Sinful Book Reviews

When this blog tour invite hit my inbox, I was immediately on board. So much of New Adult Fiction is made up of intense, dramatic romances aimed at women my age. I can hardly make it through one of them before I want to strangle one of the character for being so obtuse. When I come across books like this one being marketed as New Adult, they are immediately added to my reading list. I’m much more interested in coming across something in this target group that I can relate to (or maybe even some science fiction). I wasn’t let down by Tick to the Tock. I was a little surprised by it.

The truth is that self-published novels tend to be lacking in good writing. Matthew Turner is clearly not lacking that skill. Turner writes some of the most beautiful settings I can imagine. I’m a visually-oriented person (probably why I enjoy movie adaptations so much). His descriptions were so vivid the picture of nearly every scene was painted in my mind. Keep in mind, this praise is coming from someone who often skims descriptive paragraphs. It’s not only the descriptions, though. Turner writes his characters well. The dialogue felt authentic. The emotions were sometimes very raw (you might need tissues if you’re a crier). The relationships were just perfect.

Those of you who’ve been with me for a while or pay attention to what I read may have noticed my near obsession with “cancer books” a couple of years ago. My father had been told by his doctor that he would only have a few months left; instead of spending his time suffering through treatment, he stopped his chemo and radiation to spend some time with us. I think reading stories about people dealing with cancer was somehow cathartic for me. My point is, I have a decent bit of experience with books about cancer. I think I can safely add this one to the ranks of wonderful, moving books on a topic that hits very close to home for me.

One more quick note: books aren’t about the resolution, they’re about the journey. This is one of the rare books that gives you an immediate sense of how it will end. There aren’t really any questions about it. When reading a book like this, the tone tells you whether the characters will live or die. That’s almost irrelevant, as far as the reading experience goes. The entire purpose of reading is to take a journey. I think this journey with Dante is worth the grief. Recommended.