Now here’s a fun independently published first book! I found it on Twitter and was one of the first to give it a go! As you know first books can be mind blowing but are more often… well let’s just say underwhelming. So let’s see how it went!
This book is about a young woman who lives her life fearing the touch of others because every time she touches another individual she puts herself at risk of absorbing their memories. It’s a sort of telepathy that is both random and traumatic as she has no idea if the memories she’ll receive will be good or bad. It causes quite a few social problems which is kind of interesting to mull over for a bit. But the real story gets started when she accidentally bumps a serial killer, absorbs memories of murdering a woman, and then realizes she has no idea who she has bumped in the crowd or what to do about it.
I must admit that’s a pretty bad ass first book idea and it was pulled off pretty smoothly. It was a surprisingly full book considering it’s very small cast of characters but each individual was worth remembering. There were only two points I didn’t like about it – one was her insistence on writing out the virginly victims as “tight” which makes me as a feminist cringe. I understand the serial killer is male and misinformed, I guess I just would have hoped the female protagonist could have put a more enlightening spin on that like, “Jesus, this guy thinks in grossly inaccurate cliches” but alas no, that moment never came, and it made me as a woman reading another woman’s book kinda sad. But I get it, no one’s perfect, and this is a first book. The other part that kind of grated me was the repetition…. she relives all the traumatic serial killer memories over and over and over and over then rehashes them further with supporting characters. This made an interesting concept get beaten like a dead horse. But it wasn’t that bad. I still give it four out of five stars and still think it’s worth a read for anyone who is into dark psychological thrillers. I think the author has great potential and I look forward to seeing how she grows and evolves with the next book. Bits and Pieces can be bought here for anyone who is interested.