button. She makes fun of Gabrielle's disability, nicknaming her "Wheels" or "Spaz" and constantly calling her by either name, trying to wind her up. But Bethany's talents are not limited to taunting her therapist, apparently she is also capable of predicting national and international disasters. Of course no one believes her and her former therapist was removed from her care of Bethany for believing her claims. As Gabrielle tries to navigate her interaction with Bethany, she finds that she cannot continue to deny the truth of Bethany's words. At first she wishes to believe its a coincidence and that Bethany's predictions are just a combination of over active googling but she soon begins to believe Bethany. Together with Gabrielle's new boyfriend Frazer Melville they begin to investigate Bethany's claims and try to warn prominent scientists about the coming calamities. They are laughed at, taken for insane and eventually lose all their credibility in their professions. But is Bethany right? Is the world about to be destroyed? And is Bethany the one causing it?

There were many parts of this book that had me totally and absolutely captivated. Gabrielle's interactions with Bethany, her meeting Frazer and their initial quest to warn the world were all very exciting. But there are many weaknesses with this book. First off there were pages and pages and pages and pages of description of scientific data that made little or no sense to me. It made parts of the book too dense and unappealing. Also the writer portrays a world were all Christians are clueless and unintelligent fools looking to the skies like Alice in Wonderland waiting for Godot. I get that its fiction but at least even the most anti Christian of writers manages to throw in a few intelligent people of that faith. But in her portrayal they are all fundamentalists, intolerant and quite stupid.

Initially the budding romance between Gabrielle and Frazer is very interesting and nice to watch but somewhere along the way, it became a high school cliche. Gabrielle sees an interaction between Frazer and another woman that upsets her. But rather than address it like the mature person that I assumed she was, she becomes a fourteen year old girl and proceeds to act like one. Gosh, it was exhausting and made me lose some respect for Gabrielle.

But despite my criticisms, I did enjoy many parts of the book. The author was absolutely brilliant in her descriptiveness of England as a world on the verge. I was truly transported and could not wait to see what was next. ( )