Customer Reviews

The Truth About Delilah Blue.

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of those books you can't put down. A great read. Exquisitely written. Well developed, unique characters and Cohen charms you with her tight, descriptive prose. I found myself falling in love with the actual words, and structure of the book as much as the story itself.

Beautiful, captivating, intoxicating...truly an engaging story with characters I want to know. Delilah, Kieran, Victor, Elisabeth, Litchy and Adam are an incredible balance of light and shadow that give depth and reality to this work of fiction that is rarely seen. This is a stunning piece of work.

The Truth About Delilah Blue is, on the surface, a story about a young wanna-be art student who is willing to go to nearly any lengths to get the art degree she desires while she juggles the responsibilities of caring for her ailing father and the shock of dealing with the truth about how they came to be on their own. As the reader dives into this perfectly sculpted story the line between right and wrong gets blurred and just as in 'real life' no one in Delilah's world is entirely good or entirely bad.

It takes little more than the first few pages to fall in love with Delilah, her life and her author. So before you head out to the lake, board a plane or sink into your comfy couch be sure to pick up this fantastic read...you won't be sorry!

If you're a regular reader, you may remember me raving about Tish Cohen's book Inside Out Girl. I was thrilled to see she had a new release The Truth About Deliah Blue - and yes I will be raving again!

Delilah Blue moved with her father Victor from Toronto to Los Angeles when she was eight. She has always believed that her mother abandoned her. Victor has always been overprotective, sheltering 'Lila' from anything or anyone he perceives as a possible danger or threat. As a result Lila has become a bit insular. She has always loved art, as did her mother. For financial reasons, she is unable to attend college. She boldly decides to step out of her comfort zone and do nude figure modeling so she can 'attend' the classes.

Victor is not behaving like himself lately though - he seems to be forgetting things, though he struggles valiantly to hang on to his normal routines. He is only 53. In the midst of this....Delilah's mother appears - along with her young daughter Kieran. She tells a very different story than Victor's. Delilah doesn't know who or what to believe.

Wow. Cohen's forté is character development. Victor's struggle to adhere to his regular routine, picking just the right tie, remembering that a special client likes a certain type of donut, but forgetting salient details was heartbreaking. He knows that something is wrong, but doesn't acknowledge the elephant. Flashbacks to the past are part of the memories Victor hangs on to and slowly but surely we learn how father and daughter came to be in L.A. Lila's struggle to step outside of the invisible fences that surround her will have you silently urging her forward. Lila's mother Elisabeth evoked strong feelings in this reader the more we got to know her. Kieran is a moving character as well - having lived with the loss and her mother's memories of Delilah her entire life.

Cohen explores every character's expectation of what is right and what shoud be done. Not all were what I expected, which I appreciated. A great page turner that I truly enjoyed.

Fans of Lori Lansens and Jodi Picoult would enjoy this book.

I enjoyed The Truth About Delilah Blue. I loved the thought provoking plot, the quirky characters and Cohen's attention to detail, even though I didn't become entirely absorbed into the characters as much as I would have liked.

The characters in this novel were so skilfully drawn - which I distinctly remembered from Townhouse - that I found each one interesting, quirky and flawed, and they came across as so human that I found myself wondering what I would do in each one's shoes the entire way through the novel. The situation is not portrayed as good or evil or black or white. There's a grey area which Cohen deftly flirts along, and I found this the most interesting aspect of the novel. I was not quick to judge her parents, although I did want to slap them both frequently.

Cohen's prose is descriptive yet unobtrusive and I loved the coyote and art descriptions, finding them unique and interesting and Kieran's character had me wanting to wrap my arms around her and take her to the park to play. Interesting that my favourite characters in the two books I've read of Tish Cohen's were the quirky young girls in each!

I did feel detached slightly from the main character and while I chuckled and cringed at times, I didn't cry. I did want to smack her parents a few times though. I also wasn't sure about the neat and tidy ending, even though everything didn't quite turn out as I thought it might.

The flashbacks didn't interrupt as much as I sometimes find they do. I thought they were well timed, although knowing what was happening before the characters figured it out lessened some of the suspense for me.

If you're looking for a novel with a bit more substance than lighter chick lit and want something that will make you think, pick up The Truth About Delilah Blue.