Chris Marshall met the girl he was going to kill on a warm Oxford evening….
From the first sentence, I was hooked. I took a chance on this book because it was on sale at Powerbooks… I didn’t like Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) very much (too serious for my taste), so I’m not really compelled to read the rest of His Dark Materials trilogy (languishing in my TBR pile), but I thoroughly enjoyed Pullman’s other works: The Scarecrow and His Servant, Clockwork, Spring-Heeled Jack, The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, and I Was A Rat.
It’s a very short novel, and basically deals with Chris (the main character) meeting Jenny at a campus party, his search for her, and the tragic ending. Although the tragedy is a given, the story still unfolds in a breathtaking manner – funny, poignant, sometimes shocking, and moving all at the same time. It also explores several issues such as trust, domestic abuse, and divorce. I loved Chris’ character, a teenage boy falling in love for the first time, juxtaposed against Jenny’s, a girl who has always been a victim of fate.
***
My copy: trade paperback, about P100 at Powerbooks
My rating: 4/5 stars
photo courtesy of http://www.damaris.org/cw/amazoncoverimages/butterflytattoo.jpg