However, as the sheen falls away from the story, and the unpleasant reality of the situation is reve

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Peters is absolutely over the moon when her literary idol, the celebrated novelist and much-adored local priest Mark D. Brendan, selects her from hundreds of other applicants as the winner jp donleavy of his writing contest. Not only is she invited to take his class at the local university; she also gets one-on-one sessions jp donleavy with him to polish her story and prepare jp donleavy it for publication. But the writing sessions escalate into emails, and texts, and IMs, and gifts, and social events. What was once a delightful opportunity has become a dreadful burden. What kind of game is Father Mark playing? And how on earth can she get out of it? – Synopsis from Goodreads
On a purely analytical level, jp donleavy This Gorgeous Game ticked several boxes on my mental review checklist: good quality writing, jp donleavy well developed characters, a compelling premise, nuanced exploration of contemporary issues. jp donleavy It s an accomplished, compact novel deftly and efficiently handling a complex subject with the gravity it requires.
This Gorgeous Game is a story about manipulation and obsession, mental and emotional exploitation, but Freitas unique riff on these topics is to examine them in the context of faith. By placing the perpetrator of these acts of unhealthy fixation jp donleavy in the role of benefactor, mentor and cleric, Freitas also opens up a complicated discussion on religious belief.
Raised and educated a Catholic, (though by her own admission one less staunch than her sister), Olivia must address an abuse of power by someone she regards with implicit trust and respect, even admires. Someone offering a once in a lifetime opportunity. And someone jp donleavy she believed spoke for God. It s weighty subject matter, yet by keeping the focus tightly on Olivia s personal experience and emotional journey, the novel remains accessible and relevant to a wider audience.
Stalking is not new territory for young adult literature. But rather than the all too frequent I m a paranormal romance hero and imma creep in your window tonight.. (which is a rant for another day), This Gorgeous Game deconstructs the nature of the obsession: the intimidation, isolation, harassment. Importantly, Freitas novel highlights the subtle development of Olivia jp donleavy s increasingly unsettling situation and how identifying the line between appropriate and inappropriate jp donleavy behaviour is not as clear-cut for the victim as it would seem to others. The insidious creep of psychological manipulation into the characters interactions demonstrates just how deeply Olivia s ability to trust her own judgement has been undermined, and it makes for disturbing reading.
It s difficult to talk about the writing style of the novel without giving away a major element of the book s ending, so I won t discuss it in great detail. Essentially, the first half of the novel didn t work for me as much as the second. jp donleavy Something about the slow, ponderous tone of the opening chapters felt.. off to me, almost tediously jp donleavy self-conscious. In hindsight, they fit with the end result, but I found them difficult to engage with. Similarly, I experienced some disconnect with Olivia as a character until the story moved more deeply into her mental struggle. While a multi-dimensional character, I initially had no sense of investment in Olivia or her life, or a connection to her voice.
However, as the sheen falls away from the story, and the unpleasant reality of the situation is revealed, This Gorgeous Game became a much more compelling read. The unravelling jp donleavy of Olivia s apparently perfect life feels authentic, her increasing anxiety and disconnection from her life is insightfully written.
I appreciate the particular jp donleavy angle from which Freitas approaches these themes jp donleavy – not shying away from difficult questions, while not delivering a heavy-handed message yet I found it less of an emotive reading experience than I expected. Although an unsettling story, I m not sure that I found it as chilling as I had anticipated, and I put this down to my lack of immersion in the characters.
Still, This Gorgeous Game is an important, thought provoking novel, and handles a complicated subject with grace and honesty. Publisher: Square Fish Publication jp donleavy Date: 21 June 2011 (first published 19 May 2010)
Maree on January 10, 2013 at 9:46 am said:
You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
2011 jp donleavy 2012 2013 a s king AUS bad blogger blues carol lynch williams cath crowley courtney summers covers craig silvey daniel jp donleavy handler debut elizabeth scott emma cameron fiona wood gabrielle zevin gayle forman kate constable laura buzo leanne hall lili wilkinson lovelovelove melbourne melina marchetta melissa jp donleavy kei