Under the shadow of trauma, Liam has been discharged from the army. As night terrors torment him and he struggles to keep his anger intact, he finds himself in his car, his daughter Alannah asleep in the back, while his wife Emma has gone AWOL. With no idea where to go for shelter, his only goal is to hold onto his daughter at all costs. But Alannah is on a journey of her own.
As the consequences of Alannah’s choices unfold, nothing will ever be the same again.
Soldier Boy is gripping story about secrets, fear, longing, lies and the power of being true to yourself, even when the price is higher than you could have imagined.
What did I think?
I thought there was a bit of my book missing when I turned to the first page of Soldier Boy and the first line appeared to have started mid-sentence. Sure enough, the same happened with the next chapter but what Cassandra Parkin has so cleverly done is used the final word of each chapter as the first word of the following chapter. It's not only a very clever format, it really makes you think about how all of the threads of the story weave in and out of one another.
Soldier Boy is such a breathtaking book that I really don't know where to begin as any review I write will not do it justice. Cassandra Parkin is not just an amazing wordsmith, she's a word thief as she stole all my words and left me completely speechless at the end of the book. My emotions were put through the wringer as I read Liam, Emma and particularly Alannah's story.
I'm not going to mention the story at all as I don't want to give away any spoilers of the wonderful (but rather dark) plot; this is a book that each individual reader should experience first-hand. It's horrific at times but so heart-achingly poignant that I feel as though I left a piece of my heart behind when I turned the final page.
A highly emotional story written in an ingeniously unique format, Soldier Boy is an exceptional novel that will make your heart ache. It's a sobering reminder to listen to what we're being told rather than only hearing what we want to hear. So very highly recommended but be warned that there are some shocking moments that will be a bit stomach lurching for the squeamish.
I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
My rating:
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