Wednesday 23 December 2015

Book Review: Electricity by Ray Robinson

You could say this was an "electrifying read", but that just me pushing a pun.

 Lily's epilepsy means she's used to seeing the world in terms of angles -- you look at every surface, you weigh up every corner, and you think of your head slamming into it -- but what would she be like without her sharp edges? Prickly, spiky, up-front honest and down-to-earth practical, Lily is thirty, and life's not easy but she gets by. Needing no-one and asking for nothing, it's just her and her epilepsy: her constant companion. 

But then her mother -- who Lily's not seen for years -- dies, and Lily is drawn back into a world she thought she'd long since left behind. Forced to renegotiate the boundaries of her life, she realises she has a lot to learn -- about relationships, about the past, and about herself -- and some difficult decisions ahead of her. '

This book me a long time to read, because of reasons like it was sort of for uni, but I didn't need to actually read. The book follows Lily as she tries to find her brother who she hasn't seen since she was a child whilst with living epilepsy.

Lily is a sympathetic, unlikable character. She been through a lot, but she still innocent and strangely trusting. She realistic in that she is contrasting traits. The other characters were okay, but generally unlikable except for the middle class one, who at the moment I can't think of a bad thing about her. Hmm...
This book sort of falls into the trap of a lot stories featuring main characters with disabilities and illness do, but as it just teeters on the edge I'll leave it be and not spoiler the book by discussing it. While Lily's epilepsy plays a big part of the book, as it is a big obstacle in her life, the character is not define by her disability and I think it is a decent portrayal (though, I do know very little about epilepsy other it's brain disorder that causes seizers and varys on severity). The writer has took the time to actually think about the disorder and how it affects

The seizures were represent by static of letters on the page which made the book stand out from the start and I also liked pictures of pills being used to show passing of time almost. It was nice way of giving another insight into Lily.

Overall, I give this book 4 out of five stars for padded corners. It was okay book heavy on character and also feature forest homes, child abuse and a depressing beach town.

No comments:

Post a Comment