Book Review: Lillian White’s Journey – by Karen Kelly*

What I thought of the book

Interestingly the book starts at the end! The Prologue introduces the character of Lillian in the sticky situation, she finds herself in towards the final few pages of the book. This is followed by Chapter One, where the journey begins. I was a little confused by this to begin with, but I’m sure that most people will be just fine with this type of montage fragmentation, that you would generally get in a film – where the story is broken down into sections, much like the scenes of a film. I have to say I really enjoyed Karen Kelly’s writing technique. It meant that you could pick up and put down the book, without losing the concept of the story.

Her journey is funny, sad, exciting and also boring at times. You may be surprised for me to say boring, but this isn’t in a bad way, you are simply following through the parts of her life that aren’t filled with madness! Similarly to most peoples lives – where there are small pockets of not much happening. But these were important in making the other aspects of the story more exciting. Also her characters are filled with life, you really get the true sense of how everyone is. This means you can really create images in your mind of who everyone is and what they are like.

Lillian’s character is likeable, and she is surrounded by friends and family that you will learn about through the book. Karen Kelly is able to really tell a story in a way that you can vividly visualise it within your imagination. It brings everything to life and has you thinking about the people in the book long after you have read it. I found myself wondering what the next part of her journey already is, or which of the other characters I might like to know about. This to me shows what a great first novel this is when you are already picturing other avenues for other stories that could be told.

Its hard writing reviews without giving away the story! But in this case, you really want to give this book a go, as its light-hearted nature makes for a really enjoyable read. And although I said you could pick this up and put it down, I read it from start to finish over two days journey in the car, I actually couldn’t put it down.

Review by: Lex Ward

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Book Review: Elevator Pitch by Linwood Barclay

* We were given a copy of the book in return for a feature. All opinions are our own.