Review: The taste of apple seeds

Price: £ 12.99

Publisher: Atlantic Books

You've got to love a book that surrounds dark things like death and dementia and unspoken scandal that could tear apart families. I didn't know if I'd like this book or not, as on the surface it seems all rather girly and that isn't me AT ALL. However, the underlying darkness sucked me in and captured me and that is what made me thoroughly enjoy this book and want to read it. 

I really enjoyed the characters. Iris is so normal. She thinks and does normal things, has normal emotions and goes through normal inner turmoil about love and family. I could see a little bit of me in her. When it came to Max, I could see a little of Boy Geek in him. I think that helped me enjoy the book too on the whole. The plot at times was a tad predictable, however, it wasn't predictable in an annoying way. It made you feel comfortable and safe and made the book even nicer to read. Yet, the overriding feeling was that this was a set of inter spliced character studies. And I love a good character study so this was right up my street.

Dementia is looked at in a very careful and calm way. It's a very sensitive portrayal of a disease that can ruin lives and relationships. It made me think that maybe KH has had experience with it in her life. Also Naziism was dealt with in a very subtle way also. It didn't seem shocking and hit you round the face as it often does in books. Even though the book is set in Germany, it didn't feel alien. I was reading it as if it were on my back doorstep. The only part that was alien was the Naziism, and even then, because it was brief it didn't detract from my feeling that this book was set somewhere I knew. I would be interested to find out if this is a translation and where the author is from and wrote this book. 

So, as usual I'll create my closing few lines. A very surprising book that I think you should give a chance. I enjoyed it greatly and would say that it is a great read for a lot of people! It is dark but not so dark that you'll feel depressed and sometimes, you have to admit, dark and twisty isn't always what you need. Thanks for sending me this Atlantic Books, it was a lovely surprise!

Happy Reading

Book Geek

:-)