[Review] Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher

Annabel Pitcher
Ketchup Clouds
[YA contemporary]

You can buy it here:
Ketchup Clouds (Amazon hardcover)

FTC: I bought this myself.

Summary:
Secrets, romance, murder and lies: Zoe shares a terrible secret in a letter to a stranger on death row in this second novel from the author of the bestselling debut, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece.

Fifteen-year-old Zoe has a secret—a dark and terrible secret that she can't confess to anyone she knows. But then one day she hears of a criminal, Stuart Harris, locked up on death row in Texas. Like Zoe, Stuart is no stranger to secrets. Or lies. Or murder.

Full of heartache yet humour, Zoe tells her story in the only way she can—in letters to the man in prison in America. Armed with a pen, Zoe takes a deep breath, eats a jam sandwich, and begins her tale of love and betrayal.

My thoughts:
Sadly, this book fell flat for me. I fell in love with the cover and the blurb sounded like this would be an intriguing story, however, it just did not work for me. There is so much going on, from Zoe's letters to the deathrow inmate confessing she murdered a boy and her feelings of guilt to Zoe's family's problems, to Zoe's love problems and more family problems and secrets and illness. It was really overwhelming and I felt as if none of it was presented to the full extent.

While I usually enjoy letter-style narration, in this case it bothered me. I never got a feeling I could relate to or connect with any of the characters. The idea of writing a series of confessional letters to a deathrow inmate seemed so good, but for me, in the end, it did not work out simply because Zoe writes those letters on the premises that she committed a crime similar to that of the inmate, Mr. Harris, when the facts show something different. I understand that she feels guilty and has no one to talk to about her guilt and her feelings, but I read the book waiting for her crime to be revealed only to experience this letdown (it was not a crime committed or anywhere near a crime).

The two biggest letdowns for me were the actual "murder" and the epilogue, which in my opinion did not much for the book. It was set in another country, and while it was told from one of the main characters' POV, I still fail to see the reason behind this epilogue.

This being said, I think the story would probably appeal to many other readers. Taking into account my backstory - being a 30 year old mom and having studied a few semesters of law - I think this just was not a book for me. I kept waiting for the crime and I just do not see it, I went into this book expecting one thing and came out getting something completely different.

Rating:
2/5