Seventeen-year-old
Scarlett Blake is haunted by death. Her estranged sister has made the
ultimate dramatic exit. Running away from school, joining a surfing
fraternity, partying hard: that sounds like Sienna. But suicide? It makes no sense.
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Scarlett comes to the isolated cove of Twycombe, Devon, with grand plans to uncover the truth. Alone. But she hasn’t reckoned on meeting two boys who are determined to help her. Luke: the blue-eyed surfer who’ll see the real Scarlett, who’ll challenge her, who’ll save her. And Jude: the elusive drifter with a knack for turning up whenever Scarlett’s in need.
As Scarlett’s quest for the truth unravels, so too does her grip on reality as she’s always known it. Because there’s something strange going on in this little cove. A dead magpie circles the skies. A dead deer watches from the undergrowth. Hands glow with light. Warmth. Power.
What transpires is a summer of discovery. Of what it means to conquer fear. To fall in love. To choose life. To choose death.
To believe the impossible.
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Scarlett comes to the isolated cove of Twycombe, Devon, with grand plans to uncover the truth. Alone. But she hasn’t reckoned on meeting two boys who are determined to help her. Luke: the blue-eyed surfer who’ll see the real Scarlett, who’ll challenge her, who’ll save her. And Jude: the elusive drifter with a knack for turning up whenever Scarlett’s in need.
As Scarlett’s quest for the truth unravels, so too does her grip on reality as she’s always known it. Because there’s something strange going on in this little cove. A dead magpie circles the skies. A dead deer watches from the undergrowth. Hands glow with light. Warmth. Power.
What transpires is a summer of discovery. Of what it means to conquer fear. To fall in love. To choose life. To choose death.
To believe the impossible.
Scarlett has a lot of baggage and the biggest bag in the bunch is her sister's recent death. She decides to spend her summer break investigating what may have happened to her sister, Sienna. Scarlett's first order of business is to get out onto the sea where her sister died. After nearly killing herself surfing, she is more determined than ever to improve and get back out there but next time, with the help of a hunky neighbor. Mysterious things start happening around her and Scarlett is terrified at what it all could mean.
Death Wish is the first novel by the budding new author, Megan Tayte. For the first book out of the gate to be this good is pretty rare. I found that Tayte's character development was interesting. She gives you little morsels at a time and gradually builds the characters in the story. I have read a lot of books where you just get your nose rubbed in all of the goings on of characters and it can be a little overwhelming but that wasn't the case with Death Wish. I liked the slow and steady pace that this tactic created. The story was unhurried and laid back but it did kick up quite a few notches about three quarters of the way through, when things started to really heat up.
I found it a little strange that so many people are touting that this is a romance novel ... while there IS romance, it is not the focal point of the story. That was also a bit refreshing. Going in, I thought that the paranormal/fantasy parts of the book would take a backseat but again, I was mistaken. I love how the majority of the book was cloaked in secrets and you went along on this crazy ride along with Scarlett, rather than knowing what was going to happen and Scarlett having to catch up.
Death Wish was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed and I would be interested in seeing what the second novel has to offer to the continuing story. That being said ... I do have a few things to point out for all of you American readers out there. In case you didn't know, this book takes place in England and is written by (you guessed it) a British author. So I decided that I'm going to help all of the non-Brits out a bit and give you what I am going to call, The Non-Dictionary Dictionary. I'm going to tell you some weird (to Americans) terms and what they DO NOT mean. That will help you weed out the actual meanings from your first assumptions.
The Non-Dictionary Dictionary
- chocolate digestives: this does not mean chocolate laxatives
- micro-boot: this does not mean a very, very, small cowboy boot
- titch: this does not mean an itch on your boob
- cheese sarnies: this does not mean cheese candy
- cuppa: this is not slang for "cup of"
- higgledy-piggledy: this is not the term used when going to the Piggly Wiggly
- gorse: this is not a goat/horse hybrid
- trilby: this is not a type of singing fish
- kipper: this is not mean being happy
- manky: this is not a man hanky
- grubby mac: this does not mean a dirty Big Mac
* I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review *
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