SOULMATE FOR SIN by Izzy van Swelm

SOULMATE FOR SIN by Izzy van Swelm

 

Pages: 182

Date: August 14, 2015

E-book

The blurb:

The effects of an attack on SIN, a twenty-nine year old University lecturer, reach out further into his future than SIN could ever imagine.

In a story, which seems doomed to start with an end, SIN learns about the forever kind of love, and how family is not just biological. 

‘Soul-Mate for SIN’ shows how twists of fate can take a loving, but ordinary family, from a small market town in England, and turn them into something extraordinary. 

My thoughts:

In my further quest to read books unlike anything I’ve read before, I stumbled on Soulmate for Sin. I didn’t know this was going to be a read filled with unexpected twists, surprising appearances and totally unforeseen outcomes but that’s exactly what I got. It caught me off guard as well because the author’s writing style is rather matter of fact even while describing the most astounding or shocking of scenes. As a result I’m not entirely sure how to review this book, but I’ll try. J

Let me start by saying that I loved the characters in this story. Sin, Gabe, Charlie, Snowy and Sally all captured my heart. I hurt for Sin and his parents after the attacks he endured at the hands of his brother Win and his friends. I admired the way the author dealt with the pressure this puts on a family and the tough battle they had on their hands not to have their unit completely torn apart.

I was also very impressed with the way Izzy van Swelm dealt with everything Sin has to deal with. His whole life is turned on its head as a result of the second assault. He finds himself without a job, unable to concentrate and with weakened limbs, facing an uphill battle to get his life back on track.

I really enjoyed the supernatural/futuristic twist in the middle and at the end of the story as well. It was a nice and completely unexpected turn of events and I’m delighted that the author made sure to extend her happy ending to that aspect of the story as well.

But, and I’ve got a feeling you saw this coming, I can’t help feeling this story could have been more. On one or two occasions I felt a bit short changed when we were only told about a character going through certain emotions rather than feeling them from that person’s perspective. I would have loved to have been inside Sally and Snowy’s heads as they try to keep the love they feel for both their sons balanced without short-changing or alienating either. I wanted to be inside Sin’s head as he struggles with his body’s apparent inability to act on his attraction for Gabe and I wanted to spend far more time looking at Gabe’s feelings as he’s faced with the mixed signals he’s getting from Sin. As it was we were told about these thoughts and feelings almost in passing and for me that was a shame. A slightly different approach might have turned a good read into a brilliant book.

Having said all that, I should add that the author’s imagination and her ability to introduce a supernatural twist to an otherwise contemporary story had me amazed. Should Izzy van Swelm ever decide to tell Charlie’s story I will most definitely read it, even if I do think I have his big secret figured out J