Heaven Sent - Xavier Leret (review)

Genre:                           Contemporary Fiction
Year:                              2011
Word count:                  5158                            
Where to get:               Smashwords, Amazon,
Author's Website:       Xavier Leret
                                       Xavier's Goodreads Page

     Sixteen year old Carlo has no experience of the world. He desperately wants eternity to provide an alternative to the strict moral imperative of his Catholic parents. When Daizee Byatt, a girl from the other side of the tracks, crashes into Carlo's life, the course of his future veers off the road. This is the story of what Heaven Sent. 

(goodreads.com)

He pictured Daizee lying in a field, broken, naked, on her front. Saw himself searching for her, trolling the whole of Bristol, every building site, every disused building, the Downs, Leigh Woods and finally, after walking out into the countryside, seeing her from a distance. A white blur, it could be anything but he knew it was her, could feel it in his stomach. Throughout his search he knew that this was how it would end, that she hadn't abandoned him, but had been taken from him. Falling to his knees to take her up in his arms, his lips brush with her hair. Carlo bit his pillow, choked and as he told her that he loved her again and again he could not control himself from soaking his pillow with tears.

Carlo watched and wondered that if there was eternal life whether it would involve going to church everyday, or would God demand that you just kneel forever in his light and occasionally get up when it was your turn to make the tea.

     Mix together Romeo and Juliette with Bonnie and Clyde and throw them into J.D Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and you'll get an explosive, brilliant and breath taking novel: Heaven Sent, by debut author Xavier Leret.

     Superficially the story of two young people from the opposite worlds, undeniably drawn to each other, Heaven Sent is in fact a perceptive study of one's individual understanding of his human condition. It's a heavy and dark story which deals with some big, hard-hitting topics like social prejudices, religious beliefs, child abuse and prostitution.

     Carlo is a sixteen year old boy from a deeply Catholic family in Bristol, England. He grows up the only child in a severely religious household and is being forced to follow strict rules of Catholic Church. It seems that he's suffocating under the pressure his parents are putting on him to be perfect, pure and devoted. He's not allowed to have normal social interactions with his peers, which makes him feel disconnected and lonely. Lost and confused, he struggles to make sense out of the world around him.

     His world is turned upside down when he crashes into a young girl on the street. Daisy is a young prostitute, with a beautiful face and heavy Bristolian accent. Her childhood was a nightmare, she was abused, repeatedly molested and then forced to make a living by selling her body on the streets. She didn't have anyone she could trust to, no one ever made her feel safe, loved or understood. Carlo was the first person to reach out to her in attempt to help her. The only one to accept and love her for who she was.

     So what happens when these two opposite worlds come crashing together? Be prepared for a wild emotional roller coaster ride! I was captured by Xavier's exquisite writing and his ability to depict the world so vividly, it made the characters seem so very real. Especially Daisy, with her lines written with thick Bristolian accent. Once i started reading, I found it virtually impossible to put this book down. It was absolutely phenomenal!

     Is there anyone I wouldn't recommend this book to? Yes. I would say the content of the book, as well as coarse language makes this book not suitable for people under the age of 16 (maybe even 18). Also, if you're one of the people who get annoyed at the lack of speech marks, you might find it a little bit difficult to read it. I, personally, found it mildly irritating, for sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between dialogue and narration parts.

     Overall, I had a wonderful time reading this book. It left me speechless. I know I will be thinking about Carlo and Daisy for a long time!