Hoo boy. Psychological thriller does not even begin to describe it. This book will mess with your mind, I tell ya. It reminded me of “The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer,” by Michelle Hodkin, or “Tighter,” by Adele Griffin, in that the plot starts off fairly normally, gets a little crazier, then little by little progresses until you realize the book has so totally messed with your mind that you don’t know if you should trust your perceptions as the reader or not. And I was not expecting that, honestly. I was expecting some straightforward mystery, but I should’ve know better seeing as how this is the author of “Imaginary Girls” we’re talking about.Seventeen-year-old Lauren is having visions of girls who have gone missing. And all these girls have just one thing in common—they are 17 and gone without a trace. As Lauren struggles to shake these waking nightmares, impossible questions demand urgent answers: Why are the girls speaking to Lauren? How can she help them? And… is she next? As Lauren searches for clues, everything begins to unravel, and when a brush with death lands her in the hospital, a shocking truth emerges, changing everything.
The main character, Lauren, was difficult to get to know. We don’t really get to see her before all the crazy stuff starts happening to her, and once those things start happening, they take over her entire life. And as she becomes more and more obsessed with finding the missing girls, I felt like there was less and less of her to get to know because the obsession takes so much out of her.
I don’t really know how to write this review, because I don’t want to give anything away. So I’ll just mention the two non-spoilery things I can think of. One, I liked Jamie, Lauren’s boyfriend—he’s way more supportive and understanding than I would’ve been in that situation, that’s for sure. Two, the writing was really well done. That’s reason I picked up this book in the first place actually—I liked the writing in “Imaginary Girls,” so I wanted to give Suma’s second book a go. I’m terrible at describing writing styles, so I’m not even going to bother, but I will say that it created the perfect atmosphere for the story.
Overall, if you want a book that will play mind games on you, this one is for you. It doesn’t wrap the ending up in a nice little bow either. So if you’re in the mood for a psychological thriller, go for it.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
I'm adding this one to my TBR. Have been meaning to expand my reading repertoire beyond YA urban fantasy for a while now. Sound like an interesting book. Hope I understand what's going on as that's the problem I have with thrillers sometimes!
ReplyDeleteOoh, this sounds good! I love a book that makes me question the narrator/my perceptions. I haven't heard of the author before, but maybe I should look into her books. :)
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