Book Review: Evelina 2 We All Die Alone by Tim Pearsall

For day 3 of my blog challenge, a book review. 

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Evelina 2 is much like Evelina 1. If you have not read my review of Evelina 1, you can check it out here. It’s not the same in the sense that it’s repetitive, but in the sense that it’s written in the same style. There are the same flashes into the characters’ lives and the various different storylines. Basically we see bits of what is happening at a time, as the story is always jumping to other characters. But rather than being disjointed it works quite well, and the flow in the story is good. Also, as the flashes are short, it allows for each story to be continued while keeping the other stories in mind. What I mean is jumping around allows each story to be present and told simultaneously, rather than having long stretches between the storylines.

In Evelina 1 we were left with Cairo and Eve going abroad together. I find Eve to be a complicated character. On the one hand she’s always murdering people, but she has to do it to survive. And then she seems to be genuinely upset about having neglected her daughter, but she seems to move on quite quickly from feelings of emotion. Then sometimes she’ll kill just for the fun of it, and other times she’ll kill with intent where she didn’t really have to. I like the character of Eve, but I do wonder how things will end with her in the next book.

We meet Cairo’s father in Evelina 2, which I thought was an interesting turn of events. Her father was also not who I thought he was, which was intriguing. Cairo really comes into play more in this book, than the first. She’s an odd and naïve girl, but she’s more capable than one would think. I like that she seems to be mostly happy in this novel. Compared to the other characters a dose of happiness is needed.

Susan’s transformation in this novel was what I was most surprised with. I didn’t expect her to change so much. But looking back at the first novel there were definitely signs there. She basically has one thing on her mind in this novel. Revenge. I didn’t much like how she changed. She was a real bitch at times in this novel. But her character definitely adds to the story and makes it better. It will be interesting to see how things go for her in the third book, and for all the other characters. I won’t tell you anything about the ending, but it does end pretty sharply.

Overall I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to people who enjoyed Evelina 1, or who enjoy novels that feature pain and torment, revenge, and a dose of optimism.