“The future is wide and wild and full of promise, but it is precarious, too. Seize on every opportunity that comes your way and cling to it, lest it be washed back out to sea.”
Read from February 3rd 2020 to 12th 2020
Mystery
432 pages
Synopsis:
Oliver Marks has just served ten years for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day of his release, he is greeted by the detective who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, and he wants to know what really happened a decade before.
As a young actor at an elite conservatory, Oliver noticed that his talented classmates seem to play the same characters onstage and off – villain, hero, temptress – though he was always a supporting role. But when the teachers change the casting, a good-natured rivalry turns ugly, and the plays spill dangerously over into real life.
When tragedy strikes, one of the seven friends is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless...
Review:
Characters
Richard: Always plays the lead characters in the plays. Kind of a dick. Definitely has a bad temper.
Meredith: Always casted for her body. Richard's girlfriend.
Filippa: The chill one. Totally mysterious.
Alexander: Drug addict. Gay. Troubled past.
Wren: Richard's cousin. Didn't really get many vibes from her on first read.
James: Oliver's roommate. Solid actor. Most popular character.
Oliver: Main protagonist. Peacekeeper. Kind and sweet. A total cinnamon bun character that I want to protect with my whole being.
WOW! Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!
Did I expect that I would love a book with Shakespeare in it? Heck no. Why? Throughout the duration of my high school years, where reading that poetry crap was mandatory... I hated it. Like full on HATED it. I think he actually turned me right off poetry in general cuz like I hard avoid it now. But, yes there is a but, this book... made me appreciate the poetry and amazement behind Shakespeare. It was totally impossible but it happened.
Okay, so. This book is about 7 theatre students. It spans their years at a post secondary institution where they live on campus together and become, well... family. A dysfunctional family that is. They accidentally participate in a murder. The book basically focuses on the fallout and bounces between the time around the incident and 10-years-later.
The book begins with Oliver getting out of prison after serving a 10-year sentence. He speaks about finally telling the true events of what unfolded on the night of a murder. The plot definitely thickens. Yes, even before it starts.
As the events are unfolding and everything is being explained, there is a perfect amount of mystery and guessing. I honestly was unable to guess who was actually responsible for the murder. I love a book that is able to keep me on my toes, and this one was definitely able to do that. Realistically, it could've been any of the other 6 characters, or an outside force. When the person was announced, I didn't even have the hindsight bias saying "I knew it all along". I was genuinely surprised. I think I would've been no matter who it was though. It was just brilliant writing like that.
The most important part of this book for me was the Epilogue. If you've read this book, you understand the importance of the end of the book. *SPOILERS* Honestly, there is only one ending that I will accept! That ending is that James is actually alive. I sobbed when Oliver found out that James died. SoOOooOoO, if he is dead, then my soul is also dead. BUT, in the note that James leaves to Oliver is a passage of Pericles. And that passage references when he believed his wife had drowned at sea but he found her alive at a religious temple. COINCIDENCE??? I think NOT!
There is one thing I didn't like about the book and it's really not that awful. So, I have zero experience with Shakespeare, as I mentioned before. Because of my hatred for it, I took no time to learn or understand the plays. Because this book is written about students in post secondary studies for Shakespeare, they obviously had tons of knowledge on the subject. They referenced characters from the plays all the time, quoted the plays, and just kept going like the reader was supposed to know what they were talking about. Because of this, I found myself lost at several points in the book. But hey, that's my own fault. Unfortunately though, for this reason, I can't give it the full 5 stars. Although, it still is my favourite book so far in 2020.
