Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Sharp Objects
Gillian Flynn
Published September 26th, 2006 by Shaye Areheart Books
Source: Swapped

"My sweater was new, stinging red and ugly." An edgy first line, and it provides the perfect opening for this gritty debut novel by journalist Flynn. Her protagonist, Camille Preaker, is a reporter for a second-rate Chicago newspaper. A solitary woman with a cynical bent, she appears to have carved out a workable life for herself despite a painful past and an estranged family. But when a second young girl turns up missing in Camille's hometown -- shortly after another local girl was found murdered -- Camille's editor sends her home to Missouri to cover the story. The question is, can Camille get to the bottom of the story before her demons get the best of her?

A classic whodunit, Sharp Objects is an gripping page-turner. Readers follow Camille to the field as she examines crime scenes, interviews the friends and family of the victims, and probes reticent investigators for information. After all, the world of investigative reporting is tantalizing. Take, for example, the provocative flirting between Camille and a Kansas City detective assigned to the cases. Is it sex they're after, or simply information? And the gradual unfolding of Camille's alarming past will keep readers riveted until the very last page. - Goodreads

Sharp Objects is a thriller unlike any other that I have read. The characters and surroundings are so vividly described, it is almost as if I am reading the book while simultaneously watching the movie behind my mind's eye. Disgruntled and reticent reporter, Camille Preaker, goes back to her small Missouri hometown of Wind Gap to write about a potential serial killer preying on little girls. As if the premise isn't disturbing enough, it doesn't take too long before things take an unimaginably darker turn.

It is no wonder that going back to Wind Gap turns Camille's stomach. The cast of characters are just so mean and nasty, that it is on the verge of unbelievable. Her mother, Adora, is a harsh and unloving woman not willing to show any real love for her eldest daughter. It doesn't help that Camille's younger sister, Marian, died when they were children. Adora never lets Camille forget that she wishes it were her that died instead. But now Adora has a new daughter to baby in her suffocating and almost wicked way. Amma, Camille's stepsister, is a needy, willful child when she is at home with her mother. But out among other people, she is the most hateful and spiteful child in town and everyone knows it. Her behavior is extremely disturbing and some of the things Amma does really made my jaw drop. All the other woman and girls of Wind Gap are no better. Everyone there is hiding a secret behind their perfect bleach blond coifs and gleaming smiles. They are the type of people that will serve you sweet tea with a side of cyanide.

Warning!: This book is definitely not for the faint-hearted. It is often graphic with talk and descriptions about grisly murders, self mutilation, and multiple sexual situations. However, most startling of all is the psychologically traumatizing events of Camille's past and the truth behind her sister's death that slowly surface throughout the book. Sharp Objects is a quick read but definitely unforgettable.

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Crank

Ellen Hopkins

Published October 5th 2004 by Simon Pulse

Source: Swapped

Kristina Georgia Snow is the perfect daughter: gifted high school junior, quiet, never any trouble. But on a trip to visit her absentee father, Kristina disappears and Bree takes her place. Bree is the exact opposite of Kristina -- she's fearless.
Through a boy, Bree meets the monster: crank. And what begins as a wild, ecstatic ride turns into a struggle through hell for her mind, her soul -- her life.- Goodreads

I will admit, I did not read a single review of what this book was like before getting it. I saw it was on swap and I thought to myself, "Oh I think I've heard people say this one is good, so I will go ahead and get it." I was pretty much just expecting a drug related teen drama a la Go Ask Alice (the covers are even similar...well as much as white text on a black cover can be similar). However, as soon as I open the book, I see it is all poems. Each and every page is formatted like a teenager would do in her notebook; some scattered and free form verse, writing diagonally and upside down on the page. Yes, it is written from a teenager perspective, but I will admit that I was not looking forward to reading 530 pages of poems. I wanted to dislike it immediately. I read it (in one sitting) wanting to hate it and just get it over with. But I didn't. However, I can't, in all honesty, say that I liked it either.

I will say that the use of the poems allowed a lot of the extraneous fluff to be taken out and what you are left with is very succinct tale of the downward spiral of a teenage girl into the world of drugs. The story itself is assuredly  engrossing. The reality of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll turns out isn't all Kristina thought it would be. What makes this book special (and also hard to say anything bad about) is the fact that the story is actually a semi-biographical account of the author's daughter. I don't really feel that makes her an expert necessarily on her daughter's emotions as she goes through her harrowing, drug-crazed journey, but it does make it that much more heart-breaking.

In the end, I decided that the use of the poetry format really did make sense. Quick thoughts and short phrases really leaves the reader wanting to know more, which in turn keeps the interest high and the pages flying by.

(P.S. I'm not totally against trying out another Ellen Hopkins book, but I don't think I particularly care for the Crank series. I'm thinking Tricks might be more relatable. Let me know what you think if you've read this one!)

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Beauty Queens
Libba Bray
Published May 24th 2011 by Scholastic Press

Source: Purchased

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program--or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan--or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again. - Goodreads

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The cover of this book is so crazy and intriguing, that I couldn't wait to crack this one open. I will admit, I thought it was going to be a bit more light-hearted and funny than it turned out. Not to say that it wasn't down right hilarious in moments, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Libba Bray is an absolutely amazing author. I am now ashamed to say that this was the first book of hers I have read (A Great and Terrible Beauty has now moved up my TBR list). Nothing is safe from Ms. Bray's sharp wit and sarcasm. Beauty Queens is an amazing satire in which a group of teen beauty pageant contestants must find out how to survive on an island without high heels and glitter. But things aren't what they seem. The story mainly focuses on a few of the contestants who all have an interesting back story that led them to compete in Miss Teen Dream. This is a story of not only survival, but finding oneself. The girls learn that it's ok to be what she wants to be and not what the media says they should. Their experience changes they way they (and I) think about growing up in America in the age of mass consumerism and greedy, heartless corporations.

"Maybe girls need and island to find themselves. Maybe they need a place where no one's watching them so they can be who they really are." - pg 177

Being a girl (or woman) in this day and age isn't easy, but sacrificing what you really are is not the answer to a happy existence. What makes Beauty Queens so great is that it is not only just a smart, funny, and darn good read, I think it is a great lesson to the teenage girls out there who think that pretty is the epitome of life. The relatable, fresh prose moves the story along at a fast pace and it never failed to keep me interested in what would happen next.

One point I should make; there is quite a bit of violence in this story, and without a better way to explain it, it is presented in a rather blasé fashion. Some people may not appreciate this, but I found it rather unique and seemed to keep with the spirit of the story.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

An Abundance of Katherines
John Green
Published September 21, 2006 by Dutton Juvenile
Source: Purchased

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.
On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.
Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself by Printz medalist John Green, acclaimed author of Looking for Alaska. - Goodreads

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An Abundance of Katherines was my first foray into John Green land. I had high expectations for this book after all I have heard of John Green, and I hate to say that it didn't meet them and here's why:

The idea of a geeky child prodigy, Colin, having nineteen girlfriends all named Katherine is stretching the imagination a bit too much. It's fairly unbelievable that he knew that many Katherines in his short life, let along dated them all. Of course if that wasn't the case, Colin would have to think up something other than "The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability" for the name of his most important life's work.

Secondly, Colin, our main protagonist, isn't very likable at all. He is admittedly self-centered. needy, clingy, whiny, oh and apparently a genius. Therefore, I found myself not really caring about whether or not he got his happy ending. He was just too nerdy. Anagrams, math, speaking other languages; it was all too much to take crammed into this rather short book.

When I realized that Colin and Hassan where going on a road-trip at the beginning of this book, I was excited. Woo hoo, my first roadtrip book! The first place they stopped was to see Archduke Franz Ferdinand's grave site in, of all places, Gutshot, Tennessee. Sounds pretty cool. "I can't wait to find out all the cool things they see on this trip," I thought to myself. Until I kept on reading and they never went anywhere. They stayed in Tennessee. Not really a road-trip book in my estimation, but then again I have nothing to compare it to.

The shining light here is that I enjoyed the writing. It was light-hearted, conversational, and fresh. I enjoyed the realistic teenage conversations (except for the constant use of the word fug, fugged, and fugging, which while at first was cute, became extremely annoying). Even though I didn't care for this one, I'm not giving up on John Green.

★★★

The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

Title: The Body Finder
Author: Kimberly Derting
Publisher: HarperTeen (March 16, 2010)
Rating: ★★★★
Description: 

Violet Ambrose is grappling with two major issues: Jay Heaton and her morbid secret ability. While the sixteen-year-old is confused by her new feelings for her best friend since childhood, she is more disturbed by her "power" to sense dead bodies—or at least those that have been murdered. Since she was a little girl, she has felt the echoes that the dead leave behind in the world... and the imprints that attach to their killers.

Violet has never considered her strange talent to be a gift; it mostly just led her to find the dead birds her cat had tired of playing with. But now that a serial killer has begun terrorizing her small town, and the echoes of the local girls he's claimed haunt her daily, she realizes she might be the only person who can stop him.
Despite his fierce protectiveness over her, Jay reluctantly agrees to help Violet on her quest to find the murderer—and Violet is unnerved to find herself hoping that Jay's intentions are much more than friendly. But even as she's falling intensely in love, Violet is getting closer and closer to discovering a killer... and becoming his prey herself.

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I thought this was a very fun book. It combined a scary, mystery element with paranormal abilities and a very realistic romance.  I tend to enjoy the romantic struggle instead of actual relationships in YA novels because they are so cheesy! This one had the possible "unrequited love" and realistic teen angst and feelings. That made the eventual relationship that much more sweet. I didn't dread reading about their flirtations and the whispering of sweet nothings like I tend to to in other novels. It is currently one of the best romances in the YA books I have read so far.

The real meat of the book lies with Violets "ability" to sense dead bodies around her. They leave echos in the form of sounds or colors. She has always been drawn to them since she was a little girl. Mostly she has just found mauled wood animals, up until now that is. Once Violet realizes there is a serial killer in her small Washington town, she is determined to use her ability to stop this maniac before he kills any more innocent girls. The premise is very exciting and most of the time it keeps you on the edge of your seat guessing whats going to happen. Just when you think the mystery is solved, you get hit with something even more sinister.

There are random chapters where you read from the killer's perspective. I thought that was definitely enjoyable and added the to suspense of the novel. It was kind of creepy though, which some people might not  like. 

Bottom line is, Kimberly Derting was able to combine 3 great aspects into one remarkable novel. Readers who enjoy exciting romance, unique paranormal abilities, and a startling mystery should pick this one up. I, for one, am looking forward to reading the next in the series Desires of the Dead in hopes that it can live up to this one.

★★★★

Fade by Lisa McMann

Title: Fade
Author: Lisa McMann
Publisher: Simon Pulse (February 10, 2009)
My Rating: ★★★★
Description:

This sequel to Wake (2008) follows dream-catcher Janie as she navigates the treacherous world of dreaming the dreams of others. Janie and her boyfriend, Cabel, use their skills to work undercover investigating teachers suspected of drugging and abusing students at class parties. Janie takes on more than she can handle in cracking the case, and Cabel is unable to intervene to his satisfaction, which strains their relationship. Janie also comes to understand more about her dream-catching ability and the consequences in store for her, most notably a heavy, irreversible physical toll. The series is moving in a darker, more dramatic direction, with Janie facing evil and needing to decide if she can sacrifice her own health for the greater good. Series of sentence fragments (“She scratches her head. Looks around. Laughs”) take some getting used to but keep the action firmly in the present tense and build suspense. A great blend of mystery, romance, and supernatural elements, and featuring a strong but vulnerable female protagonist, this episode ends with an irresistible hook for the final installment. 

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Since this is a sequel, I will try not to go into too much detail as not to give anything away from this or the first book. You can go back and read my review of Wake for more info.


So, I had a few problems with this second installment. Firstly, what's with all the cuss words? Not that I am against them, but I feel when they are used in abundance, (and I mean abundance in this case) especially in a teen book, that's just saying that the author can't think of anything better for them to say. It makes the characters sound quite moronic, and I would rather read books about people who actually may be smarter than I am.


Aside from that, I felt like this book really didn't get good until about halfway. I think the thing that bugged me the most, in the beginning, Janie and Cabel are a happy couple. Tra-la-la. Boring and sappy. Not really romantic, and that could be attributed to the fact the book is so fast-paced, there isn't time to form a connection with them as a couple.


But on to the good part of this book. The case that Janie and Cabel are working on is about teachers at her school allegedly molesting students. Whoa. That is a touchy subject, but intensely real. Janie puts herself out there as bait and tries to find the culprit(s). To be honest, her dreamcatcher skill isn't used very much in this book, and rightly so. I don't see how it would be useful, and really, the fact that she seems to be around sleeping people so often can get old. This is the best book in the series by far, so I suggest to all who are interested, read only Wake and Fade. Do not bother with Gone. Trust me.

★★★★

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

Title: Hourglass

Author: Myra McEntire

Publisher: Egmont, USA (June 14, 2011)

Rating: ★★★

One hour to rewrite the past . . .

For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.

So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.


Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?

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I regret putting this book off for as long as I have. It started off slow and I was sluggish to continue. Hourglass is another example of the duel-natured book. The first half required the setting up of the plot and introducing characters. I don't mind when books follow this common formula, but sometimes it is not entertaining to read, as in this case. In the beginning the main character of Emerson is not likable at all. She is extremely self-effacing and whiny. And don't even get me started on the first few times she met with the love interest, Michael. Every other sentence was Emerson's internal monologue of how hot he was and she wanted to touch his lips (?). And when she did:

"I was pretty sure I was on fire, and at that moment I would have sworn that bursting into flame was a glorious way to go."

Over the top? Maybe just a tad. The romance was at best....meh. I was over it before it started. Like I said it was Emerson's constant internal monologue (even his muscles had muscles.....really?) Cheeseball city. Only when Kaleb came around and there was that little love triangle thing was I interested. However, neither of these gentlemen had any depth. They were 2 dimensional scratching posts for Emerson.

Luckily, the second half was like the other side of a coin. Emerson evolved into a more confident person even though she still shows her immature jealous/whiny side when it comes to Michael. But this half of the book is, of course, where all the action takes place. I original got the impression that this book was about ghosts, but I was very wrong. It is about time travel. Is your mind blown? Well, I haven't read a time travel book before so I was kind of surprised. My knowledge lies only in Back to the Future movies. I imagine it to be a difficult thing to write about, and I found that McEntire did have some inconsistencies here and there but I'm not really going to hold that against her. There were some twists and turns and unanswered questions in the end that were exciting. The plot definitely stands apart from other paranormal reads.

★★★

Wake by Lisa McMann

Title: Wake
Author: Lisa McMann
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating: ★★★

Not all dreams are sweet. 

For seventeen-year-old Janie, getting sucked into other people's dreams is getting old. Especially the falling dreams, the naked-but-nobody- notices dreams, and the sex-crazed dreams. Janie's seen enough fantasy booty to last her a lifetime.

 She can't tell anybody about what she does -- they'd never believe her, or worse, they'd think she's a freak. So Janie lives on the fringe, cursed with an ability she doesn't want and can't control.

Then she falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else's twisted psyche. She is a participant....

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Wake is about a girl, Janie, who has the uncontrollable ability to enter people's dreams when they fall asleep in her vicinity. Growing up, this ability really hindered her having normal relationships. She couldn't attend sleepovers, and always dreaded the days when her classmates fell asleep during school. Janie doesn't want to know what her friends dream about. She hasn't been able to tell anyone her secret, especially not her alcholic mother who could care less, or even her best friend. The bulk of the story takes place during Janie's senior year at high school. Janie gets involved with brooding (yet once geeky outcast) Cabel, but things take a turn when she inadvertanly wanders into Cabel's horrible nightmare.

I felt that Wake had a good mix of the paranormal aspect and romance. The writing style is very unique; it is present tense, third person, and set up with dates and time stamps. It can take some getting used to. The book progressed at a speedy pace and was extremely short (took me about 3 hours to read.) Janie and Cabel's relationship was better than the normal ones we see in today's young adult books, but the fact that other kids in school weren't recognizing Cabel and calling him "the hot new guy" because he cut his hair and dressed differently, was a little silly.

On the upside, Lisa McMann wasn't afraid to be real. Teenage life isn't butterflies and sexy vampires all the time! There was mention of drugs, underage drinking and the like which some people may not find appealing, but come on....that's reality. Well not the going into people's dreams part, but you know what I mean.

★★★

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Title: Thirteen Reasons Why
Author: Jay Asher
Publisher: Razorbill (October 18, 2007)
My Rating: ★★
Description:

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers thirteen cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and crush who committed suicide two weeks earlier.

On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list.

Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

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I have a couple issues with this book. Firstly, the supposed reasons Hannah has for killing herself....ridiculous. Wow, I was expecting something a bit more...deep or traumatizing. The two most affecting stories she had to tell, (and I truly HATE to say this) she really got into them herself, almost as if she knew what was going to happen. If you read it, I think you would see what I am referring to. Hannah really wasn't even likable either because of what she was doing to the people who really hadn't done anything wrong to her (Clay and Tony). As I was reading it I could definitely see that this is what a grown man felt a teenage girl would apparently kill herself over. I understand the need to warn kids about the pressures of high school and harm of bullying or creating rumors, but this particular instance was not really an enjoyable piece of writing. And like I said before, that is the reason for reading fiction books.

Secondly, the simultaneous narration of Clay and Hannah was hard to follow. I would say I read at a fairly moderate pace and since every other sentence was another narrator, I became confused quite easily and had to go back and reread to make sure I knew what was happening with each one of them. I understand the necessity for it and I can't say that it was done poorly, but it wasn't something I personally enjoyed.

I don't think this book would really help anyone in anyway if that was an underlying goal. It is just another piece of fluff in a genre that already has too much.

★★

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Title: The Language of Flowers
Author: Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Publisher: Ballantine Books (August 23, 2011)
My Rating: ★★★★★


Victoria Jones, abandoned by her birth mother at only 3 weeks old, has been tossed around from foster home to foster home. She wasn't born an angry child, but she could not catch a break so she began to act out. Then, at the age of nine, she is placed with Elizabeth, a vineyard owner who desperately wants a child. It is with her that Victoria learns the almost extinct language of flowers, in which every flower has a distinct meaning. In the Victorian era, people would use the language of flowers to send secret messages to one another. Unfortunately, things don't turn out the way Victoria wanted them to with Elizabeth and now she has burned all her bridges. She is sent back to finish her childhood in a group home until she is tossed out at 18 to live on the streets in San Francisco. The only thing she has is her language of flowers, but is that enough to survive?

There is so much that happens in this book. It is all so beautifully written that I didn't want to put it down. This will easily be in my top ten of 2011 list. I loved learning the meanings of flowers (and the inclusion of Victoria's Dictionary in the back of the book) and I can really understand the joy that Victoria got from the work she does with flowers. All of the characters were extremely well-developed and likable. The romance is believable instead of feeling forced. I can't stress that point enough. An actual realistic type of relationship is a breath of fresh air. Victoria Jones is a character that stole my heart from page one and would not let go until I finished her story.

★★★★★

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Let me start off by saying that I haven't experienced a loss even remotely close to what happens in this book. It was honestly hard for me to relate to that. In addition, I am not an overly emotional person, especially when watching a movie or reading a book (since I know its not real and always have a skeptical view of things that happen). I want a book to entertain me. Whether that is to make me laugh, or excited with its action or make me cry because it is so sad (which there is so very few that make this list.) This book does none of those things except in the very beginning.

Synopsis: As Mia lies in between life and death, she has an out of body experience that enables her to see how people are reacting and listen to what they are saying to her. She has a difficult choice to make. She must go back and examine her past and decide if she wants to have a future.

Have you ever thought about what you would choose?

I liked the conjunction of music and family in the book. These two things are most important in Mia's life. As she recalls past events, both aspects take center stage in her tales. I thought the relationship with Adam was a bit pedantic and undeveloped. As I feel with most YA books, the romance aspect was thrown in just because. The author assumed Mia had to have a boyfriend because there had to be someone close to her at her side. I really got no sense of Adam as a person. 

It's a solid edition to the YA genre but not a real favorite of mine.

Rating: 3/5

Clarity by Kim Harrington

Title: Clarity
Author: Kim Harrington
Publisher:  Scholastic Point (March 1, 2011)
My Rating: ★★★★
Description:

When you can see things others can't, where do you look for the truth?This paranormal murder mystery will have teens reading on the edge of their seats.
Clarity "Clare" Fern sees things. Things no one else can see. Things like stolen kisses and long-buried secrets. All she has to do is touch a certain object, and the visions come to her. It's a gift.
And a curse.
When a teenage girl is found murdered, Clare's ex-boyfriend wants her to help solve the case--but Clare is still furious at the cheating jerk. Then Clare's brother--who has supernatural gifts of his own--becomes the prime suspect, and Clare can no longer look away. Teaming up with Gabriel, the smoldering son of the new detective, Clare must venture into the depths of fear, revenge, and lust in order to track the killer. But will her sight fail her just when she needs it most?

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The book stars off with a bang. The first page shows Clarity "Clare" Fern looking down the barrel of a gun held by her would-be-killer. A body of a boy is lying next to her. The killer cocks the gun....fade to black.

That certainly piqued my interest!

The main story starts nine days earlier. Clare, her brother Perry, and their mother, Starla, all have some form of psychic abilities. Clare is labeled a "freak" while her brother is a real womanizer (which doesn't seem to fit, but I don't dwell on it). When a murder occurs in their little tourist town of Eastport, MA, Clare is called upon by the mayor to help solve the case. She is forced to work with her cheating ex-boyfriend and the sexy newcomer detective's son from NYC in order to solve the case.

I would call this a paranormal murder mystery. I haven't read anything like this before in the young adult genre and it certainly was a great read. It is a wonderful debut novel by Kim Harrington. It is well written, realistic, and has a fluidity that is superior to many other "popular" young adult writers. I really loved the character of Clare right from the start. She's got an attitude and isn't afraid to say what's on her mind. I felt like she was a real person that I would know from school. I also really enjoyed Clare's mother. Perhaps because she was almost more of a friend/older sister instead of the typical mom. She can read minds so she is always popping up and talking to Clare about what she's thinking which is actually kind of funny.

The best part is that the "whodunit" will keep you guessing until the very end; something that is hard to find these days, especially in your typical teen book.

★★★★

Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Title: Forgotten
Author: Cat Patrick
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Rating: ★★

Each night at precisely 4:33 am, while sixteen-year-old London Lane is asleep, her memory of that day is erased. In the morning, all she can "remember" are events from her future. London is used to relying on reminder notes and a trusted friend to get through the day, but things get complicated when a new boy at school enters the picture. Luke Henry is not someone you'd easily forget, yet try as she might, London can't find him in her memories of things to come. 

When London starts experiencing disturbing flashbacks, or flash-forwards, as the case may be, she realizes it's time to learn about the past she keeps forgetting-before it destroys her future.

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The beginning of this book was one of the most confusing I have ever read.


Apparently, this girl, London, can "remember" the future. After she lives each day, she forgets the events of that day at 4:33 am. She is able to function by writing herself notes to remind herself of important past events that she has to read about every morning when she wakes up.


The part that bugged me the most was that her problem was referred to as "remembering" or having memories of the future, instead of something like future telling or seeing the future. So London would always say something like "I know, because I remembered it" referring to something that hasn't happened yet. It just sounds weird and is very confusing at the beginning because the author just dives into her life with no explanations or set-ups.


I did enjoy the 50 First Dates scenario that took place between London and Luke. She wouldn't remember him except from her notes everyday, yet when she sees him she instantly falls in love again. It is kind of cute, but mostly ridiculous. The second-half took a fairly dark turn when she has "memories" of someone dying and she can't seem to figure out who and how. At the same time, she attempts tracking down her father and her grandmother that she saw in her memory, but doesn't have any recollection of from her past.


You, later, do find out a potential reason for London's condition but it is sort of just thrown in there and then forgotten about. I had high hopes for the premise, but I don't feel like it was executed well. That's how I feel about most YA novels these days.

★★