Lucy Christopher
Author of Stolen
Series
Works by Lucy Christopher
Isla Schwanenmädchen 2 copies
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Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 20th Century
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Places of residence
- Bath, UK
- Education
- Bath Spa University (MA, Creative Writing)
Bath Spa University (PhD) - Occupations
- Lecturer (Bath Spa University)
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Found: Fantasy Mysterious gloomy in Name that Book (January 24)
Reviews
Stolen by Lucy Christopher
It really, really bothers me that there are readers who find this kidnapping scenario romantic.
I had been very excited to read Lucy Christopher's latest book because of how much I enjoyed both Stolen and Flyaway. However, I found that the style of this book was much different than her two preceding novels. While the other two spent a lot more time on character development, the two main characters of The Killing Woods are never particularly fleshed out. The main characterization we get from them throughout the whole book is simply their obsession about finding out what happened to Damon's murdered girlfriend.
The plot seemed to be mainly driven by Damon and Emily continuously going over the same thoughts again and again which got kind of old. I felt that most of the book was very repetitious and it was only really at the end and finding out what happened that my interest piqued. Yet, I felt even the ending was a bit predictable and somewhat easy to guess from about halfway through the book or sooner and when the books main appeal is the mystery I think it would have been more interesting to have some kind of a plot twist or an answer more convoluted than what it was that really made you think on it for a while.
All in all I was pretty disappointed with this novel after how great I thought Stolen and Flyaway were by Christoper. I thought it was much too repetitious and plain, not really delving into anything enough- not the plot, the characters, the mystery, or the suspense. I never felt connected to the characters or the story or particularly driven to even keep reading it. In all honesty the only reason I kept reading it was to see if it would get better with some kind of a twist or something because of how much I have enjoyed the author's other two books. Hoping Lucy Christopher's next novel gets back to the great style of writing found in her other two works.
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The plot seemed to be mainly driven by Damon and Emily continuously going over the same thoughts again and again which got kind of old. I felt that most of the book was very repetitious and it was only really at the end and finding out what happened that my interest piqued. Yet, I felt even the ending was a bit predictable and somewhat easy to guess from about halfway through the book or sooner and when the books main appeal is the mystery I think it would have been more interesting to have some kind of a plot twist or an answer more convoluted than what it was that really made you think on it for a while.
All in all I was pretty disappointed with this novel after how great I thought Stolen and Flyaway were by Christoper. I thought it was much too repetitious and plain, not really delving into anything enough- not the plot, the characters, the mystery, or the suspense. I never felt connected to the characters or the story or particularly driven to even keep reading it. In all honesty the only reason I kept reading it was to see if it would get better with some kind of a twist or something because of how much I have enjoyed the author's other two books. Hoping Lucy Christopher's next novel gets back to the great style of writing found in her other two works.
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Trigger warnings: Shipwreck
Read this review for context: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5223481629
4/10, I was hoping that I would enjoy this interesting novel after I read a fantasy book that turned out to be not so great but unfortunately this was no better and as you've guessed by the rating of this it's even worse, I found so many issues with this which makes me not want to pick this one up again, where do I even begin. It starts off with the main character Moss who lives on an island and it was believed that the entire world was flooded except this so that's where she must stay for the rest of her life. The plot moves slowly and I was wondering what was the Old World and why did it get flooded and where do all these magical things come from however this got explained towards the latter half of the book. It was revealed that Pa told the biggest lie in this story since he told me the world was flooded when it was not and it was only for his protection but why would he do that. Very weird how the author decided to describe Moss' period as and I quote, blood in the female spot and I can understand why the author would say that probably as a euphemism. Go read the Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger for a better fantasy adventure.… (more)
Read this review for context: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5223481629
4/10, I was hoping that I would enjoy this interesting novel after I read a fantasy book that turned out to be not so great but unfortunately this was no better and as you've guessed by the rating of this it's even worse, I found so many issues with this which makes me not want to pick this one up again, where do I even begin. It starts off with the main character Moss who lives on an island and it was believed that the entire world was flooded except this so that's where she must stay for the rest of her life. The plot moves slowly and I was wondering what was the Old World and why did it get flooded and where do all these magical things come from however this got explained towards the latter half of the book. It was revealed that Pa told the biggest lie in this story since he told me the world was flooded when it was not and it was only for his protection but why would he do that. Very weird how the author decided to describe Moss' period as and I quote, blood in the female spot and I can understand why the author would say that probably as a euphemism. Go read the Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger for a better fantasy adventure.… (more)
Emily's dad, a former soldier in the army suffering from PTSD, emerges from the woods with the body of a young girl. Ashlee Parker had her whole life ahead of her, until she apparently came across Mr. Shepherd in the midst of a flashback. Mr. Shepherd claims he can't remember what happened in the woods that night, but he admits to having mental issues and pleads guilty to manslaughter. Now while the courts decide if they will accept the plea or push for a harsher sentence, Emily wants to find out what really went on in those woods that night.
Damon and his friends play games in Darkwood. Ashlee played with them too. They were playing that night. Damon can't remember what happened, but he wants to believe he walked his girlfriend back to the path that would take her to her house. Best case scenario: he is a lousy boyfriend who passed out in the woods and didn't walk her back... Worse case scenario: well he doesn't want to think about that. Either way the guilt is eating him alive. With Emily's dad being charged he should feel relieved, but he just can't. If only he can convince Emily that her dad did it, then maybe he can let go of the gnawing feeling that he's missing something really important.
My Thoughts:
I love YA Mysteries! It seems like there should be more of them because they are so fun to read. Whatever else I felt about this book, I was really into the mystery aspect of it and was totally guessing until the end.
I really enjoyed how the mystery was laid out. I could not wait to find out what this Game was that was being played by Damon and his friends. I definitely thought it was going to be something much different than it was, but that was fine because the build up was awesome. The only character that felt like an open-book to me was Emily. She was the only one who didn't have secrets. So reading from her angle, I felt like I could trust it. When reading from Damon's view, I really didn't know what to think and that was kind of fun.
The thing I was not so into was that I felt like the atmosphere became too much of the focus. It felt like the author was so focused on making these woods seem creepy, that she didn't really pay attention to the characters as much as I would have liked. I mean I really liked Damon. He was angry, sad, guilt-ridden, but I wanted to like KNOW him a little more. Also it was like Emily was a mirror image of Damon and that just felt blah. And who exactly was this Ashlee girl? I would have liked to known what exactly made her tick too.
The woods to me were cool, but the name Darkwood got on my nerves for some reason. Like obviously bad things happen in a place called Darkwood. It was just too easy. And the way the characters were completely obsessed with woods. I guess in 5th or 6th grade I could see that, but by high school I don't see what the big deal is about a pile of trees. Why were they so obsessed with the woods?? I didn't get it.
Maybe I'm just being a little too nit-picky here. The book was really interesting. The whole army element was cool to read about and I really liked that I did NOT know who the real killer was. I thought I definitely had it pegged in the beginning, but I was wrong and that was great.
OVERALL: A really intriguing YA Mystery that is full of atmosphere. I really liked the story and wish there was more focus on that and less focus on rolling around in the leaves. I would definitely say this is worth reading, but it wasn't like mind blowing or anything.
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Damon and his friends play games in Darkwood. Ashlee played with them too. They were playing that night. Damon can't remember what happened, but he wants to believe he walked his girlfriend back to the path that would take her to her house. Best case scenario: he is a lousy boyfriend who passed out in the woods and didn't walk her back... Worse case scenario: well he doesn't want to think about that. Either way the guilt is eating him alive. With Emily's dad being charged he should feel relieved, but he just can't. If only he can convince Emily that her dad did it, then maybe he can let go of the gnawing feeling that he's missing something really important.
My Thoughts:
I love YA Mysteries! It seems like there should be more of them because they are so fun to read. Whatever else I felt about this book, I was really into the mystery aspect of it and was totally guessing until the end.
I really enjoyed how the mystery was laid out. I could not wait to find out what this Game was that was being played by Damon and his friends. I definitely thought it was going to be something much different than it was, but that was fine because the build up was awesome. The only character that felt like an open-book to me was Emily. She was the only one who didn't have secrets. So reading from her angle, I felt like I could trust it. When reading from Damon's view, I really didn't know what to think and that was kind of fun.
The thing I was not so into was that I felt like the atmosphere became too much of the focus. It felt like the author was so focused on making these woods seem creepy, that she didn't really pay attention to the characters as much as I would have liked. I mean I really liked Damon. He was angry, sad, guilt-ridden, but I wanted to like KNOW him a little more. Also it was like Emily was a mirror image of Damon and that just felt blah. And who exactly was this Ashlee girl? I would have liked to known what exactly made her tick too.
The woods to me were cool, but the name Darkwood got on my nerves for some reason. Like obviously bad things happen in a place called Darkwood. It was just too easy. And the way the characters were completely obsessed with woods. I guess in 5th or 6th grade I could see that, but by high school I don't see what the big deal is about a pile of trees. Why were they so obsessed with the woods?? I didn't get it.
Maybe I'm just being a little too nit-picky here. The book was really interesting. The whole army element was cool to read about and I really liked that I did NOT know who the real killer was. I thought I definitely had it pegged in the beginning, but I was wrong and that was great.
OVERALL: A really intriguing YA Mystery that is full of atmosphere. I really liked the story and wish there was more focus on that and less focus on rolling around in the leaves. I would definitely say this is worth reading, but it wasn't like mind blowing or anything.
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