Another quick book review from this weekend! I haven't been reading as much as I normally do, and once you read my posts later this week that'll be understandable. But I did finish this one this weekend so let's talk about it.
Beyond Coincidence- Jacquie Underdown
In 2008, 250 Australian and British soldiers are uncovered in a mass grave in Fromelles, France, lost since the Great War. One soldier, bearing wounds of war so deep it scarred his soul, cannot be laid to rest just yet.
When Lucy bumps into the achingly sad soldier during a trip to France, she doesn’t, at first glance, realise what he is – a ghost who desperately needs her help. Lucy can’t turn away from someone who needs her, even someone non-corporeal, and they travel back together to Australia in search of answers and, hopefully, some peace.
This chance meeting and unexplainable relationship sets into motion a chain-reaction of delicate coincidences that affect the intertwined lives of family, friends, and lovers in unexpected, beautiful ways.
I'll tell you upfront the reason I picked this book to review is I absolutely believe in reincarnation. I don't think we just die and go off into the ether of Heaven, I think we come back as something else, in some other time and basically, we're always being recycled to an extent. So when I read the description I knew I would be all in because it sounded interesting.
And it was. It starts with Lucy, fresh off a traumatic breakup easing her woes in France, literally running in a ghost of a soldier from the Great War. Freaked out, she obviously hauls ass out of the cemetery. Later on, she sees him again in a coffee shop and then in her CAR, which I would have peed my pants. I'm just going to throw that in here. But turns out, she's the only person who is able to see him and he is desperate for help. He needs to be identified so he can have a proper burial and go onto whatever is his next stop in the afterlife. A sentimental at heart, she agrees because what else would you do? The dead soldier looks pitiful. So Lucy sets to work trying to find figure out more about him. Fortunately, through the wonders of the Internet, she is able to track down his family tree and finds he only has a living grandson. A grandson who would need to willingly submit DNA to be tested against the remains in the grave.
Of course, at first sight he's not really agreeable since he's completely drunk. But given time, not only does he agree to the bizarre request, but Nate (the grandson) and Lucy end up kind of an item. But enter.... (dun dun dun) Lucy's loser ex-boyfriend who is hyped up meth and being a total asshole! Oh yes, he does something really quite awful in the book and it not only lays the groundwork for Lucy and Nate, but the twist at the end which brings about the details of a weird almost riddle like clue Freddy (the ghost) gives Lucy before he leaves.
It's a short book, it kept me going, and though a little unrefined in some areas, I did enjoy it. Loved the ending with Lucy and Nate, loved the ending with Freddy, and loved the very ending. Like the very last thing. Loved it.
You can check out the author's website HERE, or purchase the book through Amazon HERE.
2 comments:
An extra special thank you, Sara, for leaving this lovely review. I hope Beyond Coincidence was able to distract, if only momentarily, from your current situation. All the best for the future.
I'm glad you enjoyed this one! Thanks for being a part of the tour!
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