In Camille's own words: "This is the story of what happened to me on Fat Tuesday, how I ended up on the steps of St. Mary’s, the hem of my pirate’s petticoat soaked in somebody’s else’s blood. Although I know the story to be true, I don’t totally believe it myself. Like all good tales born out of the bayou, mine involves the dead, the living and the one trapped in the brackish waters between heaven and hell. It is the story of true love and true disaster, and at the end of it, I’ll leave it up to you to decide which is the harder to survive."
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
It's slow to start; there's a lot of stuff about Camille's every day life and things going on in her life before any of the action starts. Since she and her family evacuate when Katrina becomes dangerous, we never really feel the impact of the hurricane, just the second hand stories and news reports.
When Antwone appears the first time after the hurricane, it's fairly obvious what's happened, but I missed the second twist about his appearances until later. There's a lot more of what I'll call fantasy in this story than I was expecting, and everybody in it is very accepting of the supernatural. Maybe that's a New Orleans thing, like the way Irish people believe in fairies even if they say they don't.
Camille's support system is great. Her hairdresser, her father's drag queen customer and her two best friends all contribute, in their own ways, to her adventures and their happy, if bittersweet, ending. And speaking of bittersweet, that final scene is something. I didn't cry, but I did enjoy it very much.
So while this does have a slow start, it's worth hanging in there to read it all. If you like stories set in New Orleans, stories with a supernatural bent or stories about teenagers coming into their own, this is the one for you.
(Although I'm not quite sure what Knee Deep refers to!)
Knee Deep publishes on the 25th September, 2020.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
It's slow to start; there's a lot of stuff about Camille's every day life and things going on in her life before any of the action starts. Since she and her family evacuate when Katrina becomes dangerous, we never really feel the impact of the hurricane, just the second hand stories and news reports.
When Antwone appears the first time after the hurricane, it's fairly obvious what's happened, but I missed the second twist about his appearances until later. There's a lot more of what I'll call fantasy in this story than I was expecting, and everybody in it is very accepting of the supernatural. Maybe that's a New Orleans thing, like the way Irish people believe in fairies even if they say they don't.
Camille's support system is great. Her hairdresser, her father's drag queen customer and her two best friends all contribute, in their own ways, to her adventures and their happy, if bittersweet, ending. And speaking of bittersweet, that final scene is something. I didn't cry, but I did enjoy it very much.
So while this does have a slow start, it's worth hanging in there to read it all. If you like stories set in New Orleans, stories with a supernatural bent or stories about teenagers coming into their own, this is the one for you.
(Although I'm not quite sure what Knee Deep refers to!)
Knee Deep publishes on the 25th September, 2020.
No comments:
Post a Comment