madiroset's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
andrew61's review
4.0
I read Jenn Ashworth's last novel a few years ago after hearing her speak and loved her ability to capture the essence of a Northern England town and in this book she demonstrates that skill in abundance as well her as her excellent story telling, character building and sense of time and place.
The idea of teenage girls having a mystery that comes back to haunt them in later life is not an unusual theme for writers and in this book Laura, a somewhat down trodden twenty something in 2008 looks back on events of 10 years before after a local news TV reporter piece on the commemoration of the tragic death of her teenage friend Chloe. The front page image is a doomed love affair after the 14 year old drowned making her into a modern day Juliet ( not a spoiler) but Jenn Ashworth wonderfully takes the story apart by gradually revealing the layers and layers of teenage cruelty, the parental teenager relationship, and predatory men.
The setting , Preston, is not drawn sympathetically but I could elicit the writers love of the North West area.
Definitely a read I enjoyed and a writer who I now want to continue reading.
The idea of teenage girls having a mystery that comes back to haunt them in later life is not an unusual theme for writers and in this book Laura, a somewhat down trodden twenty something in 2008 looks back on events of 10 years before after a local news TV reporter piece on the commemoration of the tragic death of her teenage friend Chloe. The front page image is a doomed love affair after the 14 year old drowned making her into a modern day Juliet ( not a spoiler) but Jenn Ashworth wonderfully takes the story apart by gradually revealing the layers and layers of teenage cruelty, the parental teenager relationship, and predatory men.
The setting , Preston, is not drawn sympathetically but I could elicit the writers love of the North West area.
Definitely a read I enjoyed and a writer who I now want to continue reading.
lazygal's review against another edition
3.0
This could have been such a good book, but the author appeared to pull a few punches with the plot.
On the 10th anniversary of Chloe's suicide (in a Romeo/Juliet pact with her "unsuitable" boyfriend, Carl) the town is dedicating a "Wendy house" in her honor - only the ceremony is interrupted by the discovery of a body right where the structure is supposed to go. Whose body? Lola is sure she knows that it's the body of Dennis Wilson, a man with Down's Syndrome who went missing a few months before Chloe's death.
The story of the friendship between Chloe (a mean girl at heart), Lola and Emma is one that would have benefited from more detail. What we get most is Lola feeling that Emma is worming her way in between Chloe and Lola, but the only reason we have for Lola wanting to be Chloe's friend is that Chloe stopped Lola's being teased/bullied in school. Emma is even more a cipher, with nothing really to suggest why she might have been invited into their circle. With the addition of Carl it becomes even less clear why Lola would want to be part of any of this. Granted, not everything is clear at 14 but still, this was just a bit of a mess.
We're told everything in two timelines, one "back then" and one now, watching the dedication/finding of the body on tv. It becomes clear that there are secrets that Lola (now Laura) and Emma are still keeping, so there's an unreliable narrator for readers to figure out. It's also very unclear why Terry, the pink-shirted tv reporter, retires (if he does) or why he's not getting any accurate information about this new body or what happened with Chloe. And that no one raised questions about Chloe/Carl, particularly after her hospitalization and in light of the age difference? Just doesn't make sense.
ARC provided by publisher.
On the 10th anniversary of Chloe's suicide (in a Romeo/Juliet pact with her "unsuitable" boyfriend, Carl) the town is dedicating a "Wendy house" in her honor - only the ceremony is interrupted by the discovery of a body right where the structure is supposed to go. Whose body? Lola is sure she knows that it's the body of Dennis Wilson, a man with Down's Syndrome who went missing a few months before Chloe's death.
The story of the friendship between Chloe (a mean girl at heart), Lola and Emma is one that would have benefited from more detail. What we get most is Lola feeling that Emma is worming her way in between Chloe and Lola, but the only reason we have for Lola wanting to be Chloe's friend is that Chloe stopped Lola's being teased/bullied in school. Emma is even more a cipher, with nothing really to suggest why she might have been invited into their circle. With the addition of Carl it becomes even less clear why Lola would want to be part of any of this. Granted, not everything is clear at 14 but still, this was just a bit of a mess.
We're told everything in two timelines, one "back then" and one now, watching the dedication/finding of the body on tv. It becomes clear that there are secrets that Lola (now Laura) and Emma are still keeping, so there's an unreliable narrator for readers to figure out. It's also very unclear why Terry, the pink-shirted tv reporter, retires (if he does) or why he's not getting any accurate information about this new body or what happened with Chloe. And that no one raised questions about Chloe/Carl, particularly after her hospitalization and in light of the age difference? Just doesn't make sense.
ARC provided by publisher.
nadyaduck's review
1.0
For next month's book club. This is a second novel from the author Jen Ashworth. It's about the goings on of a group of teenage girls in the late nineties, in a somewhat run down Northern town where there are constant reports of a man exposing himself to young girls. It's grubby, not particularly well written, but addictive & you have to keep reading it to find out what happens. My boyfriend asked me why I couldn't put down a book I kept saying was crap, & then he likened it to watching Big Brother. You know it's crap, you know it doesn't mean anything, you know if you turned over you could probably find a film that is intelligent & well put together with interesting & amusing dialogue... but you don't.
There were a few plot holes & the like.. I kept wondering why things weren't being questioned & everyone just blindly believed what this TV personality on the news told them. That didn't really add up, in a community where there's a flasher walking around, a man with learning difficulties goes missing, a young girl is found drowned alongside her older boyfriend.. there'd be SOMEONE asking the right questions! The girl's mother, the parents of the missing man, the police...?!
It read like the Point Horrors or Point Crimes I used to read when I was a pre-teen, but this was a lot grubbier.
There were a few plot holes & the like.. I kept wondering why things weren't being questioned & everyone just blindly believed what this TV personality on the news told them. That didn't really add up, in a community where there's a flasher walking around, a man with learning difficulties goes missing, a young girl is found drowned alongside her older boyfriend.. there'd be SOMEONE asking the right questions! The girl's mother, the parents of the missing man, the police...?!
It read like the Point Horrors or Point Crimes I used to read when I was a pre-teen, but this was a lot grubbier.
stacey987's review
5.0
This is the second novel by Jenn Ashworth and after really enjoying her first novel I was looking forward to reading 'Cold Light'. I enjoyed every single page of this novel, it is brilliantly written and kept me guessing until the end. I recommend this to anyone and can't wait to see what Jenn does next!
jessicabrazeal's review against another edition
2.0
I was really excited for this one because it came highly recommended by a book podcaster I listen to, but I didn’t love it. What was advertised as a thriller fell pretty flat and was far more about the internal process of a teenage girl. Not my fav overall.
taylhann's review against another edition
2.0
I found this book in a box of old momentous from my teenager years. I remember when I had first started reading it back then, I didn’t understand what the hell was going. I definitely think it’s too mature to be considered a young adult novel. Also, this book is the definition of a slow burn. I wasn’t dissatisfied by the plot, but it felt like a chore to read. 2.5 stars.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
4.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2012/09/2012-book-238.html
corkycorcoran's review against another edition
1.0
Couldn't finish it. I hated it and put it down about fifty pages in.
bookprocrastinator85's review against another edition
3.0
When I first read the synopsis of this book, my interest was piqued. Cold Light is a gritty and thought-provoking novel that is told through the eyes of the main character Laura. It is a dark and sad story that dips from present to the past as Laura recounts the events that lead to the recently found body ending up in that location. In the present Laura is a 24 year old woman who cleans a shopping center for a living. She is not very happy sounding with her life, but accepts it. Flashbacks to the past, has Laura as a fourteen year old who has befriended Chloe at her school and then later on Emma. It seemed like neither one of the girls were good influences for anyone. They liked to drink, smoke, shoplift, and talk/act older than their teenage years. They didn’t appear to have anyone that great to really depend on or look up to growing up. Pretty soon a boy becomes the object of attention, rumors and lies begin to form, and something bad lurks ahead.
A full review can be found here.
** I received this ARC from HarperCollins/William Morrow in exchange for nothing, but my honest review. Thank you.**
A full review can be found here.
** I received this ARC from HarperCollins/William Morrow in exchange for nothing, but my honest review. Thank you.**