Customer Reviews

Solitary: A Novel (Solitary Tales Series)

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Travis Thrasher, Solitary (David C. Cook, 2010)

I didn't want to like Solitary.

Travis Thrasher has some major issues with knowing when to insert paragraph breaks. It almost reminds me of those horrid "free-verse" novels that have been appearing recently from people like Ellen Hopkins and Tanya Lee Stone.

And then there's the fact that it's "Christian Fiction".

I don't have problems with Christian fiction (I adore L'Engle and Mauriac, e.g.), but I like it to be presented to me that way rather than snuck in under the radar.

It's not the content, it's the deception, you see.

(Are you getting what I mean about the paragraph breaks? Isn't it annoying?)

So I was pretty much expecting to hate it.

But Thrasher...he's the real deal.

After the first couple of chapters, I was hooked.

I ended up reading the last half of the book yesterday in one fell swoop.

And yeah, despite my hatred of the "let's pad the book to four hundred pages by splitting my paragraphs every sentence or two" gig, one-sentence chapters? That I love. Especially when done effectively.

Like it is here.

So, yeah, some stylistic naggings to be had, and the ending pretty much screams out "this is the first book in a series", but I'm going to keep reading the series.

I just hope he learns about paragraph structure before he starts writing the second book. *** ½

If what you want is Twilight for dudes, this, despite not a lingering whiff of vampires (sparkling or otherwise) is it. Chris continually chases after the beautiful, sad, angry and mysterious Jocelyn who spends her time treating him like dirt and lashing out at him for reasons he can't understand, but Chris puts up with it because she is, as I pointed out, beautiful, sad, angry, and mysterious. That is, essentially, her whole character. More time is given to descriptions of her "haunting eyes", her "long, sleek hands" and "cascade of hair" than is ever given to portraying her as an actual person; when Chris says at one point he is "falling for the hottest girl in school", you really get the sense that this is all he's interested in. Well, that and playing white knight; if you take a drink for every time he (belatedly) wants to protect her, or says he wants to run to her/away with her, you probably won't be able to stand up a third of the way through the narrative. There is absolutely no chemistry between them; Jocelyn shifts between lashing out at Chris for things he does "wrong" and being morose at what is honestly a life that's just too comically overdone with the tragedy to be taken seriously, and Chris says "Yeah," and "Okay" a lot in response. Unfortunately, you can go chapters and chapters of this treacle before you get a single whiff of "dark forces" and then it's right back to OH EM GEE SHE'S SO SAD AND PRETTY AAAAAAHHH YOU GUYS OUR LOVE IS SO REALS.

I was a little disappointed that the book revealed itself to be, approximately halfway through according to my Kindle, Christian fiction. I have nothing against Christianity or Christian fiction, but with those descriptors nowhere on this product, I was left feeling disappointed and cheated. Despite its tendency towards laughably overdramatic scenes of teen romance that all end the same way, I was enjoying a somewhat self-indulgent story that was at least an intriguing take on the "small town with a big secret". Unfortunately, when every discussion suddenly becomes a lecture on how important faith, belief, and blind faith are (the most baffling of these sermons come from Jocelyn herself), the book is less entertaining and more hectoring.

If I had known from the outset the sort of story I was getting into I probably would have rated it three stars, but having a horror story abruptly morph into a series of debates halfway through about how awesome being Christian is ruined it, and I wasn't willing to push through the things that had been annoying me because I didn't feel as though the book had been honest about itself with me from the outset. Give it a try if Christian fiction's your thing; despite the tedious self-indulgence and a few typos and formatting errors, Solitary manages to present a fairly intriguing little mystery... just make sure you know what you're getting into first.

Solitary feels like a screaming run through a dark forest in the middle of the night during a thunder storm. You can't see anything. You can't hear anything. You can't fully understand what's going on. You know you've got to stop and take shelter. But you can't because you're scared of what might happen.

First and foremost, Solitary is scary. The type of scary that just sits in your gut and burns, screaming for you to run, even though you don't know who or what you're running from.

Next, it's so realistic and personal that after five chapters it's like you're Chris. You know what you would do in his situations. Then Chris does it like he's reading your mind. Which just makes it scarier. Because even though Chris does everything you're telling him to, his situation just keeps getting worse.

And lastly, if you don't cry after reading this book, or at least get severely choked up, no book ever will. Travis Thrasher's first attempt at YA fiction is such a seriously messed up, frightening, life-changing, tear-dripper, you're sure to love it.

Chris Buckley never thought he'd end up in a place like Solitary, North Carolina. After his parents divorce he reluctantly moves with his Mom back to the strange little town she grew up in. Everything about Solitary feels off to Chris. The way the kids in his new high school look at him, the way everyone seems to know a secret except for him, even the feel of the town itself. Everything feels wrong, except for the way he feels about Jocelyn Evans. He finds himself hopelessly drawn to her, despite her efforts to push him away. As Chris falls deeper for the girl he has to have, he approaches a darkness that will shake him to his core.

Bold. Edgy. Beautiful. Terrifying. These are the words that ran through my mind after I closed the last page of Travis Thrasher's latest. Solitary is Thrasher's first attempt at a series and his first foray into the YA market. If you are going to make an entrance, why not stand up and demand some attention? That's exactly what Thrasher and David C. Cook Publishers have done with this outstanding story that is as haunting as it is addicting.

The first person narrative of Chris Buckley is the shining element here. I loved being immersed into Chris's world as he juggled the struggles of a new town, a mysterious love, and a broken home. Everything Chris feels and experiences masterfully flows off the page allowing the reader to dive in and look around this strange and scary place he finds himself in. The relationship of Chris and Jocelyn is especially handled well as Thrasher explores the emotional and physical struggles teens face in everyday life.

Solitary has such a creepy feel to it throughout, and I found myself flying through the pages desperately trying to make sense of the bizarre elements we are introduced to at just the right places. I was surprised at just how edgy this story was, and it was a pleasant discovery indeed. David C. Cook is known as a Sunday school curriculum publisher, so I expected something much lighter and well..."churchy". Rest assured..."churchy" this is not, however Chris's spiritual and family struggles make Solitary more relevant to so many teens who face similar circumstances in our culture.

Solitary is the kind of novel the Twilight (don't worry..no vampires here) crowd will enjoy, and dare I say contains the depth and level of creativity that could have made Twilight a great series instead of a good one. In the end, Thrasher leaves us with a twist that will have everyone talking and will no doubt be divisive amongst some readers. I'm blown away by what Thrasher and David C. Cook have just brought to us and I can't wait to read more.

SPOILER ALERT - Have you ever seen one of those old mystery movies from the 30s or 40s where the detective gathers everyone into a room at the end to reveal who the murder is? He finally reveals who did it and you never could have figured it out no matter how many times you watched the movie. That is how this book made me feel. This is only the second review I have ever written for an Amazon book but I felt so cheated at the end that I was compelled to find a computer. First of all, the formatting is terrible. There are very few words on a page even with the smallest Kindle font selected. Big line gaps between every sentence of two. Every few seconds I had to tap "next page." I teach high school so the juvenile sentence structure, etc. didn't really bother me. It was OK that is was narrated by a sixteen year old boy with a ridiculous crush. This may be the first in a series but it didn't leave me wanting to read book 2. I think I would feel the same at the end of it and be tricked into buying book 3 where the cycle would repeat. At the end of a first book in a series, some questions should be answered but more questions remain. This just left all questions and the bloody sacrificial death of our heroine (sorry if I spoiled the surprise for anyone). I also did not like the bait and switch to discover that it was "Christian fiction/mystery" half way through the book. Preach to me if you want but don't hide the fact that you are going to do it. I am hitting delete on the Kindle as fast as I can. I can't believe I just wasted hours of time that I will never get back reading this.

After reading the great reviews this book received, I expected something that would keep me on the edge of my seat with both eyes wide open. What a let-down! All throughout I kept waiting for the interesting part to come, but it never did. Also, I had been told it was "scary". It wasn't. It doesn't usually take much to send chills up my spine, but this book didn't even do that (which would have been fine with me). I was also less than impressed with the story line. I endured all the nonsense about the mysterious "heroine" (I already forgot her name, that's how impressed I was) hoping to get to the spiritual "depth" that I had been told, by a few reviewers, to expect. It never came. Instead, I was saturated with descriptions of the heroine's "hotness" that weren't original or creative either.

Oh, yes, the paragraph breaks were getting to me. I kept thinking that I was back in high school and trying to make the 20-page requirement for my term paper by adding a lot of "reallys" and paragraph breaks. Did the author have a page requirement he was trying to meet?

The story line was so shallow a tad pole couldn't wade in it. So were the characters. It seemed that all the characters did were have secret meetings, secret notes, secret thoughts, and never actually acted on anything. Even the people who supposedly knew all the secrets didn't actually seem to "know" anything. And, the secret meetings, letters, etc. didn't actually end up accomplishing anything.

I wouldn't want to give away the ending to those who still wish to read this book, but I walked away thinking "you've got to be joking!" After finishing the book one question remains: what was the point?

Okay, so I'm going to indulge myself here for a moment - you can keep Ted Dekker. Keep Frank Peretti. Forget a whole bunch of others. Travis is the real deal. This guy can WRITE, and he knows how to create solid, real characters. I now have TWO favorite CBA (Christian Bookseller Association) authors I'll read at the drop of a hat: T.L. Hines and Travis Thrasher. This is funny, dark, amusing, sarcastic, sad, moving, suspenseful....and like F. Paul Wilson, Travis's prose just keeps you moving. The "Solitary" series is one I'm going to follow.

I found myself rather interested in this story and wanting to know what was going to happen next because I really wasn't sure how things were going to evolve. I looked forward to picking up the book and continuing on with the story quite a bit. The end of the story was quite unexpected, but for me, not in a good way. I had all this anticipation in how things might be wrapped up and I ended up feeling very cheated. Some people may like to figure it out on their own, make up their own ending, or having the "never know" feeling in the end. The ending for me was so unexplained. I felt like carrots had been dangled in front of me for over 350 pages, then it ended abruptly and basically without any explanation. I can't say it wasn't a good book, just not what I was expecting or hoped for in the end.

As you may be able to tell by my title line I think "Solitary" is a book for teenagers. In fact I think it's an excellent book for teenagers. For adults however it's a bit juvenile and very simple in it's storyline and characters. The writing is good and I think Travis has captured the mind and speech of teenagers very well. The main character Chris is not the brightest kid around but he's brave and considering his strange predicament he does okay. I found him a bit frustrating (from my age point-of-view) because he rarely, if ever sought help, he discovered amazing clues and then ignored them and he never used a flashlight when he went into the woods at night (which he did a lot). I live in the woods. Trust me, you need a light.

I'm not a big fan of horror novels. In fact, next to books with Amish women on the cover it's my least favorite fiction topic. This said I didn't find Solitary that terrifying, creepy or frightening as some other readers have stated. It's more of a mystery but for kids I could see it being a bit scary.

Biblically the book was much better then the other Travis Thrasher book I read. Even though the reader isn't 100% sure what's going on I'm guessing this book delves into spiritual warfare. No werewolves or vampires here. The question of whether God exists is talked about often and the Bible is honored. There's no mistaking this book is written by a believer.

The ending was a huge surprise. Even though the book is simple I didn't see it coming. If you know a teenager I highly suggest buying a copy or two. I'm not sure what the series holds and I'm not completely sure it'll continue with the same plot but either way it should be a good one. If your kids like the Twilight or Harry Potter series do them a favor and get them something that glorifies God. Solitary is just what the Great Physician ordered.

1 Star = Pathetic
2 Stars = Fair
3 Stars = Good
4 Stars = Excellent
5 Stars = Life changing

Solitary by Travis Thrasher is a thriller/ horror in the style of Frank Perretti and Ted Decker. Although the characters are well-written I still found myself waiting to make sense of the story. When I got to the last page I was still confused. Telling the story through the point of view of the main character 16 year old Chris Buckley gave the reader a you-are-there feel. But so many questions remained unanswered viewing every scenario through his eyes alone. Once I thought I'd sorted out all the characters more were added. Even in the final chapters a new character came on the scene. I kept wondering why? I found literary smoking guns (items were mentioned but never used or resolved) scattered throughout the story. The hero does not save the damsel in distress as he intended. Chris does not change enough from his experiences in Solitary for me. His references to old song lyrics gave me pause. Who are the Smiths? Would knowing help me understand the subtle meanings the author was trying to express. So many unanswered questions leaving this reader with a thin thread of hope and a desire to get out Dodge and not look back.
Reading the afterward answered a lot of questions. This is the beginning of a series. Even so, I prefer to see more resolution at the end of each book in a series. Some kind of satisfactory conclusion even if not every thread is tied off. I finished this book feeling agitated.
If you love horror you will eat up every page and ponder the possibilities of the sequels. The writing is skillful enough to keep even a non-horror reader like me interested enough to finish the book.
I have enjoyed reading Travis work but this one for me was disappointing. Whether I would pick up the next installment--the jury is still out.