by Jessica Warman
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens (May 19, 2015)
Language: English
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Ten years ago, seven-year-old Samantha and her next door neighbor Remy watched helplessly as Sam's little sister was kidnapped. Later, Remy and Sam identified the man and he was sent to prison.
Now, Sam's shattered family is returning to her childhood home in an effort to heal. As long-buried memories begin to surface, she and Remy wonder what they really saw. The more they re-examine the events of that fateful night, the more questions they have about what happened to Turtle . . . and they become more certain that Turtle's killer is still out there, hidden amongst the members of their tight-knit community.
Master storyteller Jessica Warman keeps readers guessing in an arresting page-turner that questions whether the potential for evil lurks within us all.
I went back and forth with this one -
honestly, this didn’t work for me. At all. It was less than an okay
read. Somewhat irritating. Unfortunately, instead of getting a thrilling
novel, in which I was excited to read, I read a novel full of
details not pertaining to the “mystery” of the abduction. With no plot
development. Instead, only the last 10 pages of the book tell you
exactly what happens.
The premise of the
story sounds like a heartbreak. A family that is shattered after someone
abducted their younger daughter. I honestly believed I would get
something like The Lovely Bones. Nope, it was more like the family
didn’t exist anymore. Everyone went their own way. And this book tells
you how Sam viewed them.
The story is told in
Sam’s perspective - the past and the present. Which makes the reader,
well me, wonder WHY? Why tell us about the mother's life? I wanted to know
about the abduction. Why was she taken from her family? Why in this
small town, would people blame an innocent man for this action without
enough evidence?
I almost DNF'd this book, but I
was stubborn enough to finish to see if it was ever going to tell us
what happened to Sam’s sister, Turtle. I wondered if Sam was ever going
to either tell the truth, whether she really kept her eyes shut while
knowing someone was taking her sister, or if she really didn’t know who
was responsible for this.
With this said, I do
have to admit the last 10 pages were thrilling. My first words when
things started to pick up: FINALLY! Only to notice the book was about to
end.
Peace, Love + Twilight,
Leydy Baltodano
Blogger & Book Reviewer, Once Upon a Twilight
I am so impressed you stuck with it and didn't put it in the DNF pile. But I am the same way for the most part -- I just have to finish a book and see if it ever redeems itself. What a shame this book fell short since the premise sounded so good. Kudos to whomever wrote the blurb, huh?
ReplyDeleteI read this book also, and I'm glad I wasn't the only to think this sucked. I appreciated the last 10 pages too, but I felt the ending was sucky since it was so open ended.
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