Thursday 24 March 2011

Book Review - Cicada Summer

Title: Cicada Summer
Author: Kate Constable
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN-13: 978-1741758283

My Synopsis
Eloise has recently lost her mother, and her get-rich-quick dad has moved them to his home town to turn the derelict family mansion into a convention centre. Eloise has stopped speaking and is something of a lost soul, but she feels an immediate bond with the old house, and begins spending all her time there. When she meets a 'ghost girl' who may or may not be from the house's past, events take a strange - and ultimately dangerous - turn.

My Review
I originally requested this book because I had read 'The Chanters of Tremaris' series by this author and thought they were one of the best series I had ever read. This book is aimed at a slightly younger audience but I was intrigued by the blurb and sometimes i like a nice easy read. I read this in about 2 hours today. Eloise's mother has died and now Eloise doesn't speak and her father always seems to be busy. He has decided to move back to his childhood home to reconstruct a large house. Leaving Eloise with her gran he jets off to make business plans. Eloise feels an instant connection to the house and as her gran never leaves the house and isn't bothered about what Eloise does, this leaves a lot of time for exploring. When Eloise goes down to the old house by herself she sees a 'ghost girl', but after more visits she realises she can talk, touch and play with this other girl. Eloise knows she has merged into a different time, but is glad of the friend in an otherwise lonely existence. 
I found this book slightly strange, I was wondering about who this girl was and how she got through the time slip. The gran is very strange, almost completely against taking Eloise in, then agreeing to it and then ignoring her. Her dad irritated me, never there and never once did he ask if his daughter was happy or what she wanted, and seemed to almost like that she didn't talk as it meant he could carry on doing what he wanted.  I felt sorry for Eloise, no wonder she stopped talking, people had clearly stopped listening.
I did love the descriptions of the paintings that Eloise creates in the book they sounded truly magical and wished I could see them for real.
This story is really a discovery of who you are and what you are willing to give others in life as well as give yourself. Strength comes from within, and sometimes imagination can be a great gateway to unlimited possibilities.
A story of magic and mystery, love and trust. Will capture the imagination and paint images with giant brush-strokes on your mind.
Not my favourite, but glad I read it.

My Rating
I would give this book 6.5/10 A nice read, but felt like it had something missing.   

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