You Make Me Tremble by Karis Walsh

You Make Me Tremble by Karis Walsh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.

This book involves two women, neither of whom has their age stamped on them (either could be in their twenties, thirties, though unlikely to be in their 40s but might be). One, Casey, works as a seismologist in a lab in Seattle, though opens the book on a field assignment to San Juan Island off the coast of Washington state. The other, Iris, works as the owner and operator of a pet rescue place, and supplements her income (or, I should say, pays for everything else) by being a greeting card writer/artist. Both are in quite different occupations, and likely would never meet but for a specific earthquake that occurred before the start of this novel, and both see the other as being quite different than them (though others point out similarities).

The two meet well, then quickly the first meeting turns bad. Casey is riding over on the ferry between Seattle and one of the islands off the coast, and along the way one of the stops before Casey’s has Iris on the dock. Casey spots her, and odd as it may or may not seem, Iris also spots Casey up leaning against the railings looking down. Life might have continued with neither spotting the other again, but for a loose dog. For Iris had been on this other island to gather two dogs and ended up with three plus a pregnant cat. One of the dogs breaks free from her, once Iris had gotten on board the ferry, and the dog’s leash is captured by Casey. And, as noted, they meet well. Have a pleasant conversation. Then Casey mentions what she is doing on the ferry, and where and why she’s going to the islands (to study the fault lines and the impact of the recent large earthquake event), and everything about what Casey is saying, how she is saying it, and even using the word ‘event’ causes the already emotionally fragile Iris to erupt in anger at Casey (‘we are just specimens for you to examine!’ – or words to that effect, not exact quote).

Again, neither might not have seen the other again after that bad first meeting but for another dog. A dog Casey spots while wandering around the woods planting equipment. A dog that needs help. No one recognizes the dog and when she asks where to go, they tell her . . . someone other than Iris. So it isn’t just the dog that leads Casey back. For both have the other in their thoughts. And Casey uses the dog as an excuse to hunt Iris down again (my wording is probably poor there).

And so, they meet again, Iris and Casey. And the two will have longer to try to figure out what these messed up feelings might be, for Iris, after learning that Casey slept in her truck her first night on the island (everything is closed due to the earthquake), invites Casey to use one of the spare rooms (which implies the wrong thing but I can’t recall how to spell. Bungalow. Oh, I can spell. Right, that, spare bungalow).

The two women’s interactions between each other seem natural enough to me. And I kind of had a deeper connection to the book than I might have otherwise expected, due to the writing, and the imagery on display. Furry kittens, and playful goats, and plain ordinary rocks which are hundreds of millions of years old, and trees, lots of trees, and spider-webs which might have been created by monster sized spiders and . . . all that and more.

So I like the writing and I like the romance. The sex? Well, I need a paragraph for that as well. Is an important element for some on whether to read or not read.

Sex: Yes, there is sex. It isn’t immediate, but it is graphically described.

Emotions: I admit that there was/is a specific event that occurs late in the book that made me teary-eyed, may or may not correspond to what might be expected. And I kind of read the rest of the book in that kind of state. Whether or not others would read the book the same way certainly depends on many factors.

Rating: 5+

June 19 2017




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