C.J. Tudor is ‘killing’ it with this debut book! (See what I did there… haha)
For those of us that get the Subscription Box, Book of the Month, we occasionally are able to get early access to a new novel. That was the case with ‘The Chalk Man’! Reading the description made me think of campy, 80’s thrillers, which I’m a HUGE fan of hahahaha 😀 (Stranger Things anyone?)
The Chalk Man did release this month though (Jan 2018)~ so it’s now available to everyone! (yay!)
The Chalk Man follows the story of Eddie and his friends back in the 80s. Their group communicates through chalk stick figures~ until one day the stick figures lead them to a murder. *insert dramatic music*. The book does also take place in 2016 buuuuuut that’s all I’ll say~~~
“He’s dead.’ ‘Dead?’ Funny how people always repeat that word, even though they know they’ve heard it correctly. A kind of denial by delay.” ― C.J. Tudor, The Chalk Man
I have no idea where to begin on this one and I desperately don’t want to spoil anything!! You know when you have a book….that you think of when you have to stop reading. That you think of first thing when you wake up? That even after finishing you still have questions?
C.J. Tudor did that type of book.
I’m not a huge mystery or thriller reader and I still adored this book. I’m sure other’s will know authors to compare it to BUT for just 280 pages, this is a SOLID read. (cough Stephen King cough) ….. (No hate to S. King, just… those are LONG books hahaha)
The writing! C.J. Tudor’s language brought me in. The author’s descriptions kept me there and the dialogue cut right into me as a reader. I was all in folks. All in and biting my nails and jaw dropping by the end of the book. The beginning of the book took no prisoners, it started with ballsy descriptions and gore.
Which brings me to another point, if you have an aversion to horror or gore or non consensual/rape sexual implications, maybe steer clear on this one. I didn’t find the actual deaths too graphic but there are other items in here that I can see as issues for some. I would not say this is something a minor should read due to some sexual situations.
“Thin, I think, that fabric between realities. Maybe minds aren’t lost. Maybe they just slip through and find a different place to wander.”
― C.J. Tudor, The Chalk Man
I would hands down recommend this book to almost anyone. I WILL be recommending this to a majority of my friends. If your library has it… go get it. I will wave this book around for people to read. haha
C.J. Tudor is a new author and I hope she gets as much support as we can give – good authors are getting harder to find. <3
- Overall Rating: 3.5 Stars
- Plot: 4 Stars
- Character Development: 4 stars
- Dialogue: 4 Stars
- Writing: 4 Stars
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and if you pick it up, I hope you do too! Let me know your thoughts or guesses on some outstanding questions! hahaha
Happy reading! (Or scary reading… depends I guess…. haha)
#sleepwiththelightson
~Ash
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