The Blade Between

This book was given to me as a gift, so I read it until the end, but I can't tell you how many times I wanted to put it away. It is very confusing, yes, but it is also graphic and it hits really close to home with its take on community vigilantism and acts of terrorism which we see so much of in the news today. I found all the characters were hateful, spiteful and loathsome. I did not like any of them, and the main character is probably the worst of the lot. Ronan has a lot of anxiety that he left behind him in Hudson, NY, and a lot of unresolved issues leftover from the early death of his mother, and the bullying that he received in school. Ronan is openly gay, which the students in the school had no tolerance for. He is called back to show more the nightmare of his childhood to look after his ailing father, but all his demons were still there waiting for him. Ronan's hate and unresolved issues actually ignite the town to violence and destruction. The "old" Hudson is no longer there. Instead it is an up and coming town that is becoming the playground for the rich and famous and all the older citizens have been displaced. Interspersed throughout the book are supernatural occurrences which don't appear to make any sense to anyone, including Ronan. After reading about the violence and hatred in the community for the first 50 pages, I soon grew tired of it and stopped trying to make sense of it. I finished the book only because it was a gift, but I certainly cannot recommend it. show less

The setting for this story is the author’s hometown. It has to be one of the weirdest things I have ever read. The character of Roanan wakes up on a train and realizes he's back in his hometown of Hudson, NY, an old seafaring city. Ronan has a few problems. HA ! Do you think? He feels a lot of hate toward the “outsiders,” who have been buying up all the real estate and driving the long-time residents out.” Ronan’s high school friend. Dom, is still in town and is now a police officer and married to another high school friend, Attala. Everybody seems to have a plot and lots of secrets. Actually, there's hate floating around everywhere. Now here is where it really gets weird. Ronan doesn't realize it at first, but he can see dead show more people and one of them is telling him that he has to spread the hate around in order for the outsiders to leave. Even weirder now... Are you ready? He has visions of whales floating through the sky speaking to him through his dead friend, Katch. This is where I nearly stopped reading. There was just too much to keep up with. So many different characters all doing so many different things.... sometimes all at the same time. I believe the clincher was the whole idea of slaughtered whales from hundreds of years ago becoming mystical and people running around the city killing each other with harpoons, while wearing whale head coverings. This was just too far-fetched for even for me. show less

"Love is harder than hate.
Hate is easy.
But love? Love is hard."

This is definitely a case of my low rating not being a good reflection of the book - but of me.
This is actually a very well written, interesting, lyrical book - and it's the reason I'm giving it 3 stars. I think a lot of people will find this book interesting and that it makes an interesting statement and leaves you thinking well after you are done.

But it felt very much like Magic realism (or maybe sci-fi realism? Is that a thing?). And I'm not a fan - trying to understand how someone scheduling photo shoots with someone they can't possibly be or the salt water in the mouth and the flooding in houses. Getting on board with the overarching them definitely involved suspending show more some disbelief and somehow, I just never got there. I wish I'd loved it more, I thought so many pieces were interesting on their own, but with the magic realism mixed in, I just couldn't make the full leap.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins/Ecco for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. show less

This is an interesting book that centers on what it means to 'go home'. The protagonist moves away from his small and small minded town at the earliest opportunity vowing never to come back but years later due to some unusual circumstances he comes home only to find that everything is changed. He then has to face the people he left behind and his own complicated feelings about his hometown. This novel beautifully portrays the many layered emotions that someone can have about their hometown, how you can both love and hate a place. Ultimately this just wasn't for me, it was darker than I imagined and felt overly complicated. This is less for scifi/fantasy fans and more for those who enjoy psychological suspense.

This book really captured me and I can't wait to read more from this author. There were lines in this book that I read more than once (I don't do that usually!) and the imagery - wow - whether it was gory or dream-like, it worked. I enjoyed the character and plot development.

3.5 *
Not a huge fan of supernatural thrillers.
Pacy though, and who doesn’t love the idea of a billionaire on a Catherine wheel ;)

Wow