However, I did get really quite bored of this book half way through. I don't know why, but I just wasn't finding it very engaging, and I had no desire to pick it up. I took a break from it to read the last
I started this book on Kindle while on holiday in Greece in early September. I had heard it mentioned by a few different people, particularly Carrie Hope Fletcher (Youtuber, West End Actress, Author), and so had bought it on Kindle a while back.
It started off well, really odd but interesting. The book was split into sections from different perspectives, and began with the perspective of Laurel, a young girl who gets a job at a strange swimming baths, thought to be 'healing', where people would book appointments to be cleansed by the water and the healers who worked there. One of the men that works there develops an unhealthy obsession with her. I was really enjoying Laurel's narrative and the interesting characterisation developed by Smailes, when the story jumped forward to the present day, to be narrated by Arthur, a young boy who's mum left him and dad is struggling with severe depression. He flunks school following serious bullying, and finds himself at the run down swimming baths, where he sees a strange collection of people, including a beautiful girl swimming naked in the pool.
One thing I immediately liked about this section was that Arthur's narrative was very colloquial. You really imagine being stuck in the head of a teenage boy, with his crass thoughts and panicky swearing and sexual tension.
book I reviewed and watch plenty Netflix, and so only actually got round to reading the second half in mid-October.
The 'big reveal' part of the book, when the reader learns how all the characters are connected, was partly predictable, and partly plain confusing. I don't want to say to much for fear of spoiling, but I will say this... I feel as though there was way more meaning intended in the writing of this book than I got out of it. This could be for a whole variety of factors: the broken way I read it; the fact I was back at uni and tired and distracted; or simply that it wasn't my kind of book.
That said, there were parts of the book I thought were really well written and tapped into very genuine emotions of loneliness, feeling lost and helpless, etc. Maybe in a few years I'll reread this book (or watch the film adaptation that I believe is in the works!) and see if I can get a better grasp on its meaning. The eerie characters really do stay with you, so I definitely think Smailes is a good writer, and that it was just unfortunate that I struggled to connect with this book.
Reading Challenge: 16/21
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