Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass

Wildcard #9 ~ “A book whose author has fewer than 10 letters in their name.”

surrenderyoursons

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

My opinion in three sentences:

Having read the blurb, I thought I knew what I was in for but Sass managed to surprise – that’s not a complaint in any form, just an observation that the book took an unexpected direction. The characters were realistic and relatable, although admittedly a couple of the side-characters were easy to muddle up, and the plot kept the reader on their toes. For me, however, the pacing let it down, proving a little slow to get going and then almost unbelievably fast when it did – particularly for the romantic side-plot.

(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:

I’m a big fan of books that offer something different. This one not only presented a well-written and engaging tale on a premise that I hadn’t encountered before, but also drew on familiar elements from my usual and/or favourite reads. A great combination, if ever I heard of one!

A warning for the book:

If there’s one part I didn’t think this book nailed, it’s the pacing. The whole thing takes place in more or less one week, which ruined the plausibility of it for me. There wasn’t enough time for the read (or the protagonist) to really appreciate the scale and depth of what was going on at the camp, let alone to develop the romantic relationship that seemed to spring from nowhere. That all being said, it’s still a strong and engaging tale that’s well worth a read, just not the adrenaline-packed, heavy-yet-fluffy-yet-angsty tale it could have been.

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