Idle Hands by Cassondra Windwalker

Idle Hands by Cassondra Windwalker
UK Publication Date: 23rd July 2020
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: [★★★]

This ARC was provided by Agora Books (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

Better the devil you know?

Synopsis from Goodreads: You can call me Ella. You generally assign me a whole host of other preposterous monikers. I think the least imaginative name I’ve heard is “the devil”, but I’ll answer to it if I must.

After making the courageous decision to leave her abusive husband, Perdie and her three young children start over and finally find the safety and love they deserve. But years later, when tragedy strikes, Perdie is left wondering if the choice she made to leave has led them to this moment.

If she were given the opportunity to take it all back and stay, would she?

In a frantic bid to protect her family, Perdie makes a deal to do just that. But in a world where the devil pulls the strings, can Perdie really change the past?

Brimming with enlightened observations and brilliant voice, Idle Hands is a haunting examination of grief, resilience, and what we’d give to spend another moment with the ones we love.

My thoughts: This is so much more than a story about a deal with the devil, indeed this has a whole new take on who or what the devil actually is.

The synopsis gives you the basic storyline along with trigger warnings so let me tell you what is was I loved about this story.

There is no good outcome to this. When dealing with the devil what did you expect? Instead it was interesting to watch as “Ella” watches Perdie and family waiting for the right moment to step in and offer the deal. As a reader I was waiting with baited breath for Perdie to reach breaking point and to find out what that would take and what it would mean for her and her family.

I loved “Ella’s” musings about humanity, about God, about the nature of freewill and fate.

The sections from “Ella’s” point of view are genius and these contrast with the Perdie sections which show how small human thought really is. A great dynamic.

Some of my favourite quotes:

“I truly have no idea what you’re about to do. And neither does that Maker of yours, no matter what anyone tells you about how They always have a plan. What silliness. Why would They bother with a game whose every move was predetermined? Your whole appeal to any of us lies in your unpredictability.”

“But hey. Broken-road platitudes make for great country songs and help keep me in business, so…”

“Everything happens for a reason? What reason would that be? You can’t cling to this lovely notion of free will and still think that God is micro-managing every falling leaf…”

“See, I’m not so bad. No horns, no point red tail. I’m more like the author of one of those Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. It’s not my fault if you keep getting eaten by cannibals or falling into quicksand.”

“The obvious truth is that it’s not fair to even ask for forgiveness until you’ve demonstrated repentance; but preachers don’t often say that, and abusers never do.”

Who would like this? If you can cope with the triggers outlined above and enjoy stories that make you think this is a great way to see the world from a different viewpoint.

We want to hear from you! Have you read this book? What did you think?