A Pound of Flesh
Author: Sophie JacksonSeries: A Pound of Flesh, #1
Published: 9 June 2015 by Headline Eternal
Genres: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Format: Kindle ebook
Source: Purchased
Links: Goodreads
Synopsis:
Wes Carter: Dangerous, brooding and behind bars, Carter's emotional scars are as permanent as the ink on his skin.
Kat Lane: Vibrant and gutsy, Kat chooses to become a prison tutor in tribute to her father whose murder haunts her.
Although worlds apart, when their eyes meet, Carter and Kat's searing attraction is instant.
As teacher and student, any relationship is against every rule.
But although their love is forbidden, it won't be denied...
Rating:
Review and Discussion:
Reading this book was a beautiful, nostalgic experience.
Beautiful in its story; the plot and the characters were wonderfully explored and developed to tell a heartwarming story of love, individual strength and acceptance of one another's differences.
And nostalgic in that it reminded me of my days reading and writing on Wattpad; the structure, the style and the development of this story was a strong reminder of my own writing style on Wattpad, as well as the style of other books I would read on the site. In this way, it made the story feel all the more real – I felt like I knew Sophie Jackson, her hours behind the keyboard to write her story, her thought processes throughout each chapter, and the agony of putting such a story together. It felt like a real story written by a real person, and I loved that I got this sense of connection with the author when reading her book.
Another great thing about A Pound of Flesh was that it was, undeniably, an entertaining read. It was dramatic, exaggerated at many times, a little ridiculous at some points too, but it all added together to form a story that was so incredibly entertaining that I didn't want to put it down. The fact that it starts off in a prison – very much so appealing to my Orange is the New Black obsession (which, admittedly, I have neglected this week because I was obsessed with reading this book) – then moves onto the sticky situation of a student/teacher relationship, and then the family dramas behind closed doors, and then the big finale and happy ending, all together gave this story substance, diversity, and a huge A+ for its entertainment factor.
As you might imagine, however, all of this crammed into one book did make it excessively long, and at some points it felt like it should have been split into two separate books, perhaps more. Some scenes felt like they were unnecessarily drawn out, or unnecessary to the plot in general, and this sometimes became tiring to read. And also, sometimes drama was made for the sake of constructing a new plot device; this was most prominent towards the end in some of Carter's actions that were not justified at all. I struggled to find them believable, and it was clear they were weakly justified to simply add to the plot/drama. Perhaps if they had been developed a little differently, it would have been more believable.
But don't let that sway your opinion of this book – oh no! In fact, you'll find the cheese in this book is so goshdarn delicious that you don't care how much the author throws in. I found myself craving all the little additions of drama and cheesy character interactions. It was probably the biggest contributor to the entertainment factor.
In my view, this book it not to be taken seriously. If you do, you'll DNF it at the earliest opportunity. You will disagree with so much of this book (I, for example, couldn't stand the romanticisation of Carter's smoking, hated some casual sexist remarks made by characters, and how every character held a lexicon of character traits that they would display depending on the mood of the chapter), but if you take it with a grain of salt, you will be thoroughly entertained.
And on a personal note, I loved that our main character was a teacher with a teaching philosophy that I could connect with myself (minus the whole teacher/student relationship thing, of course!). As a preservice teacher, I am currently in the situation of developing my own teacher identity and teaching philosophy, and I found that Kat's own practice reflected much of what I want to be able to achieve in my own career. It was great to see insight into where I could take my teaching career in the future, and having this an aspect of Kat's character made me feel instantly connected to her.
So all in all, I absolutely loved this book, and I would recommend it to anyone keen on new adult novels, or those intrigued by the idea of a well-to-do teacher falling for her prisoner student. There's a lot that this book offers for readers, and I hope you can find something to love just as I did.
Beautiful in its story; the plot and the characters were wonderfully explored and developed to tell a heartwarming story of love, individual strength and acceptance of one another's differences.
And nostalgic in that it reminded me of my days reading and writing on Wattpad; the structure, the style and the development of this story was a strong reminder of my own writing style on Wattpad, as well as the style of other books I would read on the site. In this way, it made the story feel all the more real – I felt like I knew Sophie Jackson, her hours behind the keyboard to write her story, her thought processes throughout each chapter, and the agony of putting such a story together. It felt like a real story written by a real person, and I loved that I got this sense of connection with the author when reading her book.
 |
| U. S. Edition, published by Gallery Books |
Another great thing about A Pound of Flesh was that it was, undeniably, an entertaining read. It was dramatic, exaggerated at many times, a little ridiculous at some points too, but it all added together to form a story that was so incredibly entertaining that I didn't want to put it down. The fact that it starts off in a prison – very much so appealing to my Orange is the New Black obsession (which, admittedly, I have neglected this week because I was obsessed with reading this book) – then moves onto the sticky situation of a student/teacher relationship, and then the family dramas behind closed doors, and then the big finale and happy ending, all together gave this story substance, diversity, and a huge A+ for its entertainment factor.
As you might imagine, however, all of this crammed into one book did make it excessively long, and at some points it felt like it should have been split into two separate books, perhaps more. Some scenes felt like they were unnecessarily drawn out, or unnecessary to the plot in general, and this sometimes became tiring to read. And also, sometimes drama was made for the sake of constructing a new plot device; this was most prominent towards the end in some of Carter's actions that were not justified at all. I struggled to find them believable, and it was clear they were weakly justified to simply add to the plot/drama. Perhaps if they had been developed a little differently, it would have been more believable.
But don't let that sway your opinion of this book – oh no! In fact, you'll find the cheese in this book is so goshdarn delicious that you don't care how much the author throws in. I found myself craving all the little additions of drama and cheesy character interactions. It was probably the biggest contributor to the entertainment factor.
In my view, this book it not to be taken seriously. If you do, you'll DNF it at the earliest opportunity. You will disagree with so much of this book (I, for example, couldn't stand the romanticisation of Carter's smoking, hated some casual sexist remarks made by characters, and how every character held a lexicon of character traits that they would display depending on the mood of the chapter), but if you take it with a grain of salt, you will be thoroughly entertained.
And on a personal note, I loved that our main character was a teacher with a teaching philosophy that I could connect with myself (minus the whole teacher/student relationship thing, of course!). As a preservice teacher, I am currently in the situation of developing my own teacher identity and teaching philosophy, and I found that Kat's own practice reflected much of what I want to be able to achieve in my own career. It was great to see insight into where I could take my teaching career in the future, and having this an aspect of Kat's character made me feel instantly connected to her.
So all in all, I absolutely loved this book, and I would recommend it to anyone keen on new adult novels, or those intrigued by the idea of a well-to-do teacher falling for her prisoner student. There's a lot that this book offers for readers, and I hope you can find something to love just as I did.
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