Review: Dusk by Eve Edwards

A love worth fighting for.

When Helen, a young hard-working nurse, meets aristocratic artist Sebastian, she doesn't expect to even like him, let alone fall in love. But against the troubled backdrop of wartime London, an unlikely but intense romance blossoms. And even the bloody trenches of the Somme, where they are both posted, cannot diminish their feelings for each other.

But Helen is concealing a secret and when a terrible crime is committed there are devastating consequences for them both.

When lives are being lost, can true love survive?

When I was younger I used to read a lot of war books. You may know the ones, often set in London with a young girl on the brink of adulthood living her life throughout the war. They may have been samey but I really enjoyed them as a young teenager. However, after a year so of devouring all of the ones my neighbour and Nan gave me, I found young adult books and I enjoyed them even more so the wartime books were totally forgotten. Then I got the email about this book and I asked for it even without knowing what it was about because it was by Eve Edwards who has written some of my favorite historical books ever and (under her pen name Julia Golding) some of my favorite fantasy books. Then I saw that it wa war... and YA and I was so unbelievably happy.

This book blew me away completely, it was everything that I hoped it would be and more. This is a book that is heartbreaking as much as romantic, a book that will tug at your heartstrings and make you think about it for long after you close the last page. A book about near misses between two people that live for eachother. Helen may not have been the most interesting character to follow, but she was true to life and her story was interesting, especially nearer the end. Seb had a for more gripping stiry for the most part, and the harrowing description of life in the trenches makes me wonder how Eve Edwards wrote it so descriptively and honestly. The amount of research that must have gone into making this book so authentic is amazing, I'm always astonished by the effort that historical authors go through.

The only fault I can find in this is that the non-linear time scale is a bit distracting and off-putting at times. I had to read back a couple of times to find out if I was in the past or present, this was a little bit annoying for me and I would liked the past to have been in a different font or something... still it wasn't a MASSIVE deal.

Overall, Dusk was a gripping story that seemed so realistic and authentic. My heart broke at many places and I was gripped by Helen and Seb from page one... and my mother totally agreed!

Book released 6th June 2013 by Penguin

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review