A candid review of OTOLI. Have you been there?

A review of by Lubna Sengul*

20 May 2011

Alice Turner a social outcast finds solace from the bullying in a cafe called OTOLI and befriends the mysterious waitress Jenny, only to find that she has her own agenda.

OTOLI takes the reader on a very rapid and quick journey of bullying and potential consequences for the bully and the victim. I was able to get into Alice Turner's world of being a victim of bully and understand how she felt.

OTOLI is an excellent brief insight into how much hurt a victimised child feels and that name calling can unfortunately in some instance have devastating results.

This book should be bought by all schools and provided to pupils in the hope that this will reach a bully and allow them to asses their behaviour towards the bullied and the 'less social' students and allow them to change the way they behave.

I do however feel the ending was perhaps rushed and feel disappointed with how things turned out for Alice and Jenny.

Apart from this, a good read that allows the reader to reflect back on how others have been treated by them including myself.

*Lubna Sengul is currently a stay at home mum and a Freelance writer. In the past 10 years she’s had a successful career within Advertising/media industry, culminating in the position of Account Director for an advertising agency.

Book Savvy Spotlight on Bryony Allen

Bringing you exclusive interviews with authors featured in the Book Savvy Newsletter.

Our Guest, Bryony Allen writes Adult and Young Adult fiction. She is the author of 'Mystery, Deceit and a School Inspector' and 'OTOLI', her latest book. Bryony is a teacher and currently lives in the beautiful wilds of the Suffolk countryside with her husband, four children, and the family pets of cats and dogs.

Enjoy the interview.

Q1. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your book 'OTOLI'?
I am a primary school teacher and mother of four. I live in a village in the Suffolk countryside and I absolutely love it here. Writing has always been a passion of mine although motherhood, dog walking and work pushes it to the back burner, except in the dark hours of the morning. I am also an avid reader, especially of crime fiction.
'OTOLI' is a book aimed at the teen / young adult audience. It is a tale of how three teenagers coped against bullies and social isolation. But it is more than just a triumph against the bullies; it is a story of twisted revenge and the supernatural.
I am currently polishing another teen book called 'The Assembly Room' that combines the events of the 1645 Suffolk witch hunts with the modern world.

Q2. When you write what emotion do you seek to evoke in your readers?
I want my readers to feel what my characters are feeling, but, in 'OTOLI', I also want them to look at the action and feel the injustice.

Q3. How do you get the inspiration for your stories, is it all imagined or do you get some inspiration from real life experiences?
Getting inspiration for 'OTOLI' was simple. I have seen the effect of bullying so many times both in my domestic and my work life, although I did amplify the experiences for dramatic effect.

OTOLI - Excellent Readers Feedback

Engaging, eerie and moving. 12 May 2011
5 Star Review By A. Baker - See all my reviews

In this beautifully written YA tale, Bryony Allen takes us on a journey into the lonely world of bullied teenager Alice Turner, and the solace she finds in a strange little cafe called Otoli. The waitress who works there, Jenny (who always seems to be scrubbing at something on a tabletop whenever Alice enters) offers her apparently unconditional friendship, and seems to understand the despair Alice feels at being a social outcast at school.

However, Jenny's friendship is only apparently unconditional, and as the novel progresses we realise, along with Alice, that there is much more to her new-found friend than meets the eye.

What I particularly loved about OTOLI is the way Bryony Allen draws the reader into Alice's world as inexorably as Alice herself is drawn into Jenny's. There's no spoiler in saying that a strong thread of the supernatural runs through the story, which Allen handles with a great subtlety and finesse which calls to mind the work of Susan Hill.

As the earlier review notes, Allen's own work as a teacher has clearly given her a profound and sympathetic understanding of the often tortuous journey from childhood to adulthood. OTOLI deserves to find a wide readership, and should certainly be in every school library.

An additional note: the book is published by the small indie press Pneuma Springs, and I was very impressed with the production quality. Not one typo in the entire book, which is more than can be said for many big publishers.

Highly recommended on all counts.

A sleek addictive tale. 8 May 2011

5 Star Review By A Cheshire Lad (Rural Cheshire, UK)

As someone who has worked one-to-one with victims of serious bullying for some time, I was particularly eager to read Bryony Allen's new novel "OTOLI". Bullying is serious cancer that can affect the entirety of youngsters' lives if left untreated. It is a subject that needs to be handled seriously and sensitively.

Following her razor-witted first novel "Mystery, Deceit and a School Inspector", Bryony Allen, a teacher herself, uses more of her classroom experience to venture into the "Young Adult" book sector with this polished outing. Told simultaneously from the perspectives of intertwined victims' often difficult experiences fitting in to the social jungle both inside and outside of school, "OTOLI" is bang up-to-date for her target audiences.

Sleek and paced for the modern market and far from a Stephen King "Carrie"-type revenge tale, "OTOLI" takes quite an unusual path that will appeal to teens, while I hope at the same time will give adults an insight into the minds of young victims who feel they are not being listened to and have nowhere to run.

In addition to being a quality novel, a portion of the proceeds from sales of this book will go to the important charity, Bullying UK.

Reviews posted with Authors Permission.

'Bible John - Closure' by Andrew Malloy

Andrew Malloy releases a gripping thriller set in Glasgow in the late 1960s based on the true-story of the serial killer prophetically dubbed ‘Bible John’.

The illegitimate birth of twin boys in 1945: the infamous Bible John slayings: two present day murders.

What is the terrifying link that connects all three?

During the late 1960’s, the actions of a vicious serial killer prophetically dubbed ‘Bible John’ caused mass hysteria among the young women of Glasgow, holding them in a chilling, vice-like grip of terror. Then, inexplicably, in late 1969, almost as quickly as they had begun, the killings stopped.

…Find out more…

Author Andrew Malloy says: “The scene is set for a nightmarish journey for Mason Blackwell and his team as the crime count threatens to spiral out of control. Expect the unexpected as the story dramatically twists and turns, sending all concerned towards a violent and terrifying conclusion...”

A fictionalised account of the story of 1960s Glasgow serial killer - ‘Bible John’.

“…chilling blood-curdling murder mystery”

...publishedbestsellers.com

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