23 November 2017

Review #683: Demi-Gods by Eliza K. Robertson



My rating: 3 of 5 stars


“People say teenagers think they're immortal, and I agree with that. But I think there's a difference between thinking you're immortal and knowing you can survive. Thinking you're immortal leads to arrogance, thinking you deserve the best. Surviving means having the worst thrown at you and being able to continue on despite that. It means striving for what you want most, even when it seems our of your reach, even when everything is working against you.”

----Francesca Zappia


Eliza Robertson, a Canadian award winning author, has penned a subtly compelling historical fiction called, Demi-Gods that revolves around two teenage sisters who find themselves caught in the charms of two blue-eyed, slim and terribly handsome teenage brothers who are the sons of their mother's new beau. Together the four patrons discover sexuality, first love, summertime adventures, life and themselves through mistakes and sun-kissed beach side drama. The exploration of teenage-hood is well captured through this sunny story set in the 1950s British Columbia and California.


Synopsis:

A bold debut novel for those who loved Emma Cline's The Girls and Rachel Kushner's The Flamethrowers--a story of love, lust, and the spaces in between, from a "captivating" (New York Times) new voice in fiction.

It is 1950, and nine-year-old Willa's sheltered childhood is about to come to an end when her two new stepbrothers arrive at her family's summer home in British Columbia. As Willa's older sister pairs off with the older of these boys, Willa finds herself alone in the off-kilter company of the younger, Patrick. When, one afternoon, Patrick lures Willa into a dilapidated rowboat, Willa embarks upon an increasingly damaging relationship with Patrick, one that will forever reconfigure her understanding of herself and her place in a menacing, male-dominated world.

Demi-Gods traces the tumultuous years of Willa's coming-of-age, as she is drawn further into Patrick's wicked games. Though they see each other only a handful of times, each of their encounters is increasingly charged with sexuality and degradation. When Willa finally realizes the danger of her relationship with Patrick, she desperately tries to reverse their dynamic, with devastating results.

Daring, singular, and provocative, Demi-Gods explores a girl's attempt to make a life of her own choosing in a world where woman's independence is suspect, a world that threatens to claim a woman's body as a mere object for men's pleasure. A sensitive, playful, and entirely original evocation of the dualities within ourselves and our history, Eliza Robertson's debut novel announces the arrival of one of the most exciting new voices in contemporary literature.



Willa, a 9 year old girl, named Willa falls for the blue eyed, slim 11-year old Patrick, just like her elder sister, Joan falls head-over-heels in love with Patrick's elder brother, Kenneth on a summer of mid 50s on a beach side sleepy island town in British Columbia. Together the two pairs discover immense sexual tension against one another through out the summer. Although Willa and Patrick's love-hate relationship changed the lives of every one around them. As the girls grow up through their struggling teenage-hood, they discover more about sexuality, summer time romances, life, hate and breakups. And so the readers too can fill the rush of the first kiss, sex, having a crush and finally heart break through the sun kissed images of the four teenagers and the adults around them.

This is the first time that I read any book where the timeline jumps so abruptly and with zero connection, thereby making me fail to connect with the past and present events of the story. Not only that, there are two many characters, with or without importance, who ultimately overcrowd and steal away the limelight from the main characters. Moreover, the events mentioned in the book are not at all connected by any thin thread of relation. The only good thing about the book is it gives a summertime feel all through out the story line. Also the emotions are penned evocatively and with lots of feel that made me relate to the characters' ongoing plights.

The author's writing style is good, or rather say, she has penned the novel with striking view into the summer time mistakes and growing up of Willa and Joan. Also the story line is laced beautifully with heart felt emotions, that run deep into the souls of the main characters. The dialogues are good, but sometime, it gave me a feeling of disconnect while reading about the conversations between the characters. Well for that, the plot has to be blamed, that lacked depth thoroughly. And I must admit, often I found myself struggling to read on further.

The character development is really good, sadly the bad plot mars the charm of those characters. Yet somehow I managed to stick on to them and to their journeys. The main character, Willa, is ahead strong girl but she also comes across as an explorer in terms of life and relationships. Also the bond between Joan and Willa is compelling enough to give the readers a good feeling about sisters and their affection towards one another. The rest of the supporting characters are also vividly depicted into the plot and leaves a lasting impression into the minds of the readers.

In a nutshell, I would not recommend this book highly to anyone, but you can give it a read, if you want to feel the complex mess of relationship drama or the summertime rush of teenage madness.


Verdict: Great characters, but a rough plot plays the villain in this book!

Courtesy: Thanks to the publishers from Bloomsbury India for giving me an opportunity to read and review this book.
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Author Info:
Eliza K. Robertson studied creative writing and political science at the University of Victoria and graduated with a MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia in 2012, where she is currently pursuing a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing. Eliza was a joint winner of the 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and has been longlisted twice for the prestigious Writers' Trust / McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. She was a Journey Prize finalist in 2013 for "My Sister Sang."
Visit her here



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