Hello
readers,
Thank
you, David Meredith, for giving me a copy of this book for free in exchange for an
honest review.
In
this book, the difficulty of losing a child and a sister is at the forefront.
Aaru
delves into a world where there can be an alternative to death. It didn’t take
long to be sucked
into Rose and Koren's unique world(s) right from the
get-go. Rose is sixteen and her life
used to be full of happiness and promise until she was diagnosed with
leukaemia. Her health quickly declines and we watch as she goes from bitterness
to acceptance of her fate. Every day is an agony and her only hope is that
death will find her swiftly before the pain grows too great to bear. Like so
many people in the real world can relate to, her family has a hard time
accepting her fate. They want her to keep pushing through, to keep fighting and
to try just one more treatment. While Rose has accepted that she doesn't have
much time left, her sister (Koren) has not.
Koren, cannot imagine a life without her sister, her protector and the
one she always goes to.
Then
arrives a man who promises a way out - a way to save Rose and to keep their
hope and connection alive. Koren does her best to convince Rose to try this one
last treatment. Enter Elysian Industries. This treatment consists of a brain
scan that will upload Rose's mind into Aaru, a supercomputer, the technology
uploads a full copy of the person's mind into a virtual world where there is no
pain, suffering and they can turn it into whatever they want. The idea behind
the computer system Aaru is something that would be widely sought after in the
real world, it wasn’t hard for me to understand what emotions Rose’s family
were feeling. No one really understands
or even appreciate the technology that he is referring to. It isn't until after
Rose's death that they fully understand what the man had offered them.
After
her death, Rose wakes up in this wonderful place, which allows the essence of
people to carry on living. After seeing
Aaru for herself, Rose’s sister Koren agrees to represent Elysian Industries as
their spokesperson. Soon they realize that their celebrity spokesperson status
isn't as great as it's cracked up to be. Not everyone is thrilled with the idea
of Aaru. Koren and Rose have a lot to come to terms with considering the new
challenges they're facing and have to rethink long-held beliefs. The story
typically bounced between the two sisters and with only the occasional another
character (The Magic Man). I think that the different perspectives works really
well and keeps the reader on their toes and creates a captivating narrative.
There was plenty of things happening in real and Aaru’s worlds and both girls
had the depth it didn’t matter which one the story turned to.
There
were, however, elements that left me a little creeped out, such as The Magic
Man. The thing is, it's not that it was badly written. It's because The Magic
Man is a flat-out creepy character. I'm still a little creeped out, but I'm
assuming the intent, and really it makes for an unbelievably well written and
vile villain.
This
book was intense, heart breaking, hopeful and challenges what we feel about
death and life after death. David Meredith does a fantastic job of covering
difficult and challenging subjects. I could really feel for both Rose and
Koren, along with their parents. The book is powerful and I found myself in
tearing up over the unfairness and the powerful emotions that flew off the
pages. David Meredith has an outstanding ability to play with a person's
emotions. Death is one of the hardest things to deal with in life. The fear of
the unknown, the fear for our loved ones and the pain of missing them can be
overwhelming and crushing. David Meredith uses a lot of detail in this book
that makes the characters and the world come alive. The flow of the writing is
intriguing, and I can’t wait for book two! this book draws you in and
challenges how you feel about death, love and life. Although the book is firmly
sci-fi with some thriller elements, it still feels like it could be
contemporary - the story's real focus is on its characters.
L x
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