Splintered Light by Cate Sampson - Revision history

Sue at 16:34, 25 August 2020

2020-08-25T16:34:21Z

Jill at 09:29, 17 March 2018

2018-03-17T09:29:51Z

Sue at 16:29, 23 November 2014

2014-11-23T16:29:03Z

Sue at 16:28, 23 November 2014

2014-11-23T16:28:44Z

Jill at 10:59, 2 September 2014

2014-09-02T10:59:01Z

Jill at 09:25, 2 September 2014

2014-09-02T09:25:15Z

Jill at 09:24, 2 September 2014

2014-09-02T09:24:36Z

Jill: Created page with " {{infobox |title=Splintered Light |sort= |author=Cate Sampson |reviewer=Jill Murphy |genre=Teebs |summary=Fab thriller in which an old murder sets three teens on a collision ..."

2014-09-02T09:24:15Z

Created page with " {{infobox |title=Splintered Light |sort= |author=Cate Sampson |reviewer=Jill Murphy |genre=Teebs |summary=Fab thriller in which an old murder sets three teens on a collision ..."

New review

{{infobox
|title=Splintered Light
|sort=
|author=Cate Sampson
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Teebs
|summary=Fab thriller in which an old murder sets three teens on a collision course. Who is responsible for the death of Charlie's mother and will the whole truth ever come out? Tense, dark drama with characters to care about. Great stuff.
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=320
|publisher=Simon & Schuster
|website=http://www.catesampson.com/
|date=August 2015
|isbn=1471115836
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471115836</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>B00FU7V6FQ</amazonus>
|video=
}}

When she was just a child, Leah's face was horribly scarred in an attack in which her mother and another woman died. And it's all brought horribly back when the man convicted is released years later after new evidence has emerged. Charlie's father is that man. And Charlie wants more than anything to reunite with his exonerated father and help him get revenge on the people who falsely accused him. Then there's Linden, newly released from a young offenders institute, whose brother Victor has an inexplicable obsession with this years-old crime. All three teenagers are defined by a single calamity. But what really happened?

Ooh! ''Splintered Light'' is super! I really enjoyed [[Carnaby by Cate SampsonCarnaby]], Cate Sampson's first crime thriller for the YA market and I did wonder if she could produce a second story, aloBng the same lines, that was as good but avoided being a repetition. And I'm sorry that I doubted. ''Splintered Light'' has a great many similarities with ''Carnaby'' but it's really not like reading the same book all over again. Not at all. There is the same, page-turning, intricate plot. There is the same big-hearted concentration on characters struggling with the odds that are stacked against them. There's still a crime to be solved. But this is a fresh story, where the unseen connections are the pivots for the plot, while in ''Carnaby'' we thought about an unreliable narrator.

We can guess whodunnit fairly early on. But to understand the hows and whys takes longer. As Sampson gradually reveals the connections and relationships between her characters and the events, we build up the big picture. It's sad and seedy and violent but it isn't entirely hopeless. Chunks of (splintered) light shine through the bleakness - the blossoming of adolescent love, the kindness of a kickboxing instructor, the chance of a job and some self respect.

I loved all three of the main characters. Leah is spiky and bolshy and determined and - hooray! - make-up and fashion-free. Linden will break your heart as he tries to break free from a life of petty crime despite all the obstacles. And poor Charlie too, as he struggles with dyslexia and a father who couldn't care less about him, while failing to recognise the love and offers of help he actually does have in his life.

Honestly. It's great stuff, ''Splintered Light''. It doesn't just work as a crime thriller; it works in its wider themes too - family loyalty, grief, growing up, moving on. This story comes highly recommended by me. Hurry up and write another, Cate Sampson!

If you haven't read [[Carnaby by Cate SampsonCarnaby]] yet, then you should. I think you might also enjoy [[Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks]].

{{amazontext|amazon=1471115836}}

{{commenthead}}

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 Ooh! ''Splintered Light'' is super! I really enjoyed [[Carnaby by Cate Sampson|Carnaby]], Cate Sampson's first crime thriller for the YA market and I did wonder if she could produce a second story, along the same lines, that was as good but avoided being a repetition. And I'm sorry that I doubted. ''Splintered Light'' has a great many similarities with ''Carnaby'' but it's really not like reading the same book all over again. Not at all. There is the same, page-turning, intricate plot. There is the same big-hearted concentration on characters struggling with the odds that are stacked against them. There's still a crime to be solved. But this is a fresh story, where the unseen connections are the pivots for the plot, while in ''Carnaby'' we thought about an unreliable narrator.
-We can guess whodunnit fairly early on. But to understand the hows and whys takes longer. As Sampson gradually reveals the connections and relationships between her characters and the events, we build up the big picture. It's sad and seedy and violent but it isn't entirely hopeless. Chunks of (splintered) light shine through the bleakness - the blossoming of adolescent love, the kindness of a kickboxing instructor, the chance of a job and some self respect.
+We can guess whodunnit fairly early on. But to understand the hows and whys takes longer. As Sampson gradually reveals the connections and relationships between her characters and the events, we build up the big picture. It's sad and seedy and violent but it isn't entirely hopeless. Chunks of (splintered) light shine through the bleakness - the blossoming of adolescent love, the kindness of a kickboxing instructor, the chance of a job and some self-respect.
 I loved all three of the main characters. Leah is spiky and bolshy and determined and - hooray! - make-up and fashion-free. Linden will break your heart as he tries to break free from a life of petty crime despite all the obstacles. And poor Charlie too, as he struggles with dyslexia and a father who couldn't care less about him, while failing to recognise the love and offers of help he actually does have in his life.
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 Honestly. It's great stuff, ''Splintered Light''. It doesn't just work as a crime thriller; it works in its wider themes too - family loyalty, grief, growing up, moving on. This story comes highly recommended by me. Hurry up and write another, Cate Sampson!
-If you haven't read [[Carnaby by Cate Sampson|Carnaby]] yet, then you should. I think you might also enjoy [[Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks]].
+If you haven't read [[Carnaby by Cate Sampson|Carnaby]] yet, then you should. I think you might also enjoy [[Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks]].  You might like to try [[Empty Coffin: Envy by Gregg Olsen]], but '' Splintered Light'' is decidedly the better book.
 {{amazontext|amazon=1471115836}}

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 When she was just a child, Leah's face was horribly scarred in an attack in which her mother and another woman died. And it's all brought horribly back when the man convicted is released years later after new evidence has emerged. Charlie's father is that man. And Charlie wants more than anything to reunite with his exonerated father and help him get revenge on the people who falsely accused him. Then there's Linden, newly released from a young offenders institute, whose brother Victor has an inexplicable obsession with this years-old crime. All three teenagers are defined by a single calamity. But what really happened?
-Ooh! ''Splintered Light'' is super! I really enjoyed [[Carnaby by Cate Sampson|Carnaby]], Cate Sampson's first crime thriller for the YA market and I did wonder if she could produce a second story, aloBng the same lines, that was as good but avoided being a repetition. And I'm sorry that I doubted. ''Splintered Light'' has a great many similarities with ''Carnaby'' but it's really not like reading the same book all over again. Not at all. There is the same, page-turning, intricate plot. There is the same big-hearted concentration on characters struggling with the odds that are stacked against them. There's still a crime to be solved. But this is a fresh story, where the unseen connections are the pivots for the plot, while in ''Carnaby'' we thought about an unreliable narrator.
+Ooh! ''Splintered Light'' is super! I really enjoyed [[Carnaby by Cate Sampson|Carnaby]], Cate Sampson's first crime thriller for the YA market and I did wonder if she could produce a second story, along the same lines, that was as good but avoided being a repetition. And I'm sorry that I doubted. ''Splintered Light'' has a great many similarities with ''Carnaby'' but it's really not like reading the same book all over again. Not at all. There is the same, page-turning, intricate plot. There is the same big-hearted concentration on characters struggling with the odds that are stacked against them. There's still a crime to be solved. But this is a fresh story, where the unseen connections are the pivots for the plot, while in ''Carnaby'' we thought about an unreliable narrator.
 We can guess whodunnit fairly early on. But to understand the hows and whys takes longer. As Sampson gradually reveals the connections and relationships between her characters and the events, we build up the big picture. It's sad and seedy and violent but it isn't entirely hopeless. Chunks of (splintered) light shine through the bleakness - the blossoming of adolescent love, the kindness of a kickboxing instructor, the chance of a job and some self respect.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{infobox
+{{infobox2
 |title=Splintered Light
 |author=Cate Sampson
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 |date=August 2014
 |isbn=1471115836
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471115836</amazonuk>
+|aznuk=1471115836
-|amazonus=<amazonus>B00FU7V6FQ</amazonus>
+|aznus=B00FU7V6FQ
 |video=
 }}

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 |publisher=Simon & Schuster
 |website=http://www.catesampson.com/
-|date=August 2015
+|date=August 2014
 |isbn=1471115836
 |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1471115836</amazonuk>

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 |author=Cate Sampson
 |reviewer=Jill Murphy
-|genre=Teebs
+|genre=Teens
 |summary=Fab thriller in which an old murder sets three teens on a collision course. Who is responsible for the death of Charlie's mother and will the whole truth ever come out? Tense, dark drama with characters to care about. Great stuff.
 |rating=5
@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 Honestly. It's great stuff, ''Splintered Light''. It doesn't just work as a crime thriller; it works in its wider themes too - family loyalty, grief, growing up, moving on. This story comes highly recommended by me. Hurry up and write another, Cate Sampson!
-If you haven't read [[Carnaby by Cate SampsonCarnaby]] yet, then you should. I think you might also enjoy [[Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks]].
+If you haven't read [[Carnaby by Cate Sampson|Carnaby]] yet, then you should. I think you might also enjoy [[Black Rabbit Summer by Kevin Brooks]].
 {{amazontext|amazon=1471115836}}
 {{commenthead}}