Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher Published by Little Brown on November 12, 2013
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 261
Format: ARC
Source: ALA
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Dear Mr. S. Harris,
Ignore the blob of red in the top left corner. It's jam, not blood, though I don't think I need to tell you the difference. It wasn't your wife's jam the police found on your shoe. . . .I know what it's like.
Mine wasn't a woman. Mine was a boy. And I killed him exactly three months ago.
Zoe has an unconventional pen pal--Mr. Stuart Harris, a Texas Death Row inmate and convicted murderer. But then again, Zoe has an unconventional story to tell. A story about how she fell for two boys, betrayed one of them, and killed the other.
Hidden away in her backyard shed in the middle of the night with a jam sandwich in one hand and a pen in the other, Zoe gives a voice to her heart and her fears after months of silence. Mr. Harris may never respond to Zoe's letters, but at least somebody will know her story--somebody who knows what it's like to kill a person you love. Only through her unusual confession can Zoe hope to atone for her mistakes that have torn lives apart, and work to put her own life back together again.
Ketchup Clouds has one of the most unique premises that I’ve read in a while. I had high hopes for an intriguing read unlike any I’d read before. While I definitely found it to be a unique story, I had quite a few issues with it.
Zoe is an unusual character. She writes to a man on death row because she feels like she can relate to him and his situation. She also knows that he will never tell anyone her story. She admits to him that she killed someone and the rest of the book is spent exploring exactly how and why she thinks she killed someone. It’s a captivating story that had me guessing for a while but there were definitely issues.
First off there was Zoe. She seemed very cold and detached. I never felt like I could relate to her. Everything with her was almost clinical. I wanted to see her emotions. She was confessing to killing someone, someone close to her, yet she never seemed torn up about it. I could not connect to her at all and I found myself just wanting to get to the end of the book so I could be done with it.
The other characters weren’t much better. Her parents were a little too detached and involved in their own drama. They paid very little attention to what was actually going on with their kids. The sibling dynamic was interesting though. I actually enjoyed the relationships of the three sisters. That was the only time I could really get any emotions from Zoe. As for the boys, well, they were just meh for me. I couldn’t see why Zoe was interested in one of them when the other one was clearly perfect for her. I don’t want to give anything away though so that’s all I will say about that part.
Overall, Ketchup Clouds is a unique, interesting read but not something I’d ever re-read. If you have nothing better to read on a rainy day, give this one a try. It’s a quick, suspenseful read that will leave you thinking.
It’s too bad you didn’t enjoy this one more. The premise is a very interesting one and that coupled with the excellent cover made me pick this one up. I can see about Zoe being clinical though, I think that can be an issue with the letter format. Great review.
This does seem like an interesting read with that unique title and premise. Sorry it wasn’t as great though. Thanks for the honest review.
I really really liked this one. I liked the way Zoe talked to the inmate about her life and about his life. And I loved Dot. I agree the sibling relationships was the best part of the book. Sorry you didn’t love it as much as I did 🙁
Hmm, this one certainly has an interesting synopsis, but I’m always frustrated when you cannot relate to the main character. I will probably give it a try though, because I am always good with giving a quick read a shot. Thank you for the honest review! :]
Tiffany
Beneath the Jacket Reviews
The premise for this is so interesting! And I love the cover! It sucks that the characters are detached and unrelatable, I think I’ll hold off from reading this one for a while then. Great review!
This does sound interesting, but the way you’ve described Zoe is the exact opposite of what I’m looking for in a character. Thanks for your review. I am interested to see exactly what happens and how things play out in this book, but I will keep your review in mind.
The books summery is certainly intriguing. I have never read or heard of a book with a similar premise. Even though the characters were not quite as developed as you were looking for you have convinced me to give the book a chance. Have you read any of Pitchers other books? Thanks for the review!
I really loved ketchup clouds! Its a shame you didn’t enjoy it more. I thought it was amazing how you grew so close to Zoe and felt and understood all her muddled up feelings. I loved how the character of the mum was portrayed so at first she was polar opposite to Zoe but towards the end she was ao similar. I loved the way you weren’t told who died unil the end, and some of the characters were very Fault in our Stars -esque.
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I too was hooked by the concept and the voice. To be honest I thought she was writing to the man on death row because she couldn’t deal with the guilt and had to tell someone who wouldn’t turn her in. I assumed her letters would be very emotional, like a confession she had to get through to move on, but it’s too bad that you couldn’t connect as she was so detached. Thank you for telling us because I was about to borrow it, but if it’s nothing like what I thought I won’t.
Lovely review 🙂