I was sent a free copy of “Dead End Close” in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed the book, it has a variety of interesting characters, which are believable, relatable and portrayed very well by the author – it was nice the way their stories interweaved. The plot moved along at the right pace – there was some jumping forward and backwards in time by a few hours at a time which could be a bit confusing, but the main events were at fixed times and dates and it was always possible to work out where you were relative to them. It was always engaging – I never found myself getting distracted or having to reread sections, there was a lot going on and I got quite emotionally involved. There are some really sensitive issues dealt with, and some parts are hard to read but it is done very well in my opinion. I thought the conclusion was satisfying and appropriate [spoiler] and the ends were tied up nicely. I wasn’t completely convinced by the narrator. I have read ‘The Book Thief’ which uses a similar literary technique, and I think that perhaps the author was influenced too strongly by that and didn’t pull it off as effectively. That said, if I had come to this book without having read TBT I might have thought it was brilliant.
I would love to to read more about the characters, particularly those living at numbers 2,3 and 5 Dead End Close. I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for something gritty and well written.