Official Review: Closure by Tasche Laine
Posted: 17 Jun 2018, 07:48
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Closure" by Tasche Laine.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Closure by Tasche Laine is a book that falls into both the Other Fiction and Memoir genres. Written in the first-person perspective, through Tara’s point of view, this novel is based on a true story.
People say that you never forget your first love. While this is true, most people move on with their lives and view the experience as a pleasant memory. Occasionally, however, first love can have a major impact on a person’s life, influencing the choices they make for many years to come.
Closure follows the story of Tara and Trey, best friends and childhood sweethearts since the age of three. Tara and Trey have always felt they were destined to spend their lives together and, even as children, Trey would declare his intention to marry Tara. These two children are virtually inseparable until, one day, Trey’s parents get divorced and Trey must move away. During their last evening together, Tara and Trey share their first kiss. They are ten.
The next time Tara and Trey see each other they are fifteen. During this brief visit, it is evident that their mutual love and attraction remains. They share their second kiss. This time, Tara and Trey promise to stay in touch. What follows is the frequent exchange of letters between the two; letters sharing their most honest and personal thoughts and feelings. During this time, their love for each other continues to strengthen and grow. Despite the years that pass, Tara and Trey still believe they belong together. Life, however, seems determined to keep them apart. Every time it looks like a union may be possible, something happens to change the direction of their lives.
Closure tells about the obstacles this couple face, the choices they make and the impact these decisions have on their lives. This is not a love story; it is a story about real love and real life. It contains many themes including family, relationships and marriage as well as the complications and complexities of real love.
The first thing that drew my attention to this book was the cover. The picture spoke volumes to me and filled me with thoughts of innocence, serenity, trust and pure, unconditional love. I found it both simple and stunning. The second thing that sparked my interest was that the novel was based on a true story. I am particularly drawn to such books since I usually find the story easier to relate to.
This book, however, turned out to be very different from what I expected. Usually, novels based on true stories tend to either contain a significant, life-altering event or tell about a person showing great strength as they overcome some adversity. I did not feel this book offered either. Additionally, books that are part-memoir usually illicit quite strong feelings or emotions within me when I read them. Unfortunately, the only emotion I found myself frequently encountering during this read was frustration.
While I understand that the events that took place in the book were significant to the author, they failed to move me personally. Consequently, I had to keep reminding myself that this story was fact-based, especially since I was becoming increasingly upset with some of Tara’s choices. I also developed a dislike for Trey early in the book and, despite their mutual love for each other, I felt like they had different agendas. I am not sure if this is how it was meant to be portrayed or whether it was a result of the story being told from Tara’s point of view. I certainly received a much more detailed account of Tara’s life than Trey’s.
The telling of a story from only one person’s perspective, especially when it is based on real events, has the potential to become a biased account. I felt the author helped to minimise this by including the written correspondence from both parties over the years, first in the form of letters and then, later, via email. This was valuable as it enabled the reader to get some insight into what Trey was thinking and feeling over the years. It also showed the reader how Trey’s words had so much meaning for Tara that she remained infatuated with him, despite his obvious flaws. The only thing I would have like further clarified, since this novel was based on a true story, was whether these were real letters sent between the individuals involved (with just the relevant name changes for the novel), or whether the contents of the letters had been modified or even made up for the purpose of the book.
Even though the story did not live up to my personal expectations in terms of storyline, there were several areas of the author’s writing in which she showed great strength. Laine demonstrated her ability to provide strong character development. I particularly enjoyed seeing the protagonist grow as a person and start to show signs of maturity. I also think that, at times, the depth of character development contributed to my frustration with Tara. I found the more invested I became in Tara’s character, the more desperately I wanted her to make the right choices.
Laine also excelled at portraying youthful, first love, particularly that ‘blinkered’ view which can affect logical decision-making. When I first started reading this book I found I was constantly judging Tara’s actions. Eventually, I realised I was reading the story with the mindset of a mature person who has a wealth of life experience behind them. To truly appreciate the story, I had to stop and think back to my first relationship. When I did, some of the similarities made me cringe! Following this, I was able to truly appreciate the author’s abilities. She accurately portrayed the actions of someone making decisions with their heart rather than their head.
Overall, the style of writing used for this novel was easy to read and the story was presented in a chronological order. Included correspondence throughout the text was also easily identifiable. I did detect a few errors. These included missed spaces and letters, tense changes mid-sentence and, occasionally, the incorrect spelling of words, e.g. ‘waived’ instead of ‘waved’. At other times, commas could have been better placed to enhance the meaning of sentences.
In summary, this book was well-written and contained a variety of themes. While many of the themes were relatable, the decisions made were often very different from the ones I would have chosen. I did not find anything in this story that stood out or amazed me, however, there was minimal I could find fault with either.
I rated this book 3 out of 4 stars. The lack of any particularly memorable moments prevented me from awarding a full score. I would have considered taking a further half a star off for spelling and grammatical errors, however, this was not an option. I also felt the small number of errors made did not warrant the removal of a full star.
I would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading about complicated relationships or who can relate to the emotional turmoil experienced during the highs and lows of true love. Additionally, anyone who has continued to yearn for their first love long after it is over should be able to identify with some of the characters. Younger readers, particularly those going through their first break up or having difficulty moving on from their first love, may find some solace and wisdom in this book.
******
Closure
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Closure by Tasche Laine is a book that falls into both the Other Fiction and Memoir genres. Written in the first-person perspective, through Tara’s point of view, this novel is based on a true story.
People say that you never forget your first love. While this is true, most people move on with their lives and view the experience as a pleasant memory. Occasionally, however, first love can have a major impact on a person’s life, influencing the choices they make for many years to come.
Closure follows the story of Tara and Trey, best friends and childhood sweethearts since the age of three. Tara and Trey have always felt they were destined to spend their lives together and, even as children, Trey would declare his intention to marry Tara. These two children are virtually inseparable until, one day, Trey’s parents get divorced and Trey must move away. During their last evening together, Tara and Trey share their first kiss. They are ten.
The next time Tara and Trey see each other they are fifteen. During this brief visit, it is evident that their mutual love and attraction remains. They share their second kiss. This time, Tara and Trey promise to stay in touch. What follows is the frequent exchange of letters between the two; letters sharing their most honest and personal thoughts and feelings. During this time, their love for each other continues to strengthen and grow. Despite the years that pass, Tara and Trey still believe they belong together. Life, however, seems determined to keep them apart. Every time it looks like a union may be possible, something happens to change the direction of their lives.
Closure tells about the obstacles this couple face, the choices they make and the impact these decisions have on their lives. This is not a love story; it is a story about real love and real life. It contains many themes including family, relationships and marriage as well as the complications and complexities of real love.
The first thing that drew my attention to this book was the cover. The picture spoke volumes to me and filled me with thoughts of innocence, serenity, trust and pure, unconditional love. I found it both simple and stunning. The second thing that sparked my interest was that the novel was based on a true story. I am particularly drawn to such books since I usually find the story easier to relate to.
This book, however, turned out to be very different from what I expected. Usually, novels based on true stories tend to either contain a significant, life-altering event or tell about a person showing great strength as they overcome some adversity. I did not feel this book offered either. Additionally, books that are part-memoir usually illicit quite strong feelings or emotions within me when I read them. Unfortunately, the only emotion I found myself frequently encountering during this read was frustration.
While I understand that the events that took place in the book were significant to the author, they failed to move me personally. Consequently, I had to keep reminding myself that this story was fact-based, especially since I was becoming increasingly upset with some of Tara’s choices. I also developed a dislike for Trey early in the book and, despite their mutual love for each other, I felt like they had different agendas. I am not sure if this is how it was meant to be portrayed or whether it was a result of the story being told from Tara’s point of view. I certainly received a much more detailed account of Tara’s life than Trey’s.
The telling of a story from only one person’s perspective, especially when it is based on real events, has the potential to become a biased account. I felt the author helped to minimise this by including the written correspondence from both parties over the years, first in the form of letters and then, later, via email. This was valuable as it enabled the reader to get some insight into what Trey was thinking and feeling over the years. It also showed the reader how Trey’s words had so much meaning for Tara that she remained infatuated with him, despite his obvious flaws. The only thing I would have like further clarified, since this novel was based on a true story, was whether these were real letters sent between the individuals involved (with just the relevant name changes for the novel), or whether the contents of the letters had been modified or even made up for the purpose of the book.
Even though the story did not live up to my personal expectations in terms of storyline, there were several areas of the author’s writing in which she showed great strength. Laine demonstrated her ability to provide strong character development. I particularly enjoyed seeing the protagonist grow as a person and start to show signs of maturity. I also think that, at times, the depth of character development contributed to my frustration with Tara. I found the more invested I became in Tara’s character, the more desperately I wanted her to make the right choices.
Laine also excelled at portraying youthful, first love, particularly that ‘blinkered’ view which can affect logical decision-making. When I first started reading this book I found I was constantly judging Tara’s actions. Eventually, I realised I was reading the story with the mindset of a mature person who has a wealth of life experience behind them. To truly appreciate the story, I had to stop and think back to my first relationship. When I did, some of the similarities made me cringe! Following this, I was able to truly appreciate the author’s abilities. She accurately portrayed the actions of someone making decisions with their heart rather than their head.
Overall, the style of writing used for this novel was easy to read and the story was presented in a chronological order. Included correspondence throughout the text was also easily identifiable. I did detect a few errors. These included missed spaces and letters, tense changes mid-sentence and, occasionally, the incorrect spelling of words, e.g. ‘waived’ instead of ‘waved’. At other times, commas could have been better placed to enhance the meaning of sentences.
In summary, this book was well-written and contained a variety of themes. While many of the themes were relatable, the decisions made were often very different from the ones I would have chosen. I did not find anything in this story that stood out or amazed me, however, there was minimal I could find fault with either.
I rated this book 3 out of 4 stars. The lack of any particularly memorable moments prevented me from awarding a full score. I would have considered taking a further half a star off for spelling and grammatical errors, however, this was not an option. I also felt the small number of errors made did not warrant the removal of a full star.
I would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading about complicated relationships or who can relate to the emotional turmoil experienced during the highs and lows of true love. Additionally, anyone who has continued to yearn for their first love long after it is over should be able to identify with some of the characters. Younger readers, particularly those going through their first break up or having difficulty moving on from their first love, may find some solace and wisdom in this book.
******
Closure
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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