As hard as I tried, I just could not get into or finish this book. I was really excited to read it but got disappointed quickly- it really takes a lot for me to not finish a book. ( )

What can I say about this story? I guess the best description is that it's the sad story of teenage friendship gone wrong in the most devastating way. How well can we really know a person? Annie convinces herself that her neighbor is in love with her. Annie...like the majority of the characters... live largely within their own heads. Following the death of a teenager, a reconstruction process is under way to work out exactly what happened. The search for the truth peels back so many layers that the reader finds themselves asking "is there a real person inside?" I believe the biggest problem I had with the book is that I just didn’t like Annie or feel much compassion for what she and the others were going through as a consequence of their own making. ( )

Cold Light by Jenn Ashworth is a psychological study of three teenage girls who have a history of jealousy, lies and perversion between them. These emotions eventually build into a tragedy. As events are slowly unveiled we learn the history of the friendship and how the secrets they held and the intensity of their relationship goes way beyond normal.

Told in a bleak, almost surreal manner, I had trouble getting into this book but eventually the hints the writer drops and the many questions that arose enticed me into the story. These are not likeable girls, they are mean, seem to have a sense of entitlement and no empathy to speak of. I can’t say I liked the story, but it certainly became one that was difficult to put down.

Cold Light seems to have left me with more questions than answers as I ponder the motivations of the characters. The story is told in flashbacks from 10 years in the future and in the end the strongest emotion I felt was one of sadness for the waste that their lives became by being shaped by guilt and shame. Not an easy or comfortable read but a memorable one. ( )

Jenn Ashworth writes books that are so different to anything else. Quirky characters, and always something that's not revealed right to the end.
This follows Lola and what has obviously been the tragic death of her friend Chloe. We don't discover how tragic, and the shadows Lola has lived with until the tenth anniversary of her death and the ground-breaking ceremony for her memorial.
The uncurling of a great tale. ( )

A dark and compelling portrayal of lives gone astray. Ashworth is a gifted writer. I was especially impressed by the way the plot unfolded. Just as we think we understand what is going on, something new is revealed. Recommended. ( )