Pages

Tuesday 19 January 2016

Review: River of Ink: Genesis by Helen Dennis


When a mystery teenage boy emerges from the River Thames drenched, distressed and unable to remember anything about himself, he becomes the focus of worldwide media speculation. Unable to communicate, the River Boy is given paper and a pencil and begins to scribble. Soon a symbol emerges, but the boy has no idea why he has drawn it even thought it's the only clue to the mystery of his identity...

As the boy begins to build a new life under a new name, the hunt for his real identity begins.

A hunt which will lead him on a dangerous QUEST that he has only one year to complete ...


Three was the magic number for Bob Dorough, Blind Melon and De La Soul, and it's also the magic number for these new style Book Zone reviews, as part of my seemingly endless quest for brevity when reviewing. So, here are three reasons to read Genesis, the first book in Helen Dennis's new River of Ink series.

1. The quest

I love what I call quest stories, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I really loved Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and its sequel The Da Vinci Code. Books like this are my guilty pleasure, and since then I have been spoiled for choice in this area, with great series from the likes of Andy McDermott, Chris Kuzneski and Scott Mariani, but as I have often asked in the past - with so many books in this genre published for adults, where are these mystery-adventure-conspiracy-thrillers for younger readers? Thus, for this reader at least, Genesis by Helen Dennis is a very welcome addition to my bookshelf. 

2. The mystery

Helen Dennis is no stranger to writing mystery quest books. I am quite a fan of her middle grade Secret Breakers series, and Genesis is even better. Written, I believe, for a slightly older audience (although certainly suitable for readers from age 10+), the much loved tropes that can be found in adult examples of the genre are all present and correct: a protagonist who has lost his memory, another character drawn into the mystery almost by accident, strange symbols that suggest more than a hint of alchemy, a secret and ruthless organisation bent on gaining sole possession of whatever lies at the heart of the mystery. Put all these together and there was no way I wasn't going to love this book.

3. Mental health issues

Jed, the main character, having suffered severe memory loss is central to to the plot of Genesis. However, it is not this that I am referring to in this case. In order to aid his healing and hide him away from the press, Jed is 'welcomed' in to the family of Kassia Devaux. Kassia's family life is less than conventional - her father died a numbers of years earlier in an accident and her mother's behaviour is symptomatic of someone suffering from a number of mental health conditions. She suffers from severe anxiety, OCD and possibly BPD, and much of this is manifested in her attitude towards Kassia and her deaf brother Dante. She is over-protective, obsessive about cleanliness around the house and has pretty much mapped out Kassia's future for her. It's important that young readers experience characters with such illnesses in the stories they read, and not just in contemporary 'real life' stories where mental illness of a character is central to the story. It's another example of what we mean when we cry for more diversity in books for children and young adults (as is Dante's disability).

River of Ink: Genesis was published in the UK last week, and my thanks go to those fab people at Hodder for sending me a copy. The sequel, Zenith, is due out in June so fortunately we only have six months to wait to find out what happens next.  


8 comments:

  1. Love the cover on this one, and I'm mightily tempted to acquire a copy, but I'm trying to read some of my TBR pile and catch up on review copies for the next month or two, so should probably be good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DR EMU WHO HELP PEOPLE IN ANY TYPE OF LOTTERY NUMBERS
      It is a very hard situation when playing the lottery and never won, or keep winning low fund not up to 100 bucks, i have been a victim of such a tough life, the biggest fund i have ever won was 100 bucks, and i have been playing lottery for almost 12 years now, things suddenly change the moment i came across a secret online, a testimony of a spell caster called dr emu, who help people in any type of lottery numbers, i was not easily convinced, but i decided to give try, now i am a proud lottery winner with the help of dr emu, i won $1,000.0000.00 and i am making this known to every one out there who have been trying all day to win the lottery, believe me this is the only way to win the lottery.

      Dr Emu can also help you fix this issues

      (1)Ex back.
      (2)Herbal cure & Spiritual healing.
      (3)You want to be promoted in your office.
      (4)Pregnancy spell.
      (5)Win a court case.

      Contact him on email Emutemple@gmail.com
      What’s app +2347012841542
      Website Https://emutemple.wordpress.com/
      Facebook page Https://web.facebook.com/Emu-Temple-104891335203341

      Delete
  2. La storia di repliche longines orologi è piena di orologi innovativi, repliche longines evidenza dai primi come il calibro Lépine 18 L ai pezzi successivi come Longines Evidenza e Longines LungoMare. Riveliamo anche i progressi tecnologici innovativi realizzati per gli orologi Longines, come il "Vibrograph", un dispositivo per il controllo della frequenza degli orologi, che ha debuttato nel 1946. Pur continuando a creare cronometristi meccanici, l'azienda ha anche aperto la strada a innovazioni nella tecnologia al quarzo per i suoi Orologi Longines. Uno è stato il primo orologio al quarzo portatile, nel 1954, che ha superato i requisiti della sua era di precisione e affidabilità. Gli orologi Longines incorporano ancora entrambe le tecnologie oggi; sia il quarzo che il meccanico sono stati rappresentati nel portafoglio diversificato del marchio per molti decenni.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Omg I Finally Got Helped  !! I'm so excited right now, I just have to share my testimony on this Forum.. The feeling of being loved takes away so much burden from our shoulders. I had all this but I made a big mistake when I cheated on my wife with another woman  and my wife left me for over 4 months after she found out..  I was lonely, sad and devastated. Luckily I was directed to a very powerful spell caster Dr Emu who helped me cast a spell of reconciliation on our Relationship and he brought back my wife and now she loves me far more than ever.. I'm so happy with life now. Thank you so much Dr Emu, kindly Contact  Dr Emu Today and get any kind of help you want.. Via Email emutemple@gmail.com or Call/WhatsApp +2347012841542

    ReplyDelete
  4. I’m not that much of a internet reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it! 카지노사이트

    ReplyDelete
  5. This article is very interesting. I often go on business trips and love to relax, reading such mysterious stories. The last time I traveled in Denver. I rented a car and after the meeting went to see the city and stopped at a beautiful park, where I read this amazing story. It was a real pleasure.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The review briefly mentions the writing style of Helen Dennis. Can the reviewer provide examples or insights into specific passages or prose elements that stood out, contributing to the overall quality of the narrative? Telkom University

    ReplyDelete