Recently Read: The Ghosts of Heaven

Author: Marcus Sedgwick
Genre: Young Adult- (We've already established Sedgwick is impossible to label)
Status: Stand-Alone
Publication Date: 2015
Page Count: 359
Rating: 5/5

Also by Marcus Sedgwick:
Midwinterblood
Revolver
White Crow

This novel is made up of four stories that can be read in any order. Each story revolves around new characters, but the spiral is a repeating motif in each of the stories. I read the stories in the order they were placed in the book, but for future rereads I would love to mix up the order of the stories to make a new reading experience.  

If you have visited the blog before you will know that it is no secret that I love Sedgwick. Midwinterblood was the first novel of his that I read and I was blown away by it. I loved this novel just as much, if not a little more than Midwinterblood. This novel has all the elements in a Sedgwick novel that I love: suspense, a mastery over time, imagination, and slightly magical elements that you can't quite call magic but can't call reality.

I love how Sedgwick controls and masters time in his novels, and time progresses linearly throughout the stories without a time period ever being stated in any of the stories. The spiral plays a new role in each story, and takes on a new symbolic meaning, but the meanings are all connected. Each story builds on the last, and you see how fate and the universe has connected these four stories. As each story builds on one-another you begin to see an interesting progression of magic and science throughout history, which was a really interesting addition to the novel. 

Here's a quote from the novel I really love.

"It is enough to know that not to know is enough."

The last two stories in this novel really blew me away! I had to sit back and just say "Wow" after finishing the third story. The final story in the novel had me on the edge of my seat and threw quite a few surprises my way! The tone and style of this book reminded quite a bit of the Twilight Zone, so if you enjoy that show, I highly recommend checking out this novel, and Sedgwick's other works. This book left me with quite a few things to think about, and I keep thinking about how the form and connections between stories mirrors the way the universe connects random things and people in life. 

Here's the thoughts I managed to form on my Goodreads review after finishing it:

"This book is amazing! More thoughts to come, but if you ever want something to inspire thoughts that will keep you up days at a time because they are both terrifying and true, pick up a Sedgwick novel! We have no control over the Universe people! And Marcus Sedgwick does not want us to forget that."

If you haven't tried Sedgwick out yet, I highly recommend him! He has become one of my all-time favorite authors over the past two years, and I'm really eager to get to the rest of his works. Let me know what your favorite Sedgwick novel is, or what you thought about this book if you have read it!