Neil by Sybil Bartel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm exhausted.

Completely effing spent.

The only thing I can equate Sybil Bartel's novel, Neil (The Uncompromising Series #2) to is a Chinese Rock Garden. Strange analogy, I know, but I'm blaming the randomness on being so emotionally drained.

Have you heard of 'ma'? My understanding is that in Chinese rock gardens, it isn't the rocks themselves which are symbolic, but the space between them. Meaning, it's the empty space which tells the story. And this is where Neil comes in. There is so much left unsaid between the two main characters, there is so much loaded silence between them that the reader is left feeling every possible emotion because they either can't or won't say what they feel themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I think this is absolutely brilliant. It highlights Bartel's mastery of language, not to mention her epic characterisation skills, but damn, I need to lie down. Even if it's simply to come to terms with how much I've been emotionally wrung out.

Awesome book. Ridiculously talented writer. You just might want a twelve hour nap afterward.



View all my reviews