This Is Not Forgiveness by Celia Rees

Review by Kate

This was my first step into the incredible world of Celia Rees, and what a step it is. After reading This Is Not Forgiveness I am incredibly excited to read other books by Celia.

I received This Is Not Forgiveness as an ARC (advanced reading copy) as it is not due for release until February 2012. The blurb on the back doesn’t give much, if anything, away although mixed with the excerpt on the front cover you know that someone dies, someone named Rob. However after reading the excerpt I expected a lot more deaths in the book. The indication is that something big happens but what is unclear.

The main story begins by introducing Jamie and Caro who meet in the Rendez, a café. Before that the prologue goes into a little more detail about the death of Rob but still not much is clear about what happens. What is clear is that Rob comes across as a bad person. The next section is an excerpt from Rob’s video diary and we find out that he is a war veteran that fought in Afghanistan.

The story is split into three sections, the main sections written by Jamie, then Rob’s video diary and Caro’s diary. With Rob’s video diary you read his thoughts and feelings and learn more about Rob as a person and his intentions.

As you get into the story Jamie and Caro start to see each other, and become an item in Jamie’s eyes. Caro claims she never loves anyone but in the end you know that she does as she saves Jamie.

I found the fact that Caro was playing both brothers gripping wondering if Jamie finds out and when he does wondering what he will do. Neither Rob nor Jamie fully knows where the other stands with Caro and that leads to interesting threads in the story.

The Red Army Faction added a sinister feel to the story; you knew because of them and because of Caro’s love for them something big was going to happen. I was literally on the edge of my seat not wanting to stop reading.

In the closing sections of the book the action really kicks off leading to the deaths mentioned in the beginnings of the story. I was left with a sense of sadness that things happened the way that they did but the reader also knows that the right thing happened in the end.

The story was very powerful, kept me turning the pages without realising how much I had actually read. Celia Rees’s writing style is easy to follow and easy to read. I loved the fact that there were the three separate sections to the story as I felt that it added intensity to the story.

This Is Not Forgiveness is a novel that I will be recommending to EVERYONE! 5/5

**This Is Not Forgiveness will be released in February 2012**