In Times of Violence [Kindle Edition]

I came to this book, not really knowing what to expect from it. A lost girl in search of happiness? Perhaps. An amoral tale of urban violence in gangs? Maybe. How time affects gangs and there members? Certainly.

The central character of the book, Jade, is a bored country girl who wants a life. After running to London she becomes infatuated with the leader of a local motorcycle gang. The novel covers the period and events around her time with the gang.

The storytelling is in the first person from Jade's perspective. This is combined with a flashback at the start of the book which looks back a year. Unfortunately, this incident is never referred to again in the book as it progresses through the years. This disorientates the reader, who is left trying desperately to understand the timescales.

The problem with this book is that its neither fish nor fowl. The romance is handled in a very unemotional way, as is the action of the gangs. It feels like Jade could be as easily describing a gang of chartered accountants. There just doesn't seem to be any passion in the piece, with the exception of the final confrontation, which is quite well handled. If the rest of the book had been as good as that, it would have been a good read. Unfortunately, it isn't. The author really needs to hone her descriptions; clothing and attitude does not describe a scene. Depth is in the soul of the characters.

There are too many spelling and grammatical errors in this book for my liking. The formatting is also poor, with large sections being randomly indented.

I'm a 14 year old girl and I loved this book. I read a lot of books and this one is so real. The main character is really cool and believable. And the book doesn't sound like it's written to talk down to teenagers or make them look silly and stupid. I was really skeptical at first, but my aunt said she had heard it was good for someone my age to read, and I'm so glad I did.

It's one of those books you can't put down and you're really sad when it comes to an end. I'll remember this book for a long time. It'll always remind me of this time of my life, and I really love that! You HAVE to read this!

Brilliant writer and brilliant story well written and has a fantastic follow on story to it in Huntress well worth a read