Ratings3
Average rating3.5
An amnesiac writer's life of lies and false memories reaches a breaking point in this stunning English-language debut from an award-winning Croatian author. As a novelist, Matija makes things up for a living. Not yet thirty, he's written two well-received books. It's his third that is as big a failure as his private life. Unable to confine his fabrications to fiction, he's been abandoned by his girlfriend over his lies. But all Matija has is invention. Especially when it comes to his childhood and the death of his father. Whatever happened to Matija as a young boy, he can't remember. He feels frightened, angry, and responsible... Now, after years of burying and reinventing his past, Matija must confront it. Longing for connection, he might even win back the love of his life. But discovering the profound fears he has suppressed has its risks. Finally seeing the real world he emerged from could upend it all over again.
Reviews with the most likes.
A tense, mysterius, unforgiving and on the moments humerus novel set in small region in the tense, mysterius, unforgiving and on the moments humerus Balkans.
It is a thriller and a book about life small remote village among small folk and their small lives. The "thriller" side (I do not like that term and I do not know if I am using it corectly but my lack of vocabulary and laziness are here so it will do) is interesting and it keeps the plot going and I like the interwined realistic perspective and childlike naive fantasy that softens (or worsens) some grussome scenes.
Personally I read far too many books covering the theme of growing up in rural parts of South-Eastern Europe, and yes I am from those parts (if my grammar did not uncover that yet) so for me it felt a bit repetitive but I think that outsider may find a lot of interesting here.
Cheers.