A Reader’s Review Blog are excited to host our review and fantastic giveaway of Dan Thompson’s New Adult Dystopian ‘Here Lies Love’! Be warned – there are some dark and adult topics and therefore, it is not one for the faint-hearted!! (Please scroll down for details of the e-book giveaway!)

Blurb: Would death be less painful than life?

When she is sold by her father, Abbey discovers that nightmares can occur when you’re awake. Trapped inside a wooden cage, Abbey is forced to listen to the horrors and atrocities above; time ticking down until it is her turn. But Abbey isn’t prepared to become a victim; she will escape.

Although, what Abbey isn’t prepared for, is how harsh and unfair the world can be. With the sun turning its back on humanity long ago, life gives no opportunity. The only thing Abbey can do is learn to survive. To exist. And that means stealing any opportunity that comes her way. Haunted by the unpleasant memories bestowed upon her only nurtures Abbey’s paranoia, until she realises that to truly live in the world, she must confront the person who was responsible for her misfortune – her father.

Here Lies Love is a New Adult tale of actuality, of facing up to the fact that love comes in many guises. Can Abbey find the one glimmer of hope or will she be overcome with the darkness of revenge?

REVIEW

Wow! There are some very dark topics in this New Adult dystopian, Here Lies Love, and it is definitely not for the faint hearted! Not only is it one of the darkest novels I have read for some time, being set in an end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it survival narrative but it also deals with captivity, violence and sexual abuse, where the victim considers suicide as it may be preferable to carrying on. There is also the presence of betrayal and loneliness surrounding the main character, Abbey. Be prepared for an intense, emotive adventure, where the reader truly cannot predict what will happen on the following page, let alone at the end of the story!!!

The reader is introduced to Abbey at a time when the sun hasn’t shone in the sky for many years. The human race is barely surviving and Abbey has been sent away by her father to live with Stefan, a man who offered Abbey a chance of minor housework to earn her keep and food. Little did Abbey know that she would be under lock and key and only taken out when Stefan, the monster, wanted to play. Abbey not only has to live with the fear of what this guy will do to her, but she can hear the screams of other girls. She cannot let him carry on doing this to her.

The reader feels every sense of terror, anxiety and tension, longing for Abbey and the others to escape. This story takes you places that you would not really want to venture to from the beginning. However, by doing this the reader is hooked on hoping for Abbey to make it out. For a New Adult novel, Dan Thompson writes so carefully, explaining the depths of desperation that Abbey is at, allowing every moment to be clear to the reader without being completely graphic as a more mature read could be. This shows a level of sensitivity and the author helps create the horrific scene with atmospheric descriptions just as much as the abusive situation in which Abbey is in.

Abbey’s emotions towards her father are mixed. She was close to him and her gran when she was younger but she cannot understand how her father could just give her away to a monster like Stefan. Abbey feels angry and betrayed by her father. She wants answers and he is the only one that holds them. Her father and her home at the lighthouse are all she knows and so her objective is to face her father to find his truth and possibly seek revenge.

Here Lies Love also keeps the reader on their toes just as much as Abbey is. I find dystopians in general are dark reads and concentrate on surviving, and this is no different in many ways. There is a lack of trust in people, the need for food and warmth, etc, but Abbey is also struggling with the coming of age at the same time as having her innocence robbed and then to top it all off she falls for another survivor of the apocalypse in Tristan.

Meeting Tristan, although careful and cautious of him at first, provides Abbey with a certain feeling of affection that she has long forgotten. She has only had to think and care for herself, and now meeting Tristan and his best friend, Ryan, she begins to feel connected with people again, if just a little. However, due to her young age and trying to deal with what has happened to her makes it very easy for Abbey to become paranoid and concerned about the true intentions of Tristan and Ryan. The reader does question, ‘Is there hope for Abbey’s future?’

Towards the end of the novel the answer to that question is still one for the reader to possibly judge for themselves. And where does it leave Tristan? I want to know so much more about these characters and, although the story is pretty well wrapped, I would still like to follow these characters into a sequel to find out exactly what becomes of both of them and whether or not they are together? Despite the seriousness, darkness and sheer desperation that Abbey felt, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. If you are a dystopian fan and enjoy a dark read this is definitely one for you!!

A copy of Here Lies Love was provided by the author in return for an honest and fair review.

GIVEAWAY

For a chance to win an e-book (mobi version for Amazon Kindle) of Here Lies Love all we ask is for you to leave your name and/or a comment in the comments box below before Monday 29th September 2014.

Alternatively, you can leave a comment on our Facebook page post at www.facebook.com/AReadersReview before the closing date, Monday 29th September 2014!

The winner will be randomly selected and notified as soon as they are selected.

Good luck to all those who enter. We wish you every success!!

Caroline & Tina 🙂

And if you are unlucky, or simply cannot wait then here are the purchase links:-

Here Lies Love is available at Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Reviewed by Caroline Barker