THIS BOOK IS DEEP!
By deep i mean build you up, shatter you, and somehow put you back together but in a way that it still follows you a devade later. I read this book my freshman or sophmore year of college. Over ten years later, there are still moments that the story crosses my mind and makes me think. I'm not sure of how to review this story without giving anything away. It is not a straight forward, everything ends in tidy boxes, kind of book. It will make you think and feel. I question if you are human at all if it doesn't break your heart to some degree at some point. But, it also has humor and sparks of joy in it. It is about facing reality and grief, about discovering who you are, who you want to be, and what that means. As I stated, this book is DEEP, but it is also very well worth the read. I actually listened to it on audiobook. and the narrarator made the book come alive so well that even now I can almost picture it as if I'd watched it as a movie instead of listening to it. ( )

It's an unusual coming-of-age novel. The narrator is a young man who sees himself as unremarkable and forgettable, not part of any group at school. He meets, Anna, a new girl and part of the goth group and begins a friendship/romance with her.

This book is a mystery with every one of the characters hiding something. The kids all seem adrift, lost, hurting. The parents all seem bad or absent. You find out things about the characters little by little, but you never really find out enough.

This is a love it or hate it type of book depending on whether you like plot-driven or character-driven novels, or whether you can just get lost in the writing style. This is the author's first book and I think it is very well-written. Fans of YA may see similarities to other others/plotlines of books-turned-movies from the past ten years or so. ( )

I wasn't pleased that the author did not wrap up all the loose ends about minor characters. ( )

I wasn't pleased that the author did not wrap up all the loose ends about minor characters. ( )

Go get this book right now and read it, then report back. I'll be very interested to hear what you have to say. This is not your average young adult novel. Certainly the main characters are teenagers, and there is some angst, but it's not overdone. In fact, it's rather tasteful and sort of tangential to the plot, so you can look past it if that sort of thing bothers you. Pay attention when you read this book. I did, but I still didn't exactly know what happened when I got to the end. There are hints and clues and codes swirling together in a maddeningly teasing way all pushing you forward through the story, hungry for revelations and enlightenment, which may or may not come. You may find yourself frustrated at the end. You may not. I'm still a bit confused myself.

On the surface: Small town. New family arrives. Strange girl in said family exhibits odd behavior, such as writing detailed obituaries of everyone in town. Plain boy drawn to girl. Relationship is intense and full of mystery. Girl disappears. Disturbing events follow. Boy thinks girl is trying to contact him from some unknown location. Uncertain time passes. Resolution?

Below the surface: Alphanumeric codes. Houdini. Mail art. Mediums and psychic connections. Trickery. Small town intrigue. Family secrets. Misconceptions. Illusion. Deception. Allusions and predictions. Friendship and love. Time and how it manifests itself. ( )