Fine, Anne : The Tulip Touch
Buchtipps | Englische Bücher
Natalie has just moved into „The Palace“, the new hotel of her parents. There she meets Tulip for the first time and is fascinated by her. Tulip has this strange touch, others call it “The Tulip Touch”, and with this special behaviour she can get everybody to do what she wants, even adults.
When Natalie and Tulip become friends, Natalie finds it very exciting to play the bizarre games invented by Tulip, such as “Road of Bones” or “Days of Dumbness”. The games become more dangerous with the time.
Tulip persuades Natalie to break into abandoned houses or to play stupid jokes on other people or their classmates. Tulip is even cruel to animals: she drowns her kitten to see how fast it dies, or tortures a rabbit in a foreign garden. Natalie can’t stop her; she is afraid of her self-confident appearance and to some degree dependent on her stronger friend.
Then Tulip discovers her passion for fire. First only dustbins have to burn, later a whole house goes up in flames. This is the moment when Natalie realizes that Tulip is going too far. Much too far …
I quite liked the book, it’s realistic and it tells you about the strange behaviour of a psychopathic girl, which is really thrilling sometimes.
When I first saw this book I was attracted by the cover. It looks exciting, much more exciting than the story actually is.
In my opinion the beginning and the ending (the last five chapters) are very interesting and well written. In the end also something unexpected and tragic happens, so it’s worth reading it till the very last page.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and confusing stories. The language is sometimes a little bit difficult. When I got the book, my first impression was, “Oh my God! I don’t know these words!” But then I didn’t need any dictionary because I could understand the words from the context.
Anne Fine: The Tulip Touch
Shelf mark: FE/FIN
Pages: 183
Topic: mystery / friendship. My rating: ***
© Therry Reimoser 5B (Sept. 2008)