Release Date: March 29, 2012
Publisher: Self Published
Age Group: "New Adult" (I think that's the term? 18-25, I think. Does have some Mature YA appeal, though)
Pages: 239
Source: We ♥ YA's ARR Program - Review copy provided by Author
Interest: Contemporary
Buy the Book: Amazon
A Bed of Knives - contemporary romance with an edge.
Friendship can get complicated when you start to fancy the guys you hang out with. When Eddie suggests a night out to celebrate the end of their final exams, four friends look forward to the evening with different expectations.
Fast forward 5 years. Gina and Rose rescue Spider from living rough in Oxford. Is this enough to bring all four of them together again and will their friendship survive the revelations of the following days?
- GoodreadsRating: 3.5 / 5 Riceballs
Book Review:
I’m not quite sure what I expected out of A Bed of Knives in the beginning – a fluffy, happy chick-lit novel? A somber novel about death? It turns out, A Bed of Knives wasn’t the generic contemporary I thought it would be – instead, it presents a realistic view about four friends who eventually take on different paths.
A Bed of Knives focuses on four POVs, which usually I’m wary about because of the lack of distinction and character development. In this case though, I found that each character had a distinct personality and situation that developed quite nicely. Each side of the story was also pretty realistic; there was a good amount of emotion and individual thoughts in each, which gave me good insight as to what characters were thinking. My only complaint regarding this concerns Gina – whenher aunt Kate dies, Gina’s concern before her death is apparent – however I think due to the format of the novel, her grief was probably glazed over. This isn’t as serious of an issue – it’s just that I suppose I wanted more emotion and conflict. I’m not sure if it’s necessarily a bad thing either – this is just personal taste.
The format of the novel switches between the “present” and “five years earlier”, kind of like the “Now” and “Then” format in Pandemonium. For me, it was probably good and bad, if that makes sense. It was good in the way that if the novel had been written in chronological order, the relationship between certain moments in the present and past wouldn’t have been as apparent. Moreover, if the author had written out all five years in the book, the plot might have dragged on. However, I felt that some of the minor issues that could have added to the story were glazed over, like Gina’s emotions I mentioned in the spoiler above. However, I know that some people would prefer that the novels they read be in chronological order, so if you’re that type of reader, this book wouldn’t be for you.
The plot events were pretty realistic. Problems that had arisen before and along the characters’ journeys didn’t simply go away – they had to be worked out or ignored, like in Eddie’s scandals. Gina’s story was mostly pleasant, and I found her family and support of others to be heartwarming. Rose’s story focused mainly on her emotions, which I found were well flushed out and developed beautifully. As for Spider, I found that his story was the most compelling, because he had one of the most promising starts, which ended because of a (mostly) unfortunate incident, then falling even more, but then finally climbing back up towards success.
My complaint about the plot, however, is how easily the ending came to be. Sure, I like happy endings – they make me feel warm inside. However, it seemed as though Spider accepted Gina’s words as well as his fate in a matter of minutes, while Gina welcomed Spider with open arms, Rose accepting Eddie’s apologies in less than a year, and Eddie managing to convince Rose he was a good man, while keeping himself out of trouble. I suppose it could happen, although I felt it was a little rushed.
Overall, A Bed of Knives is a pretty good contemporary read, with realistic situations, emotions, and characters. If you’re picky about the order / chronology of the chapters, or value flushed out, detailed endings, you might not enjoy this book as much. However, I would still recommend it to those who want a more somber realistic piece.
Disclaimer: The fact that I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review has not affected my rating. This review expresses my honest opinions.
A Bed of Knives focuses on four POVs, which usually I’m wary about because of the lack of distinction and character development. In this case though, I found that each character had a distinct personality and situation that developed quite nicely. Each side of the story was also pretty realistic; there was a good amount of emotion and individual thoughts in each, which gave me good insight as to what characters were thinking. My only complaint regarding this concerns Gina – when
The format of the novel switches between the “present” and “five years earlier”, kind of like the “Now” and “Then” format in Pandemonium. For me, it was probably good and bad, if that makes sense. It was good in the way that if the novel had been written in chronological order, the relationship between certain moments in the present and past wouldn’t have been as apparent. Moreover, if the author had written out all five years in the book, the plot might have dragged on. However, I felt that some of the minor issues that could have added to the story were glazed over, like Gina’s emotions I mentioned in the spoiler above. However, I know that some people would prefer that the novels they read be in chronological order, so if you’re that type of reader, this book wouldn’t be for you.
The plot events were pretty realistic. Problems that had arisen before and along the characters’ journeys didn’t simply go away – they had to be worked out or ignored, like in Eddie’s scandals. Gina’s story was mostly pleasant, and I found her family and support of others to be heartwarming. Rose’s story focused mainly on her emotions, which I found were well flushed out and developed beautifully. As for Spider, I found that his story was the most compelling, because he had one of the most promising starts, which ended because of a (mostly) unfortunate incident, then falling even more, but then finally climbing back up towards success.
My complaint about the plot, however, is how easily the ending came to be. Sure, I like happy endings – they make me feel warm inside. However, it seemed as though Spider accepted Gina’s words as well as his fate in a matter of minutes, while Gina welcomed Spider with open arms, Rose accepting Eddie’s apologies in less than a year, and Eddie managing to convince Rose he was a good man, while keeping himself out of trouble. I suppose it could happen, although I felt it was a little rushed.
Overall, A Bed of Knives is a pretty good contemporary read, with realistic situations, emotions, and characters. If you’re picky about the order / chronology of the chapters, or value flushed out, detailed endings, you might not enjoy this book as much. However, I would still recommend it to those who want a more somber realistic piece.
Disclaimer: The fact that I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review has not affected my rating. This review expresses my honest opinions.
Nice review :)
ReplyDeleteThanks :D
DeleteI've heard about this a few times - may have to give it a go!xo
ReplyDelete