The Bone Clocks- David Mitchell

I will admit, rather shamefully, that this is the first David Mitchell novel that I have read and I’m thoroughly annoyed with myself that I’ve waited this long. I will hold my hands up and admit that I was drawn to this book due to the huge press/media campaign that Mitchells publishers/promoters threw at the world- it felt like I couldn’t turn a page in a newspaper without the advertisement glaring back or turn on the TV without an interview with him popping up; well let’s face it, they did their jobs. I bought it (in hardback none the less). 

Mitchell is a fantastic writer; a classic ‘unique’ author- full of long descriptive words and twisting detailed narrative. *Sigh* they don’t make ‘em like that anymore. That being said, you really need to concentrate whilst reading this book as it is very easy to get lost and this is definitely not a skim readable book- something I learnt the hard way. However, if you stay on your toes this is such a gripping read, and as I said before, the writing style is truly incredible.
 
My favourite thing about this book is the way the story is played out- it begins in 1985 and centres on the main character Holly Sykes, and although she is in every chapter/section of the book, the narrative voice is not always hers. We flick from person to person, glimpsing key characters from previous sections and meeting new ones. However, unlike many books of this style, the story is still concise and logical as Holly runs all the way through. I also love (and this is a slight spoiler) that Holly is the first and last narrative voice- this really rounds of the story. In addition; this book is FULL of beautiful quotes for example “Some magic is normality you’re not yet used to”- I think I like this quote so much is because, although it talks mainly of an event occurring in the story, it also hints at the future of Holly’s life and how she will adapt and change to accommodate new things.

As I said earlier, you need to keep your wits about you whilst reading this book and some of the concepts are really imaginative and require thinking about- this is a book for adults and a little beyond YA readers I fear (although that’s only because I think some sections may be a little boring for younger readers, by all means give it a go and prove me wrong). My only other real criticism is that I grew fond of, and developed an interest, in characters that were quickly taken away from me, due to the nature of the book. Although, I am convinced this was a literary technique used to emphasise the changing nature of life and how people come in and out of it: but I digress.

An excellent, excellent book and I would highly recommend- full of action and new interesting ideas and plots, a definite to read.