Irish Promise (An Emerald Isle Romance, #2)

by Isabella Connor

[Leah]

It’s not just her growing love for Finn that leads Rachel to have doubts about her plans for revenge. Her resolution wavers almost immediately when she discovers that one of the gang, Daniel, is now the Parish Priest and prepared to go out of his way to welcome her and help her settle in. Her meeting with Mel is a different matter and, judging by the rumours it seems that Jay, now married to Mel, is as bad as he has ever been. But what has happened to the fourth bully, Spook? She just has to hope he will turn up at the reunion.

The book is full of secrets: we are party to some from the start, there are others which are fairly easy for us to work out (or guess) before the characters do, but there was one I didn’t see coming, even though the clues were there. It’s also full of subplots, each of which reveals a little more about the lives and characters of the bullies. While none are exonerated, it eventually becomes clear that some are more deserving of forgiveness than others, not just because of the role they played at the time, but also because of their attempts to atone for it since and their continuing remorse. This means that not only does the story race along, with something new happening on every page, but everyone important has their own conflicts and they therefore feel real. Jay was the only one of the major characters who I felt was a bit obvious, although even he has a backstory that explains – but does not excuse – his continuing nastiness.

There was therefore lots to like and it was enjoyable to read, but there were a couple of things that didn’t quite work for me. For example, how long it took for some of the secrets to come out, adult Jay’s stupidity in thinking he would get away with his behaviour, and the withholding of an identity for part of the Epilogue – it assumed we hadn’t got to know the characters well enough from what had gone before to be able to work it out, so I’m not sure if it demonstrates the writers having a lack of confidence in themselves or their readers. I also wonder if someone who hasn’t much experience of Irish Catholicism would understand why the final attack of the bullies had the consequences it did for the bullies and the town – even though it’s absolutely clear just how traumatic it was for Rachel and her family.

The issue of bullying is handled well in the novel: its slow and unpredictable effects on the life of a young person who just wants to fit in are chillingly described in the apparently artless diaries that Rachel re-reads when her resolution wavers, and the effects of their actions on (at least some of) the bullies themselves are central to the narrative. But it does all this without losing its sense of fun and so becomes a thought-provoking book that, in spite of its flaws, is thoroughly enjoyable to read.

Reviewed by CatherineThis review was originally posted on Girls Love To Read