Twenty-five year old Ivy Rowan rises from her bed after being struck by the flu, only to discover the world has been torn apart in just a few short days.
But Ivy’s life-long gift—or curse—remains. For she sees the uninvited ones—ghosts of loved ones who appear to her, unasked, unwelcomed, for they always herald impending death. On that October evening in 1918 she sees the spirit of her grandmother, rocking in her mother’s chair. An hour later, she learns her younger brother and father have killed a young German out of retaliation for the death of Ivy’s older brother Billy in the Great War.
Horrified, she leaves home, to discover the flu has caused utter panic and the rules governing society have broken down. Ivy is drawn into this new world of jazz, passion, and freedom, where people live for the day, because they could be stricken by nightfall. But as her ‘uninvited guests’ begin to appear to her more often, she knows her life will be torn apart once more, but Ivy has no inkling of the other-worldly revelations about to unfold.
First book of 2018! I read this in literally hours on January 1. I could not put this book down, it was so well-done. Like Beyond the Wild River by Sarah Maine, and Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder, The Uninvited caught me completely off-guard with its insight and emotion.
This book pulls you in almost instantly. Interwoven with the narrative are newspaper clippings and medical journals discussing the influenza's impact on the town the book takes place in, which adds impact to that story thread.
This book is the perfect blend of historical truth with the supernatural which made for a very interesting read. Cat Winters did her research about the climate towards Germans and German sympathizers during World War I, as well as doing extensive research about the influenza that took so many people's lives near the end of the War (which killed more people than the War itself did). What Winters does so well here is showcase the paranoia and xenophobia of the time. It was an eye-opening read in that sense.
The two lead characters are very well-developed, as are the supporting players. Ivy's "gift" did not feel forced was an important part of the climax of the novel (I will leave it there so I won't spoil the excellent twist). Ivy and Daniel, the brother of the German man Ivy's father and brother murdered were both so well-realized that I thought about them while I wasn't reading the book, wondering what would happen to them, if their burgeoning relationship would be discovered, if they could find redemption in each other. These characters are heartbreaking and wonderful and all the kudos goes to Cat Winters for developing them so well.
The writing style is excellent. I was completely pulled in and engrossed by Cat Winters' excellent descriptions in less than a page. I loved how she described simple things, and how she portrayed the charcters through her words. She eloquently portrays the anti-German climate of 1918 and how it, along with a crippling, deadly disease can tear people apart and end relationships and ruin lives forever. It's amazing how words can move and impact you; by the end of this book I had the box of kleenex next to me because emotions. Her final twist was not one that I saw coming but made total sense. There is a moment near the climax of the novel where something felt not right and I was thinking "How is she going to explain this?" It's so well-done and in hindsight, is obvious from the beginning.
The Uninvited has definitely been added to the ranks of being one of my favourite books. From beginning to end, I was completely enthralled and could not put it down. It was so well developed, well-researched, and was heartbreakingly beautiful with the characters of Ivy and Daniel. I loved everything about this book. It was wonderful and beautiful and sad and uplifting. It's unconventional and doesn't candy coat the psychology of suspicion, panic, and hatred that came out of World War I and the flu epidemic. It's a well-realized book and I absolutely have to give it a 5/5.
No comments:
Post a Comment