Pages: 505 [Hardcover]
Published: January 4th 2011 by Simon Pulse
Date Finished: 28th September 2011
Shelf Recommendation: Buy
Rating: 4 Stars ****
Synopsis:
Kit and Fancy Cordelle are sisters of the best kind: best friends, best confidantes, and best accomplices. The daughters of the infamous Bonesaw Killer, Kit and Fancy are used to feeling like outsiders, and that’s just the way they like it. But in Portero, where the weird and wild run rampant, the Cordelle sisters are hardly the oddest or most dangerous creatures around.
It’s no surprise when Kit and Fancy start to give in to their deepest desire—the desire to kill. What starts as a fascination with slicing open and stitching up quickly spirals into a gratifying murder spree. Of course, the sisters aren’t killing just anyone, only the people who truly deserve it. But the girls have learned from the mistakes of their father, and know that a shred of evidence could get them caught. So when Fancy stumbles upon a mysterious and invisible doorway to another world, she opens a door to endless possibilities….
Review:
Here it is.
I am a sucker for horror, gruesome horror. I used to be scared of it and to various degrees’ I still am so when the opportunity to read some horror books from my shelf came about the first one on my list had to be Slice of Cherry. I remember hearing about it and instantly wanting it, I had to have it and even though it’s been sitting there for some time I am glad I finally got around to it.
Firstly I gotta say I really loved this book for the different cultural aspect. I usually read books about Caucasian characters which are popular in Y.A fiction, so it was really bracing to read about a different race of people, not only by skin but by imagination. I adored the twisted sisters and couldn’t get enough of them.
Dia Reeves paints a morbidly provoking picture of an alternative world that is both fascinating and hilarious. She makes what is already horrific almost appear normal and I questioned myself a thousand times while reading this novel. It was so believable, yet so beautifully written that I imagined myself committing these acts myself and actually enjoying being in the world she has created. While confusing at times, slipping out of place, Dia managed to bring me as a reader back around again and when I found my place I was compelled by the effortless nature of her writing style.
One of the most fascinating and curious sub-plots that propelled major character progression was Franken, a victim whom they at first decide to torture and then later keep as a pet. I thought the buried concept of Stockholm syndrome was handled craftfully and made it seem real. I could clearly envision the emotions and reactions going through his mind and Kit and Fancy’s mind for the period he was in their lives.
As the novel progressed the relationship between Kit and Fancy became almost incestuous. Nearing the end this factor started to grate on my nerves, not to mention Fancy’s constant bitter self-centeredness. There is only so much of a ‘woe’ me characteristic I can take, even despite understanding that it was one of her fundamental traits.
What I loved about this novel was that her writing style hit one of the few pointers I look for when I am both looking for a novel and reading one; Provoking, remarkable and new characters who can grab my attention and totally take me hostage until the end.
Overall I would certainly recommend this book for its quirky and morbidity. It is not to the light stomached and does certainly pack a punch when it comes to the surreal. Definably for horror fans, and those who love to provoke there imagination into different dimensions Slice of Cherry was just the topping on the cake for my new interest in Dia Reeves.
