Pale

by Chris Wooding

Paperback, 72 pages

Expected publication: September 10th 2012

Publisher: Stoke Books

*eCopy received from netgalley.

Synopsis via Goodreads:

The Lazarus Serum can bring you back from the dead. Only thing is, it turns you into a Pale. Jed can't imagine anything worse, but then the choice is taken out of his hands...

~My Review~

First of all, I had no idea this author wrote so many novels. That's cool. And the genres in which he writes in are some of my favorite so that's a plus as well.

Now, with that aside, let's talk about the awesomeness of this great but short lived story.

Pale was interesting from beginning to end, no matter how quick. I know I'm stressing on its lightness but that's only because it was so entertaining that it should have gone on longer. I loved the premise on which the story's built. Wooding wasn't just describing a world where people "returned" from the dead, but he also detailed how they were treated, not as people, but as irrelevant and unwanted in society. There's definitely the aspect of bullying; in fact, the main character, Jed, enabled and participated in bullying along with his friends. Funny how the tables turn on him. I believe the appropriate verbage is "KARMA."

Jed had a lot going for him. He came from a well-off kind of family, and he had a blossoming relationship with Sadie, his girlfriend. It was all good up till one terrible moment took everything away from him. Jed is brought back into a form he's dreaded for so long. "...I'd rather die" was his final remark before his dramatic return.

After which, everyone he thought loved and cared about him changed. He was no longer accepted within his family, and his friends turned their backs on him. Even his girlfriend, bitch, the one who had something to do with his situation, was too ashamed to be seen with him. Indeed, everything was going downhill until Jed started connecting with the Pales and learning more about their group.

His new found friendship will change his views on a lot of things, and suddenly Jed becomes more understandable, tolerable to the people he formerly loathed.

This is a story that I believed was dystopian/romance focused but once I got into it that completely faded. Again, my only disappointment is how short it was because I truly enjoyed it. My question is, will there be a spin-off or some sort of continuation? Never mind, do not hesitate. Be sure to get a copy on release day!

About the Author

Chris Wooding grew up in a small town in Leicestershire, where not much of anything happened. So he started to write novels. He was sixteen when he completed his first. He had an agent by eighteen. By nineteen he had signed his first book deal. When he left university he began to write full-time, and he has been doing it professionally all his adult life.

Now thirty-two, Chris has written sixteen books, which have been translated into twenty languages, won various awards and been published around the world. He writes for film and television, and has several projects in development.

Chris has travelled extensively round the world, having backpacked all over Europe and North America, Scandinavia, South East Asia, Japan and South Africa. He also lived in Madrid for a time. When he wasn’t travelling on his own, he spent his twenties touring with bands and seeing the UK and Europe from the back of a van.

He also learned not so long ago that his family tree can be traced back to John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, which has no bearing on him whatsoever but it’s kind of interesting anyway.

Chris lives in London.