3 out of 4 stars
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A warning: This is a book that deals with very heavy and sensitive subjects that could be triggering to some, therefore I would strongly advise caution before proceeding with it. There are relatively graphic descriptions of violence — especially and specifically rape and mutilation — and the book revolves around cases of this nature, which could be triggering to some potential readers. I will also make references to these subjects in my review.
Initiated to Kill is a historical thriller novel that takes the reader back and forth between different times and settings — each with their own characters and secrets to uncover; all of which weave together and are relevant to the story's main theme and mystery. Between 19th century London and 21st century Seville, comparisons and connections are drawn about the respective cases of Jack the Ripper and a modern day investigation that bears striking similarities to the former.
For the most part, I consider this to be a very well written book. There are occasional grammatical errors and a few sections could benefit from some rephrasing but, for the most part, I found Almond's writing style to be very captivating and absorbing. Some parts had especially lovely passages — the first chapter's description of Seville is one of those parts and it drew me into the story right from the beginning. The writing style flowed quite consistently and worked excellently for the genre; it was definitely the element of this book that I enjoyed the most.
The subject matter is heavy: there are details of rape, mutilation and other forms of violence. In many places in the story this is described quite graphically, which personally I feel was both inessential and off-putting, although I understand and appreciate that the author was likely emphasizing the brutality and cruelty of the criminals through this. This is a more personal view that I have about the subject matter specifically, but I appreciate that the subject was treated seriously regardless.
This is also very long book, largely due to the amount of exposition provided. At times, the story was hard to follow (something affected also by the different times and perspectives that the book regularly switches between) and did feel somewhat dragged on by the length. This was rather frustrating but did not put me off to the point of being fed up reading it and wanting it to end already, and I did find the build up and the background information interesting (although bordering on the edge of being a bit too excessive).
Moving on from the exposition — the parallels and symbolism are sound and solid and, in my opinion, quite superbly done. I was able to appreciate them even more upon my second reading, which really helped me to follow and appreciate the puzzles and connections built up throughout the narrative. I would definitely recommend reading this book more than once in order to get a better understanding of the story.
The high quality writing style and story construction prompted me to give the book a high rating, though I opted out of choosing the highest score due to the arguably excessive graphic descriptions and the exposition. I hesitate to say I found Initiated to Kill an enjoyable reading experience considering the subject matter, but I definitely found it to be a memorable one.
Overall, I rate Initiated to Kill 3 out of 4 stars.
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Initiated To Kill
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