Nov 25, 2009 23:25
Joanne Harris' first book, The Evil Seed, is quite different to later works like Chocolat. It's still compelling, but it's weighed down a bit more by description. It could have been worse: I liked the way she mixed up the timelines, even if it is quite a normal way of doing it. If she'd revealed all via the diary too soon, there'd have been little point in reading. I didn't really like the way it all ran together at the ending -- it became confusing, even though it was meant to emphasise the cyclical nature of everything.
I liked the idea of the vampires, or Nightwalkers if you like, rising because they're remembered. It puts an interesting new spin on the comforting part of the legend, that vampires can be laid to rest. I liked it: that's more haunting than your average vampire novel, where everything can be put back in its place at the end. I liked that it didn't end with Joe and Alice back together, because that too would have been comforting, the end you kind of come to expect.
It's over written in places, but I still found it compelling and easy to read. Worth a read if you want to see how Joanne Harris does vampires.
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