30 Sept 2015

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Book Review / The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne

Stunningly original and wildly inventive, The Girl in the Road melds the influences of Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, and Erin Morgenstern for a dazzling debut.

Meena, a young woman living in a futuristic Mumbai, wakes up with five snake bites on her chest. She doesn't know how or why, but she must flee India and return to Ethiopia, the place of her birth. Having long heard about The Trail -- an energy-harvesting bridge that spans the Arabian Sea -- she embarks on foot on this forbidden bridge, with its own subculture and rules. What awaits her in Ethiopia is unclear; she's hoping the journey will illuminate it for her.

Mariama, a girl from a different time, is on a quest of her own. After witnessing her mother's rape, she joins up with a caravan of strangers heading across Saharan Africa. She meets Yemaya, a beautiful and enigmatic woman who becomes her protector and confidante. Yemaya tells Mariama of Ethiopia, where revolution is brewing and life will be better. Mariama hopes against hope that it offers much more than Yemaya ever promised.

As one heads east and the other west, Meena and Mariama's fates will entwine in ways that are profoundly moving and shocking to the core. Vividly imagined and artfully told, written with stunning clarity and deep emotion, The Girl in the Road is a true tour de force.


Published:    2015
Author Website:  Click here
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone
Source:  Review Copy from Publisher

OK so let's just take a minute to check out the cover of this book.  It is so gorgeous!  Honestly speaking, along with the description of this story the cover was one of the things that drew me into wanting to read this!   In the spirit of branching out and trying new things, I wanted to give this story a go.  Honestly speaking this is probably one of those stories that I would normally avoid in a book shop just becasue of the 'futuristic Mumbai' description.

I was so glad I gave this a go.  Although it did take me a while to get into the story, I was glad that I stuck with it.  There are a lot of twists and turns in this story which at some parts made me confused and the other part the twists were surprising to me I just had to find out what happened next!  I think maybe if the story was a little less complicated I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Definately worth a try if the blurb intrgues you to want to pick it up.  As I mentioned above it is not something that I would normally pick up but I am glad that I did.  I will flag that this story does contain issues that some people may be senstive to.







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