Thursday 5 November 2015

Review: Lesley Jones "Marley (Carnage #3)."


Synopsis:

From the author of Carnage 1&2, comes this follow up novel. Marley tells the story of Carnage from Marley Layton’s POV. It will give you the missing years. Marley is a companion novel to Carnage 1&2 and both of those books should be read first. 
Want to know what really happened in that hotel room in Paris?
Want to know if the rumours of Marley, Sean and their sexploits were true?
We got to watch Georgia fall apart but what was Sean going through in those four years they were separated? 
Marley will give you the answers but he might just break your heart along the way.
"‘So, they want me to write a book? They want to know about my band, my life, my loves and my losses. But they have no idea what they’re asking for. If I give them what they want, they’ll get so much more than the sex and drugs and the rock and roll they’re expecting. They’ll get the secrets that I’ve kept for so long, they’ll get an insight into the person I really am, or at least was. They think they know my story, they know nothing.
If I do this, if I write honestly and give them the ugly truth, people will get hurt. People that I love, people that have already suffered in the worst possible ways.
Do I do this, or do I walk away? Taking my secrets to the grave."

Review: Surj

When Lesley Jones announced she'd be giving us another book in the "Carnage" series, I'll admit I was a little hesitant. I mean a companion novel... another POV...  did I really want to put myself through "that" again? It was bad enough the first time. It took me days to get over Maca and George's story and even now when I think about it, I get a lump in my throat... so yeah, why put myself through the agony, torture and heart break all over again? Why open up old wounds? Why not   leave those stones unturned? Why not just leave those skeletons in the closet? Surely once was enough... right?  Nope. I'm a glutton for punishment and I still had questions that needed answering. I needed to know what really went on during those pivotal, life altering scenes and the only way that was going to happen was hearing it from the one person who was there to witness it all... Marley. 

But we weren't men, we were still boys- kids playing in a very grown 
up world. We had no clue how to handle what we were feeling and 
we didn't always handle things the right way.

So I read it and wow...  Lesley Jones... what can I say? You have exceeded every single one of my expectations. I eat my words when it comes to what I thought I might get (I put my hands up... I did wonder whether this book might be a rehash of Carnage #1)." Not at all. in fact the majority of this book was brand new material and even those scenes that I was familiar, that had been included in this third instalment felt different. This book really was something else. I honestly didn't think my heart  could break all over again but it did. In fact Lesley Jones managed to shatter it and very early on too. I grieved, I mourned and I felt absolutely destroyed. Those years that George and Maca were apart were soul destroying. I've never felt pain like it. What Marley went through, what Maca went through, what the band and the family went through. Seeing it from George's POV was one thing, but seeing those years through a fresh pair of eyes and seeing the effect it had on Maca and so many other characters truly was brutal. I would say the majority of the first at least 50% of this book was completely new material and it really was an eye opener. Yes I got some of the answers I had been looking for... were they the answers I wanted? You'll have to wait and see!!! 

"Shall I tell you a secret, Rock Star?"
"Yeshssss. Yessss. Yes baby, tell me. Tell. Me."
When you call me baby, it makes my fanny flutter." 

Both this first two books in this series were emotional... I don't think there is anyone out there that would disagree. But this one had a different vibe to it. It felt darker, more raw, more gritty and more brutal for want of a better word. I felt every ounce of pain the characters went through, every bit of soul destroying agony they experienced. There were parts were definitely heavy going, parts where the tension never left my body, where I felt so wound up, so nervous, so anxious that I actually thought I needed to take five to get myself together. But in the same breath, I couldn't just leave these characters.... I had to know. I needed to know even though I already knew. 

This book was filled to the brim with grief, guilt and remorse. It was full of cock up after cock up, fuck up after fuck up. There were tears and there was joy. There was gut wrenching sobbing and there was laugh out loud hysterics. There was even laughing whilst sobbing and yes... there were snot bubbles as a result!!! Lol. I cannot praise this book enough. It was wonderful, amazing, suburb. The words, the characters, the story line... just everything about it blew me away. I really don't know whether I'll ever recover from this series. I don't know whether my heart will ever heal. What I do know is that her characters have stolen a piece of my heart and honestly, I don't want it back. They deserve every little bit of it. 

When Georgia was brought out of surgery, I volunteered to be the one to tell her
what happened. I brought Maca into her life that sunny August day back in 1980 
and I'd be the one to take him away on that bitterly cold December day in 1999. 

I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. "Marley" gets ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️   from me. 

No comments:

Post a Comment