Matt McAvoy Book Review

Nice easy reading, Siobhan’s emotional fantasy doesn’t really break any boundaries, but you can tell the author has put all of her heart and soul into it, which comes through on every page.  The premise is a compact and concise one, about a grieving young woman who discovers a fantastical realm of the afterlife.  Apart from this and the sad backstory, it doesn’t delve too deeply into a storyline, other than Annie planning to set out on a journey of spiritual discovery as a response.  There is a small element of What Dreams May Come about the book, but perhaps the loose narrative of The Ascension of Annie could perhaps be more suited to a short story or novella, which it would have more sufficient meat for.

I have to say that I found it a little confusing in one respect, which hit me a little about three quarters of the way into the book.  I don’t know anything about the author, I’m sorry to say, but her writing style, prose and turn of phrase gave every indication that the book was based in the U.K., about British characters.  A little presumptuous on my part, perhaps, but the general British spelling (“grey”, for example), and the references to such English-isms as a cup of tea, “supper” time and trousers had me not even questioning this.  So then, suddenly, when Annie and her friend up and drive to Mexico, this was a little bewildering.  But of course there is an argument that this was not my presumption to make.

The book is okay for a couple of evenings’ entertainment, but won’t leave you with questions or any strong feelings.  There could have been an additional layer of depth added to the story, I felt, running throughout from early on, and perhaps the metaphor of the seven sections given a lot more prominence.  I do think there is a little bit of work needed on the book to polish it up, including some of its proofing.  But it is important to Siobhan, quite clearly, and I wish her well with it.  It would be interesting to see what she writes next, but whatever it is I would like to see her throw caution to the wind a little more, and boldly throw her creative dice, with a colour palette every bit as vivid as What Dreams May Come.