Touching the Surface
Kimberly Sabatini
Data aparitie: 30 octombrie 2012
Numar pagini: 352
Sinopsis:
Descopera viata de apoi in acest roman paranormal, liric, care iti va face inima sa pluteasca. Atunci cand Elliot moare pentru a treia oara, stie ca trebuie sa o fi dat in bara rau de tot. Nu isi aminteste cum a aterizat din nou in viata de apoi, dar stie ca aceasta este ultima ei sansa de a indrepta lucrurile.
Elliot vrea doar sa treaca mai departe, dar mai intai este fortata sa isi infrunte trecutul si sa isi cerceteze amintirile dureroase pe care ar prefera de fapt sa le pastreze ingropate. Amintiri ale unor persoane pe care le-a ranit, ale oamenilor pe care i-a tradat.. si a celor pe care i-a ucis.
Pe masura ce incepe sa asambleze puzzle-ul format din secretele si greselile din trecutul sau, Elliot trebuie sa gaseasca o cale prin care sa obtina iertarea persoanei pe care a ranit-o cel mai mult si sa le dezvaluie adevarul despre ea celor doi baieti pe care ii iubeste… chiar daca asta inseamna sa ii piarda pe amandoi pentru totdeauna.
Mentiune:
Recenzia face parte din Touching the Surface (Romanian) Blog Tour. Mai multe detalii despre desfasurarea acestui blog tour puteti afla de pe blogul Identify reading.
Parerea mea:
Daca ar trebui sa caracterizez romanul Touching the Surface printr-un singur cuvant, acela ar fi “interesant”. Poate ca suna aproape banal, mai ales fiind vorba de o poveste fantasy – si mare parte dintre acest tip de carti sunt interesante, dar credeti-ma ca este una dintre cele mai surprinzatoare carti YA pe care le-am citit in ultima vreme. Desi fantasy, romanul se indreapta in directii destul de rar abordate de catre majoritatea autorilor.
In Touching the Surface scriitoarea te poarta printre lumi si vieti. Mai exact, in viata de apoi, insa nu in locurile acelea de fericire sau suferinta eterna, ci intr-un fel de purgatoriu, in care sufletele isi regasesc identitatea, isi recupereaza amintirile si incearca sa evolueze pentru a trece in sfarsit in nivelul superior. Protagonista este un astfel de suflet, aflat la cea de-a treia incercare. Acum este ultima ei sansa de a merge mai departe, insa de data aceasta totul este mai greu. Amintirile din ultima viata se incapataneaza sa ramana mai mult ascunse, prietena sa care i-a fost alaturi in toate vietile de pana atunci o indeparteaza brusc, doi frati total diferiti unul de altul par a fi legati de ea prin fire ce o infricoseaza si in plus, descopera o serie de secrete care o dau peste cap. Iar ea nu are idee ce ar fi trebuit sa invete din toate vietile pe care le-a trait si ce anume o impiedica sa evolueze.
Elliot nu este deloc o protagonista care sa se faca usor placuta. Cel putin, mie asa mi s-a parut. Se victimizeaza pana si in cele mai banale situatii, este total insensibila la nevoile sau sentimentele celor din jur, ii raneste adesea pe cei dragi, are pretentia ca toata lumea sa se comporte cu ea ca si cum ar fi centrul universului si oricat de mult ar gresi, tot ea se comporta ca si cum ar fi fost victima iar ceilalti ar trebui sa ii ceara iertare. In plus, are momente in care reactioneaza impulsiv, haotic si lipsit de logica. Cred ca dintre toate personajele, tocmai ea mi-a placut cel mai putin. Spre final, pare sa inteleaga in sfarsit ce anume ar trebui sa indrepte in comportamentul ei, insa nu stiu daca asta se intampla datorita a ceea ce a invatat sau datorita faptului ca toate lucrurile s-au asezat pana la urma exact cum trebuia.
Au existat cateva aspecte pe care in prima faza nu le-am inteles sau m-au deranjat. Pe masura ce am continuat sa citesc insa, mi-am dat seama ca aveam o perspectiva gresita asupra situatiilor. Ma refer aici la triunghiul amoros ce pare sa se formeze si la relatia ciudata dintre aproape toate personajele, fie ele secundare sau principale. Triunghiul se dovedeste din fericire a fi doar o iluzie. Ceea ce nu poate decat sa ma bucure, intrucat mi se pare ca s-a abuzat mult prea mult de acest gen de relatii in cartile YA. Cat despre relatiile dintre personaje, pentru o bucata de timp, mi se pareau absurde, nerealiste, exagerate si ciudate. Personajele se comporta ca si cum ar fi o mare familie iubitoare, au gesturi si momente de o tandrete total inexplicabila, mai ales ca unele dintre ele nu par sa se cunoasca de prea multa vreme sau sa fi petrecut indeajuns timp impreuna pentru a dezvolta astfel de sentimente. Insa la un moment dat, am realizat ca nu le priveam de fapt in lumina in cate trebuia… Uitam ca sunt de fapt suflete aflate intr-o alta lume si le judecam ca si cand ar fi fost oameni obisnuiti. Desi stiam de la inceput ce sunt, abia mai tarziu mi-am dat seama ca fiind spirite, au un alt sistem de gandire, mai putin ingradit, iar purtarea lor este dictata in special de emotii si sentimente, acestea fiind mult mai accentuate decat in cazul unor oameni normali. In plus, trairile si sentimentele din alte vieti, desi trecute de multa vreme, au lasat totusi urme in constiinta personajelor. Asa ca dintr-un lucru pe care nu il intelegeam initial, acest aspect a devenit brusc unul dintre preferatele mele. Mi-a placut mult modul in care autoarea a diferentiat cele doua lumi nu doar prin schimbarile evidente si intr-o oarecare masura previzibile, ci si prin astfel de detalii unice si surprinzatoare.
Per ansamblu, povestea este una interesanta, uimitoare pe alocuri, ce abordeaza o idee rar folosita si o trateaza intr-un mod aproape ireprosabil. Nu am putut sa nu remarc faptul ca romanul pastreaza cateva nuante stranii si ca iti da o stare neobisnuita, iar impresia finala este ca printre randuri, se ascunde ceva ireal, magic si fascinant.
Bile albe:
– Combinatia dintre aspectele tipice literaturii pentru tineri si ideile originale si modul in care autoarea reuseste sa transforme unele lucruri pe care le-ai considera initial banale in unele care te surprind in totalitate.
Bile negre:
– Comportamentul imatur al protagonistei. Inteleg ca trebuia sa fie intr-o oarecare masura asa, tinand cont ca a ajuns la a treia incercare si inca nu a reusit sa isi dea seama de ce anume este nevoie ca sa treaca mai departe. Insa mi se pare ca actiunile si reactiile ei sunt totusi putin exagerate si nici nu sunt convinsa ca pana la final a reusit sa se schimbe atat cat trebuia, chiar daca o vedem evoluand putin totusi si avand parte de cateva revelatii.
English version:
Sinopsis:
Experience the afterlife in this lyrical, paranormal debut novel that will send your heart soaring.When Elliot finds herself dead for the third time, she knows she must have messed up, big-time. She doesn’t remember how she landed in the afterlife again, but she knows this is her last chance to get things right.
Elliot just wants to move on, but first she will be forced to face her past and delve into the painful memories she’d rather keep buried. Memories of people she’s hurt, people she’s betrayed…and people she’s killed.
As she pieces together the secrets and mistakes of her past, Elliot must find a way to earn the forgiveness of the person she’s hurt most, and reveal the truth about herself to the two boys she loves…even if it means losing them both forever.
Note:
This review is part of the Touching the Surface (Romanian) Blog Tour. You can find out more details about it’s course on Identify reading.
My opinion:
If I should describe the novel Touching the Surface with a single word, it would be “interesting”. Maybe it sounds almost ordinary, especially because we’re talking about a fantasy novel – and many of these books are really interesting, but believe me, this is one of the most surprising YA books I’ve read lately. Although fantasy, the story is raising in a course that is rarely approached by most of the authors.
In Touching the Surface, the author is carrying you through the worlds and lives. More exactly, in the Afterlife, but not in those places of eternal happiness or despair, but in a limbo where the souls are trying to find again their identities, to access their memories and to grow in order to go to the higher level. The main character is one of these souls and she’s at her third try. Now it’s her last chance to evolve and go in the next plan, but this time everything is more difficult. Her memories of the past lives stay hidden, her best friend that was near her through all her lives is suddenly drawing away from her, two very different brothers seem to be bonded with her through some scary chains and she discovers some secrets that astound her. And she has no idea what was she supposed to learn from her past lives and what’s keeping her from evolving.
Elliot is clearly not one of the characters you like easily. Not from my point of view, anyway. She keeps playing the victim even in the most unimportant situations, she is totally insensible to the others’ needs or feelings, she often hurts them, she wants everybody to consider her the center of the universe and no matter how many times she does a mistake, she’s the one acting like she’s the victim. Furthermore, there are moments when she reacts impulsively, chaotic and without any logic. I think that from all the characters, she’s the only one I did not like. In the end, she seems to understand what is wrong in her behavior, but I don’t know if this happens because of what she learned or because the fact that everything finally settles as she wished.
There were a few aspects that I didn’t understand or that bothered me for a while. But as I kept reading, I realized I was having a wrong perspective over those things. I’m talking about the love triangle that seems to grow and about the weird relation between all the characters. Fortunately, the triangle proves to be an illusion. I can only be happy about this, because I think this kind of relation was excessively used in the YA books. Regarding the characters’ relations, for a while I considered them absurd, unrealistic and weird. The characters act like a big, loving family, they have gestures that seem inexplicable tender, especially when some of the characters don’t seem to know each other for a long time and they didn’t spend enough time together in order to develop this kind of feelings. But suddenly, I realized that I wasn’t seeing them in the right light. I was forgetting that they were souls in a different world and I was judging them as if they were normal people. Although I knew from the beginning what they were, only later I realized that being spirits, they have a less restricted system of thinking and feeling. Their attitude is dictated especially by their emotions and feelings – these being more accentuated than the humans’ sensations. Furthermore, all the things they felt in their previous lives, although long forgotten, left a mark on the characters’ conscience. So, from a thing I didn’t understand initially, this aspect became one of my favorites. I loved the way the author realized the differences between the worlds not only through the obvious and anticipated changes, but also through these unique and surprising details.
Overall, the story is really interesting, even astonishing in a few moments. It approaches an idea that is rarely used and covers it almost flawless. I noticed that the novel has some strange shades and gives you an unusual sensation, and the final impression is that between the lines lies hidden something surreal, magical and fascinating.
PROs:
– The mix of aspects that are specific to YA literature with the original ideas and the way the author changes some of the things you’d consider ordinary in something that totally surprises you.
CONs:
– The immature behavior of the main character. I understand that it had to be a little wrong, considering the fact that the heroine is at her third try and she still didn’t manage to understand what she has to do to go forward. But I felt that her actions and reactions are a little exaggerated and I’m not even sure if until the end she really changes enough, even if we see her evolving a little and experiencing some revelations.
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