Sunday, October 7, 2012

Gold by Chris Cleave

5 Star

Gold is the story of two women, Zoe and Kate, world-class cyclists who have been friends and rivals since their first day of elite training years ago. They have loved, fought, betrayed, forgiven, lost, consoled, triumphed, and grown up together. Now, on the eve of London 2012, their last Olympics, the two must compete for the one remaining spot on their team. In doing so, the women will be tested to their physical, mental and emotional limits. They will confront each other and their own mortality, and be asked to decide: What will you sacrifice for the people you love?



Kaley - 5 Star

I was pretty obsessed with the Olympics this year. I had the TV on from when I got home from work until I went to bed and I was constantly checking Twitter during to see the results of competitions. I was all about London 2012 and was kind of sad when it was all over. With Chris Cleave’s novel Gold, I was able to revisit the excitement of the Games through the eyes of two athletes.

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect with this novel. I knew it was about cycling and the Olympics but that was the extent of my knowledge. The book turned out to be about so much more than the sport. Sure, the majority of the action took place at various velodromes and events but that’s because racing was the most important thing in Kate and Zoe’s life. Besides, when you’re training for the Olympics you’re obviously going to spend a lot of time racing and training. I felt like the races helped make all of the other events feel more action packed and more like they were racing against time. There’s a particular part of the book almost at the end where this really comes through. The story cuts between an actual cycling race and…something else that I won’t tell you because I don’t want to give anything away. The point is that it’s written so you’re almost constantly on edge. Who will win? What will happen? It’s almost as if the adrenaline felt by Kate and Zoe, in particular, is coming right through the pages.

The thing I loved most about this novel was that there were so many secrets cleverly hidden in the lives of all the characters. Not just Kate and Zoe, but with Jack and Tom as well. I like to think that I’m pretty smart and there have been more than one occasion where I have figured out plot twists to books, TV shows, or movies. I didn’t find that to be the case with Gold. I kept thinking about what might happen and while I got close a few times, I was never absolutely correct. It would have been frustrating to have all these secrets that I knew were just waiting to come out if I didn’t know that Cleave would reveal them when they were meant to be revealed.

I was much more emotionally involved in Gold than I thought I would be and I loved that. I think Chris Cleave has written a fabulous novel and I highly recommend it. 

Thank you to DoubleDay Canada for our review copy! All opinions are our own.

Connect with Chris Cleave here:
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1 comment:

  1. I loved this book and thought it was just as fantastic as you did. I would definitely give it 5 stars. Chris Cleave just really knocked it out of the park with this one. Absolutely loved it and I'm glad you did, too ;)

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