Review: Chopsticks - Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral

Glory is a piano prodigy. After her mother died, she retreated into her music. Her father raised her with the goal of playing sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall and across the globe. Brilliant and lonely, Glory is drawn to Frank, who moves in next door. She loses herself in his paintings and drawings, mix CDs and late-night IM conversations. Soon, Frank becomes bother her connection to the world - and her escape from reality.

Before long, Glory is unable to play anything but the song "Chopsticks"; F and G notes moving closer together, and farther apart.

Now, Glory has disappeared. But nothing is what it seems. And we must decide what is real, what is imagined, and what has been madness all along . . .

Visit the Chopsticks Novel website for more information

Review:
Chopsticks is a completely unique and unusual novel and one that I was fascinated by. This isn't your normal kind of book, in fact it's more like looking through someone's scrapbook - it is full of photos, ticket stubs, letters, postcards, newspaper clippings, paintings, sketches and much more. Individually these images would be interesting but arranged the way they are they give a wonderful insight into the life of musical prodigy Glory as she meets Frank and falls in love for the first time.

What is so clever about the book is the way everything you have read is twisted back on itself by the time you reach the end. I don't want to say much about the story because it is very open to interpretation - I borrowed the book from my friend and we both had very different opinions about what had really happened. I will say that as soon as I finished I started flicking though the book again trying to piece together the clues to work out what was real and what had been Glory's imagination and I am still left with unanswered questions. I know what I've chosen to believe but it's the kind of story that lets you come to your own conclusion.

Chopsticks is an easy read, I finished it in under an hour, but it is one that stays with you a lot longer as you try to figure things out. I love the way this novel was put together, the use of different types of images to tell the story is cleverly done and I would definitely be keen to read any other story the authors write in a similar style. After looking at the Chopsticks website I discovered that this is also available as an app that can be read on your iPhone / iPad and I love the idea of that. It includes links to videos, music & websites and I think it would be a real interactive reading experience. I'm tempted to buy the app just to see how it adds to the feel of the story. I don't read a lot of graphic novels and I have to admit I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy this book when I first picked it up so I'm pleased to be able to say how much fun it was. I'd definitely recommend giving this a try if you're looking for something a bit different.

Source: Borrowed from Kirsty at The Overflowing Library

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