Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher
RATING: 3.5 stars
GENRE: YA Contemporary
Secrets, romance, murder and lies: Zoe shares a terrible secret in a letter to a stranger on death row in this second novel from the author of the bestselling debut, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece.
Fifteen-year-old Zoe has a secret—a dark and terrible secret that she can't confess to anyone she knows. But then one day she hears of a criminal, Stuart Harris, locked up on death row in Texas. Like Zoe, Stuart is no stranger to secrets. Or lies. Or murder.
Full of heartache yet humour, Zoe tells her story in the only way she can—in letters to the man in prison in America. Armed with a pen, Zoe takes a deep breath, eats a jam sandwich, and begins her tale of love and betrayal.
MY THOUGHTS:
I first heard of Ketchup Clouds when it was first released back in 2012 and loved the sound of it! The blurb sounded really intriguing and I found it unique that a young girl was comparing her bad action of that with a murderer! I have also seen Annabel Pitcher's other book - My Sister Lives on the Mantle piece and though not reading it, I new of the ideas and thought they were very different. Consequently, when a friend offered to lend me their gorgeous edition of their book, I jumped at the chance!
At first, I found the story quite slow to get into; reading only about 50 pages in the first few days - though this may be due to my excessive amount of exams! However, after them first 50 pages, the story had officially got me hooked and I finished the other 200 pages in a morning.
The writing of the books is really really good and successful in keeping you reading. The inevitable ending is revealed at the beginning and I am sorry if this sounds really vague and stupid but I don't want to spoil it! The author has a great way of subtly dropping hints of what is to come so you begin to piece together the mystery without seeing the whole picture. From about half way, I knew the ending was going to occur on one of two characters and it was really a 50/50 chance on which way it was going to fall! The character development throughout the novel is also very clever with the name Zoe addresses Stuart Harries changing from Mr Harris, to Stuart to Stu as she becomes more comfortable in talking to him and confiding in him.
The reason I gave this book only 3.5 stars despite just raving about the writing is because of the story line and romance content. I found the main character very juvenile in the way she acts and deals with things. She is very quick to blame herself for accidents and does not accept that things just happen and can't be prevented. The romance between the two brothers and her is very simple and immature with her actions being silly.On the other hand, there were aspects and events in which Zoe took part in that I believe a person of her age would definitely not have done. Also, I am not really sure why it is called Ketchup Clouds as it has no connection but the phrase was mentioned once in a VERY insignificant way.
Overall, a very gripping story with a great pace and approach to mystery but with conflicting actions in relation to the characters age; making it unrealistic in parts. If you liked this, I would recommend The Twice Lived Summer of Bluebell Jones by Susie Day.
How she "killed" the guy wasn't good enough. After all that guilt and stuff, I would've have thought there to be a better ending. Also, totally agree with you on the title. I think it's entirely a product of wanting to have a "deep" title.
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