Wednesday 24 August 2011

The Passage Readalong Quick Update

Hi everyone,

If you are looking for the main post for The Passage Read-along as well as the competition winners then you need to head over to THE BOOK MEMOIRS for the main post.  Please head there to link any posts you may have done. If not, just join in and let us know what you think. We decided that it would probably be a good idea for who ever wasn't hosting to add a quick update on their thoughts on the book too.

So here are my thoughts on the first five chapters of The Passage.

Firstly I must tell  you that I began reading this book with absolutely no knowledge of what is was about. I knew it was getting a HUGE amount of attention and that everyone who had read it had loved it, so I went into it quite blinkered. I even refused to read the blurb for the book.

Chapter 1 - The first chapter is really powerful. It was real life, upsetting and extremely gritty. We meet Amy for the first time and realise just how harsh the first six years of her life are. Her mother Jeanette was very young when she gave birth and struggled to cope after the death of her father. You can't say she didn't try as she worked her butt off to help care for her daughter. In the end it just wasn't enough.  A really sad and emotional start.

Chapter 2 - This chapter took me completely by surprise as it almost felt like a different story altogether. The chapter consists of emails between two professors. Within this chapter, you hear whispers of vampires and the answers to eternal life. It definitely created an air of intrigue and foreboding and you find yourself trying to fill in the missing information you are not being told.

Chapter 3 - Here I found we went off on another direction as we visit death row. I literally began to read this book with my eyebrows raised and my eyes wide open as every chapter seemed to go off in a different direction, leaving me baffled about how they were all connected. Until the end  of the chapter, when the links between them become slowly visible.

Chapter 4 - The plot begins to thicken. Amy has been left at a nunnery, where she finally begins to feel a little safer as the nuns shower her with love and affection. Yet her visit to the nunnery has drawn the attention of others and now someone is very interested in getting their hands on her.  Why do they want Amy? Why is she going to be used and involved in something we still don't quite understand?

Chapter 5 - This chapter left me shocked and mind boggled. What were these creatures? It was a little scary to say the least and so unexpected.

Overall thoughts.
I am really enjoying this book!
I struggled to pull myself away after finishing Chapter 5. I am really glad to be taking my time reading this book as their is just so much information to be digested.
I thought it was brilliantly written and very intriguing as each chapter drew you more into the spider's web.
I am really looking forward to the next few chapters.

I can't wait to read everyone else's thoughts.

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like a rollercoaster of a read. Good luck with the rest of the read-along, I look forward to reading your thoughts on the rest of the book.

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  2. There is a lot of information to digest. Often when reading you can get lost in the information and wonder why so much detail is needed. It starts to piece itself together. Like with some Stephen King or even in the Stieg Larsson books, it's sticking it out through it that a really great story comes together. I am really intrested in the Amy connection.

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  3. Petty - you must read this book! So far it really is very good.

    Dawn - There is a lot of information but I don't feel like I am having trouble with it. You are right, it reminds me of both of those authors, who tend to use the same method. Poor Amy, I hope they don't treat her badly.

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  4. It sounds as if you are truly enjoying this book, Vivienne, and the read-a-long. :)

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  5. I must read this book. Sounds great. x

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  6. I've been wanting to read this! Glad you are enjoying it.

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Hiya, thanks for stopping by, it is always nice to hear what you have to say, so do leave a comment if you have time.