This is an incredible piece of fiction written by Nicola Morgan and for me, definately the new read of 2010 so far. I started reading it as a bookseller and kept wondering how the style, which is very different to anything else I have read for this market, might influence buyers. Then at about page 41, it simply pulled me in as a reader and I loved it! I have absolutely no worries about telling everyone to read this and will be encouraging not just young adults/teens but adults too as it's one of those rare YA reads that will cross-over successfully into the adult market. I made the mistake (?!) of reading it late at night, finishing at about 2am. Then spent a sleepless (yet extremely enjoyable) night thinking, philosophising and reflecting. It's a mighty powerful and rare novel that does all this whilst remaining a stonkingly good story!
The characters are strongly written and very believable clearly getting under my skin and making me care very deeply about what happened to them at the end. And it's the ending, amongst other things that makes this book different, almost unique. The underlying theme of the book is chance/luck/fate - call it what you like. Jack, in the book flips a coin to make decisions about his life and the reader is encouraged to do the same. Two endings, one choice. I flipped a coin, read the ending it chose for me - will the book end the same way for you and how will that make you feel?
The style - it made for some interesting debate at my book club and we all liked it. It's plucky, sinister, all-knowing and yet full of "what-ifs" which keep you biting your nails until the very end.
This book feels like a stroke of genius, combining a fast-paced story with romance and danger, success and family drama alongside some seriously thought-provoking happenstance. Fantastic.
