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Grieftime
In a world where life, love and even reproduction are regulated by the state, Lyn reluctantly accepts that she must marry again just weeks after her first husband's death. Supported by her friend Judith, she acquiesces to her every movement being monitored 'in her own best interests’.
Into Lyn's life comes Mikey, a younger man who was once a pupil of hers. Lyn tries to follow the rules and fit into the wifely role that has been allotted to her, learning how to cope with the exuberant, straight-talking Mikey and his large, boisterous family - something she never had as an orphan brought up in a 'dump' home. But a new relationship is not the only surprise Lyn has to face: she feels as if she is being stalked, and isn’t even sure if she can trust her best friend anymore.
As Lyn's world unravels, she is comforted by her new husband and supported by her mysterious 'counsellor' Dylan. But who really has her best interests at heart, and can the heavy surveillance she is under ever be justified? Grieftime is an innovative novel that embraces a world shaped by technology; a world without free will that surely none of us would want to live in.
Into Lyn's life comes Mikey, a younger man who was once a pupil of hers. Lyn tries to follow the rules and fit into the wifely role that has been allotted to her, learning how to cope with the exuberant, straight-talking Mikey and his large, boisterous family - something she never had as an orphan brought up in a 'dump' home. But a new relationship is not the only surprise Lyn has to face: she feels as if she is being stalked, and isn’t even sure if she can trust her best friend anymore.
As Lyn's world unravels, she is comforted by her new husband and supported by her mysterious 'counsellor' Dylan. But who really has her best interests at heart, and can the heavy surveillance she is under ever be justified? Grieftime is an innovative novel that embraces a world shaped by technology; a world without free will that surely none of us would want to live in.
454 pages, Hardcover
First published September 2, 2014
11 people want to read
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April 25, 2016DNF at 38%. I've never DNF'd a review request from a publisher before. So, I'm not going to leave a rating for the book, but I will leave a few notes on why it didn't work for me as a reader.
One - the book is 154 chapters. One Hundred And Fifty-Four chapters. ONE HUNDRED AND... Goodreads has it listed as 454 pages, Kindle has it listed as 352 pages. To me, it felt like an eternity that made War and Peace feel like a novella.
The writing is okay from a grammar, style and flow point of view. Things are easy to comprehend, the world building was graspable, the characters well-established. It just seemed to take forever to get anywhere at all, and I was only 38% in when I had to give in, because continuing was actually putting me in a sore mood.
Two - all the men were misogynistic stereotypes. Granted, 'Mikey' was the best of the bunch in a futuristic world dominated by The Center and where men made the rules. Mikey was still overbearing and patronizing. Greg was abusive, and Danyl was sleezy. They all made Lyn out to be a little girl who couldn't do anything on her own, and Lyn unfortunately did little to help herself with the way she threw emotional tantrums - what they would call hysterics in the 1940's that this 'futuristic' dystopic novel resembles.
Yes, part of the novel's point is that the future society is hard for women, there is The Center and its rules and Men rule the roost. I think if it had been handled a bit differently, or if there had been something fresh to uplift it from the misogynistic-dystopic trope that's been done before.. And perhaps this oasis is in the later half of the book, I just couldn't cross the desert to get there.
Three - Odd editing / style choices. Lyn's chapters are in third person. Mikey's POV chapters are in first person, and many of them are flashbacks to when she was his teacher. This was extremely jarring at first.
Four - plot - I felt like it was trying to get somewhere, but it seemed to be taking the scenic route. There appears to be some mystery with The Center, Dr. Dylan, Judith and the orphanage, but the majority of the novel felt like I was reading 'As The World Turns'... with Mikey and Lyn. By 38%, none of the plots going on were gripping enough to make me want to continue turning pages.
This book was published after the author passed away. That was one of the reasons I was happy to take the publisher up on the offer to read and submit feedback on the book. My honest feedback - an editor is needed. Not so much for line edits, but for style, pacing and length. I know it's hard to consider cutting out or editing part of a book when the author is no longer available for commentary or agreement, but I feel like what could have been an interesting, gripping and well-written story has been left in 'director's cut' mode, without a director.
One - the book is 154 chapters. One Hundred And Fifty-Four chapters. ONE HUNDRED AND... Goodreads has it listed as 454 pages, Kindle has it listed as 352 pages. To me, it felt like an eternity that made War and Peace feel like a novella.
The writing is okay from a grammar, style and flow point of view. Things are easy to comprehend, the world building was graspable, the characters well-established. It just seemed to take forever to get anywhere at all, and I was only 38% in when I had to give in, because continuing was actually putting me in a sore mood.
Two - all the men were misogynistic stereotypes. Granted, 'Mikey' was the best of the bunch in a futuristic world dominated by The Center and where men made the rules. Mikey was still overbearing and patronizing. Greg was abusive, and Danyl was sleezy. They all made Lyn out to be a little girl who couldn't do anything on her own, and Lyn unfortunately did little to help herself with the way she threw emotional tantrums - what they would call hysterics in the 1940's that this 'futuristic' dystopic novel resembles.
Yes, part of the novel's point is that the future society is hard for women, there is The Center and its rules and Men rule the roost. I think if it had been handled a bit differently, or if there had been something fresh to uplift it from the misogynistic-dystopic trope that's been done before.. And perhaps this oasis is in the later half of the book, I just couldn't cross the desert to get there.
Three - Odd editing / style choices. Lyn's chapters are in third person. Mikey's POV chapters are in first person, and many of them are flashbacks to when she was his teacher. This was extremely jarring at first.
Four - plot - I felt like it was trying to get somewhere, but it seemed to be taking the scenic route. There appears to be some mystery with The Center, Dr. Dylan, Judith and the orphanage, but the majority of the novel felt like I was reading 'As The World Turns'... with Mikey and Lyn. By 38%, none of the plots going on were gripping enough to make me want to continue turning pages.
This book was published after the author passed away. That was one of the reasons I was happy to take the publisher up on the offer to read and submit feedback on the book. My honest feedback - an editor is needed. Not so much for line edits, but for style, pacing and length. I know it's hard to consider cutting out or editing part of a book when the author is no longer available for commentary or agreement, but I feel like what could have been an interesting, gripping and well-written story has been left in 'director's cut' mode, without a director.
August 27, 2014
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for an honest review. First of all, this story was well-written and it was easy to become invested in the main characters. In fact, the characters are the majority of the story. I remember very little of the descriptive pieces aside from a couple of walks in the park and the general layout of the character's house. I was not thrilled by the subservient role women were given in the book and I have to say that somewhat detracted from my enjoyment of the story. Anyone who knows me would understand that since I'm about as independent and self-reliant as they come.
As a character Lyn was easy to feel for. Despite the misogynistic feeling of the story, I did find myself invested in the love story that took place between Lyn and Mike. I don't want to give too many details lest I ruin the book, but this was the best part of the story in my opinion. I never really got the feeling of dread and fear of Lyn's crazy 'best' friend from the orphanage (or dump as it's called in this case) despite her best attempts. Once again, I'm not the cowering type so I don't know that I found her adversary to be all that threatening for the majority of the book. That opinion changed some as things went on, but I didn't get that 'feeling' of fear from her. It was obvious she was broken and was supposed to be somewhat dangerous, but perhaps if the cards had been played somewhat differently then the situation might have ended differently as well.
Mike's family mostly seems to have Lyn's best interests at heart as do his staff, but no one else who is supposed to be looking out for her seems to want anything but misery for her, including the government representatives that resemble the NSA being involved in your sex life. Generally, aside from Lyn, the story is full of self-serving, greedy people who only care about themselves and what they want. Lyn's feelings and wants are an afterthought to most of the men in her life and I found that to be sad. I'm afraid if I was forced to live in this world that they would find me in a hut on an unmarked mountain to avoid the police state that is present in ever aspect of the characters' lives.
Don't run away too fast, because it the author has talent and the story moved along at a good clip. I kept returning to the story to find out what would happen next whenever I got the chance and I generally enjoyed the book. I definitely enjoyed the author's style of storytelling and would have liked to have had the opportunity to read more from her. Unfortunately Ms. Bulpett passed away during the publishing process so I'm afraid we will not have the chance to see what else she could have produced.
As a character Lyn was easy to feel for. Despite the misogynistic feeling of the story, I did find myself invested in the love story that took place between Lyn and Mike. I don't want to give too many details lest I ruin the book, but this was the best part of the story in my opinion. I never really got the feeling of dread and fear of Lyn's crazy 'best' friend from the orphanage (or dump as it's called in this case) despite her best attempts. Once again, I'm not the cowering type so I don't know that I found her adversary to be all that threatening for the majority of the book. That opinion changed some as things went on, but I didn't get that 'feeling' of fear from her. It was obvious she was broken and was supposed to be somewhat dangerous, but perhaps if the cards had been played somewhat differently then the situation might have ended differently as well.
Mike's family mostly seems to have Lyn's best interests at heart as do his staff, but no one else who is supposed to be looking out for her seems to want anything but misery for her, including the government representatives that resemble the NSA being involved in your sex life. Generally, aside from Lyn, the story is full of self-serving, greedy people who only care about themselves and what they want. Lyn's feelings and wants are an afterthought to most of the men in her life and I found that to be sad. I'm afraid if I was forced to live in this world that they would find me in a hut on an unmarked mountain to avoid the police state that is present in ever aspect of the characters' lives.
Don't run away too fast, because it the author has talent and the story moved along at a good clip. I kept returning to the story to find out what would happen next whenever I got the chance and I generally enjoyed the book. I definitely enjoyed the author's style of storytelling and would have liked to have had the opportunity to read more from her. Unfortunately Ms. Bulpett passed away during the publishing process so I'm afraid we will not have the chance to see what else she could have produced.
September 29, 2014
I received a copy of this book from the publishers for an honest review. I really get along with the publishers so it kills me a bit to say that I hated this book. It gets 2 stars cause it made me laugh a few times. Structure and writing style were poor, and the story plot was not well thought out. The book reeked of a hatred for women with no reason as to why. Men were the gods cause why wouldn't they be??!! Gag.
For my full and honest review check it out on my blog http://jazminjade.wordpress.com/2014/...
For my full and honest review check it out on my blog http://jazminjade.wordpress.com/2014/...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews