Picture drawn by Maggie Stiefvater, 2009. Header made by S.F. Robertson, 2010.

Friday, July 2, 2010

This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas


This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas
"Olivia Peters is over the moon when her literary idol, the celebrated novelist and muchadored local priest Mark D. Brendan, offers to become her personal writing mentor. But when Father Mark’s enthusiasm for Olivia’s prose develops into something more, Olivia’s emotions quickly shift from wonder to confusion to despair. Exactly what game is Father Mark playing, and how on earth can she get out of it?"- summary from Amazon

This was a creepy book. Like I think Khy said in her review of this, I was just immediately creeped out whenever Father Mark entered the picture, even from the beginning. It took me a little bit of the book to really get into it because it took me several weeks to get past page 40. But once you pass that threshold, the book is hard to put down and flies by quickly.

Being right inside Olivia's mind really opened up a whole new level to this story. You're right there when everything happens and, at least for me, that really affected me as a reader. Pages 185-197 were some of the most heartbreaking stuff I have ever read and hopefully it will be the same for you if you read the book. I teared up while reading this section (at work, no less) and actually had to put it down and take a small break before continuing. That is how much the prose affected me.

Overall, a wonderful sophomore novel from Freitas that is far and beyond her debut. There is no sophomore slump for this author.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Link above is Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.

3 comments:

  1. Great review of a book I'm itching to read. I can't wait to get a copy :D It sounds heartbreaking and creepy but so good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ooh I keep reading amazing reviews of this but I may not be able to deal this one sounds pretty emotional.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know if I've read a review of this yet, but I've seen it around. Wow, glad you "liked" it so much. It sounds like a very powerful novel.

    ReplyDelete