I'm back with another book review! I recently read Sunflowers in February by Phyllida Shrimpton, which was sent to me to review.
I will stress that this review, as with any books that I am sent to review, is an honest one. I will always tell you exactly what I think of a book and share my thoughts truthfully, not being swayed by the fact that it has been sent to me.
So, let's get on to the review...
This book is about a young girl called Lily who, at the age of fifteen, "wakes up" at the side of the road with no clue as to how she got there. It's only when a police car arrives and they say that they 'think they've found her', that Lily realises that she is dead. Looking down at her own body, with nobody to see or hear her, Lily has no idea what to do.
She witnesses her parents seeing her body, the devastating reaction of her twin brother, Ben, and watches her boyfriend, Nathan, as he deals with her death.
The main character of Lily is an interesting one as we immediately join her at the scene of the crime. We follow Lily as she comes to realise what has happened and how she deals with the situation.
I really liked that Lily was a twin as I haven't read that many books with twins as key characters.
I connected with the writing and the way that Phyllida Shrimpton presented the characters within the plot. He writing was easy to follow and followed really well.
This book contains a lot of chapters which are all quite short. I think this helped me to read more of the story in a single sitting because it felt like reading one more chapter before bed was something I could easily do when it was only an extra three pages. Before I knew it I'd read six chapters because they were all three or four pages long. It did annoy me a little bit that there wasn't any chapter numbers. This didn't reflect in my final rating in my review because it's just a personal preference and is irrelevant to story.
The plot is a tangled web of people's lives and emotions.
There is a lot going on within this storyline. It's not just about a girl who has unfortunately died, it's about people dealing with grief, the special bond between twins, the potential of supernatural beings, the breakdown and healing of a family - not just Lily's - and the concept of time and how we use the time that is given to us.
You also find out who is responsible for Lily's death very early on in the story, which I didn't like at first because I thought it took the mystery out of it. But the more I read, the more I was grateful for knowing, because the focus of the story was not finding out who did it but rather how those involved are coping with the fallout of a tragic accident.
I'd rate this book:
Overall, I thought that this was a really good book.
It's a unique read that deals with a subject that isn't often written about.
Accidents involving vehicles and people isn't a common topic for YA books (not that I've read) and I certainly haven't read any that use this voice and follows this kind of plot. It's different and interesting and I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking to try something new.
Sunflowers in February is out now. Buy it here.
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