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The Paper Swan by Leylah Atter


4 stars ”Hope is a hollow backbone. It can’t always carry the weight of reality. And I was tired of propping it up. I was tired of mending it each time it snapped.” This is a book that slowly gathered momentum and quickly became a huge talking point among readers and bloggers alike. I think the initial draw is that cover, it’s so uniquely beautiful. Then add in that synopsis, that doesn’t really tell you all that much and seriously I was wrapped up in that hype too. ”But you can’t shut panic up, you know? She’s a screaming, thrashing bitch, and she wanted out.” Described as a dark read I felt a little disappointed that it really kind of wasn’t. Sure there are some dark elements to it but it doesn’t really read that way. It started off looking like it could have been going down that road but in the end those readers looking for that kind of read won’t find it in The Paper Swan. This is a tumultuous love story with wrongs on both sides. What I found mesmerising was Leylah Atter’s ability to spin her words into beautiful sentences that at times take the readers breath away. I certainly had a few goose bumps in places. Her writing in this book is truly gorgeous at times even if I didn’t find it was constant throughout. There is a ton of quote worthy sentences spattered in these pages. Unfortunately I found the storyline lacking, don’t get me wrong, it’s a great read but apart from one instance, I saw all the twists coming and they were extremely predictable and clichéd. It was a shame, to have such strong writing yet a weak plot line. “We are sand that hasn’t been washed away yet.” Character wise I think Leylah did alright, I saw layers to both Damian and Skye which unravelled throughout the book. The characters that you begin with are most certainly no the characters you end up with by the time the book is finished. I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about them though. I found Skye spoilt and entitled for the first part of the book, I relished the change in her but I do think that it happened really quick. It takes a while to change a mind-set. I understood Damian’s anger however I didn’t feel it as much as I maybe should have. I expected more than what was delivered. And honestly, I really couldn’t see a way that this was ending well for anyone. ”I was crawling through sandpaper….” Time jumps….this book has them. I really don’t like reading that way and I make no secret about it but I think sometimes a story needs to be written that way for a reader to really get the whole picture. I think it kinda worked here; they didn’t annoy me as much as previous time jump books have in the past. They are more flashbacks and not massively long. I felt there was story missing though, towards the end. It’s maybe a long amount of time to write into a story (8 years) but I needed that. After all it’s still the story right? I enjoyed this very much, it wasn’t love but I liked that it was a little different and that the writing was captivating. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone that asks about it.


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