3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Power of Language, 8 Jan 2012
This review is from: Mondays are Red (Kindle Edition)
Mondays Are Red should really be read twice.
It should be read the first time to be entertained by the plot and the characters and the story itself, but it should also be read a second time, just to enjoy the words. They deserve a reading all to themselves.
I won't elaborate on the story, as there are other reviews which have explained it beautifully, but I do think that Mondays Are Red is about change. It's about how we might feel if we woke one day and saw the world differently, and how we would deal with the challenge of an entirely different view. It's also about the power of language, and reading the story has really made me question the self-imposed filter we place on the world, created purely through our own choice of words.
Mondays Are Red is classed as young adult fiction (which, of course, it is), but it's really a book for anyone who enjoys language. Luke's descriptions of his new view of the world are just magical and will stop you in the middle of a paragraph, just to savour them.
And if you're anything like me, it will make you ever-so-slightly jealous of anyone with synaesthesia.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
compelling story with a twist, 28 Nov 2002
This story about a condition called synaethesia where the senses are muddled gives the reader a twist on the usual way we see the world. An excellent read for adults as well as teenagers - it makes you really think about phrases we use in everyday life, whilst being gripped by the spooky story.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mondays are Red, 29 Nov 2011
This review is from: Mondays are Red (Kindle Edition)
This book has given me one of the strangest reading experiences I've ever had! From the very 1st page it was a complete and utter attack on my senses. My mind was filled with colours, sounds, tastes and smells as Nicola Morgan introduced me to the world of synaesthesia. A world where "Mondays are Red, sadness has an empty blue smell and music can taste of anything from banana puree to bat's pee."
We meet teenage Luke as he lies awakening from a meningitis induced coma. As he lies on his hospital bed he becomes aware of someone (something?) lurking inside his brain. This character is Dreeg who will lead Luke astray, encourage him to rebel and offer him unrivalled power and glory. However as the story progresses it is clear that Luke will pay the price for this power.
'Mondays are Red' is a thoroughly interesting book which will definitely make the reader think when they put it down. With clear roots in Faustian legend Dreeg is a compelling character. Able to transform at a moment's notice into various nauseating beings he is Luke's personal Satan, willing him down the path of trouble.
As Luke continues on his quest for power Morgan continues to mesmerise us with her use of language. The fact that Luke is suffering from synaesthsia allows her to attack our senses from all angles. Descriptions and language are at times a "...kaleidoscopic shower. Beautiful and confusing."
Running alongside this combination of imagery and legend is a an extremely creepy horror story. It features metal masked men, spooky woods, missing teenagers and many 'not sure if I really want to read on' moments. The whole book is extremely atmospheric and in the last few chapters you can almost hear the crackles of the flames as they leap from tree to tree in the aforementioned woods.
This is a book which has taken a serious issue and dealt with it in an unusual but effective way. Love may be at the heart of the story but this is no traditional love story. It's a gripping read which will scare you, enlighten you and will leave you with more questions then answers when you are finished.
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