Water - Geoff Havel

This was a book that had sat on my shelf for years before I finally picked it up to read it, and when I finally did I wish I had have read it earlier.
Not because it was a good book, but because it might not have been such a chore to read in the days before I had read much more than Twilight and Roald Dahl.

Tully had always lived my her father's strict rules: 'stay away from strangers', 'don't stay home alone' and 'never, ever go in the water' until a mysterious stranger arrives at her door and Tully discovers the secrets her father has been keeping from her. The novel promises to be a "gripping, heart-stopping thriller".

Geoff Havel's writing, in short is simplistic and dull. Particularly during the first few chapters (though it was scattered throughout) there was an overload of cliché imagery, which didn't flow with the rest of the work. Tully's mental voice was very repetitive, she only ever seemed to think the same things from chapter to chapter: "where is dad?" "why did he say that?" "what does bill want?" "it's not fair?" or some variation, also phrasing stupid questions "What did dad mean when he said I wouldn't drown?" She also frequently refreshed the readers memory about past events that happened as few as a few pages ago. She was not a particularly enjoyable character to read through.

The novel was very predictable and flat, lacking any plot twists or startling moments, which are generally required of "thrilling novels". The only part of the novel that even slightly resembled suspense was not until near the very end of the book (excluding Tully's 'great reveal', which was blatantly obvious, given the title and her father's 'rules') when Jack stifled "a gasp of horror" *end scene*.

Overall this was not a particularly enjoyable novel and the only reason I reached that last page was because I wanted to judge it fairly in this review. Premise wise it is not a horrible idea, but in this case it simply did not work. It's only saving grace is that it is targeted at a much younger age group than I (10-12), who may be more appreciative of the novel. It only get's 1/5, and probably wouldn't recommend this book to anyone over the age of, say, eight (though I have heard that it is required reading for some ESL students - I'm sorry).

My copy is going to the local book drive (for disadvantaged children) in hopes that someone will find joy within it's pages.