Title: The Raising
Author: Laura Kasischke
Publisher: Corvus
Published: August 2011
ISBN: 978 0857891549
Rating 2.5/5
The cover on this is fairly dark and not something that would jump out at me to buy based on the spine.
This is a story of death, realism, friendship, sobriety and fitting in. Craig comes across as a dumb ass upper class smuck to begin with – until he falls in love. Perry, his room mate doesn’t get on with Craig. Craig is everything he is not – over the top, loud and a regular user of drugs.
For me the story is made by an unassuming character – Shelly – the lesbian who's secret affair becomes public knowledge which gets used against her. She always looks for the good in people and it takes her a while to realise that not everyone has the same moral standards as her.
This might make a good movie, there are plenty of psychological elements and sex scenes. I think the only things missing are the tying up of loose ends. I felt those in the wrong got away scot free and for the seriousness of their actions that was just plain wrong. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it hadn’t kept jumping around in both timelines and characters, it made me dizzy after a while as a reader and I nearly gave up reading.
Book synopsis:
A sudden death. In Godwin Honors Hall, the walls are draped in black. The college is in mourning for Nicole Werner, a blonde and beautiful prom queen who died in a car crash last semester. She was a straight-A student, and a prized member of the Virgin Sisters, the most powerful sorority on campus. A feverish obsession. Nicole's boyfriend Craig was at the wheel that night. He has no memory of the crash, but he is plagued by guilt. For as winter sets in and the nights darken, Nicole's death dominates college life. Candlelit vigils and fetishistic rituals become nightly events -and then the hauntings begin. A flicker of suspicion. Craig's roommate, Perry, doesn't believe in ghosts. A no-nonsense type who always thought Nicole was as manipulative as she was charming, he refuses to be swept up by the hysteria. But when he and his fellow sceptics join forces, he too sees Nicole's spirit in the crumbling college halls.
Many thanks to the publishers, a copy was received in return for an honest review.
1 comment:
I always want to love Laura Kasischke's books but somehow they never work out for me. I loved the synopsis of this one, but I didn't really like the direction the book took. It was all a bit too ambiguous for my liking. If I had time for a re-read I'm sure I'd take more from it than I did on my first reading.
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