Out of the Darkness: A Tale of Love, Loss and Life After Death by Katy HoganMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - on and off for 4 days
Pages - 292
Publisher - Illumine
Blurb from Goodreads
Out of the Darkness is a haunting, sometimes heart-breaking, contemporary novel with a supernatural twist. A tale of friendship and redemption, of love and loss, and life after death. Set in the lively coastal town of Brighton, Out of the Darkness tells the moving story of three women, complete strangers, each burdened by their own secrets, fears and emotional baggage. Their lives are changed irrevocably when they are brought together by one remarkable connection: someone who wants to help them.....from beyond the grave.
My Review
Jessica Gibson is our main character, struggling to deal with her mothers sudden death and keep her life going. With no real friends and a job grating on her Jessica finds herself unexpectedly running into an old friend and opening up to a stranger. What follows changes Jessica's life as she knew it, doors open, psychics, friendships, ghosts, secrets and love.
This book took me a good bit to get into, I think it was about 100 pages in before I settled and got a feel for all of the characters. Alex & Hannah are the other main characters we get to know, each with their own issues and seeking solace and finding friendship. The three bond over loss and new beginnings, soon finding themselves at a psychic event discovering more than friendship is bringing them together.
It is a lovely story that I think some people will take comfort in and some who have experience recent bereavement it may conjure a roller coaster of emotions. There are quite a few themes addressed, rather sensitively I thought, throughout the tale. A few unexpected surprises and maybe one or two I anticipated although I was also wrong about a few which is always a good thing. I am always interested in reading anything about the supernatural so this did give the book an extra perk for me personally. 4/5 for me this time thanks to the author for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review, I would certainly read this author again and watch out for their next venture!
It sounds like you enjoyed this book, Lainy. I think I'd enjoy it as well.
ReplyDelete(P.S. Your wee "helper" is very cute!)
A lot of books in this genre seem to lack emotional depth. Based on your commentary it sounds like this one is different and delves in to real emotions. For me, that can make or break a book.
ReplyDeleteOut of the Darkness sounds good, I do enjoy books that involve the supernatural.
ReplyDeleteA pity that this took so long to get into and especially given that so many readers subscribe to the 100 page rule. Definitely a book I'll be keeping a look out for, thank you.
ReplyDelete