Review – Chalk

Posted March 17, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of Chalk by Paul CornellChalk, Paul Cornell

Received to review via Netgalley; publication date 21st March 2017

I don’t quite know how to rate this, because it’s not much my thing. It’s a bit too close to horror, it’s so grim, and the teenage boy fixation with sex was, well, rather beyond my experience or anything I’m interested in. Bullying I know well, and Cornell captures it wonderfully — but I can’t say beautifully, because who could call that beautiful? The magic is weird and wondrous and I do enjoy the way it’s tied in with history and the landscape.

I was less interested or convinced by Angie’s pop music magic; it felt very thin indeed, almost just a way to give her more of a role in the story without it feeling organic. But the main character’s ambivalence to her, the people around him, the great big revenge that’s happened because he wanted it — that feels real.

I can’t say I enjoyed this, and I can’t say I’d read it again, but nor would I urge someone not to read it. It’s definitely powerful, and I had to read to the end, even though I found aspects of it distasteful (I suspect I was intended to).

Rating: 2/5

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4 responses to “Review – Chalk

  1. I think you’ve confirmed my decision not to explore this one – all the things you struggled with would bother me, and the things it does well aren’t exactly things you can love it for. I’ve got plenty of books to respect on my TBR so I think I’ll continue to sit this one out. Thank you.

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