Search This Blog
April Reviews Link-Up
May Reviews Link-Up
June Reviews Link-Up
July Reviews Link-Up
August Reviews Link-Up
September Reviews Link-Up
October Reviews Link-Up
November Reviews Link-Up
December Reviews Link-Up
2024 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama (1)
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (3)
- Colorado (1)
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana (1)
- Maine (1)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York (2)
- North Carolina (2)
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma (1)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah
- Vermont (1)
- Virginia (1)
- Washington (1)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (1)
- Canada (1)
- England (7)
- France (1)
- Indonesia (1)
- Ireland (1)
- Italy (1)
- Scotland (2)
- The Netherlands (1)
2024 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Serious and Suspenseful, YA Whodunit Is A Sobering Pageturner
10:16 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Becca Williams can't wait to leave her tiny hometown in the dust. With her high school diploma now in hand, she's ready to head off to college and forget she ever heard of a town called Bridgeton, let alone lived there her whole life. Only one thing is holding her back: James. She loves him. The small-town gossips think it's just a high school fling, but it's not. Is it? Becca's not sure anymore.
Her conflicted feelings are heightened by the discovery of a dead body on the side of the highway just outside of town. Becca doesn't know why the young woman's death disturbs her so much—Amelia Anne Richardson wasn't from Bridgeton—but it does. As the stunned townspeople try to piece together what happened to the woman, Becca grapples to gain her own understanding. With real-world violence touching her safe existence for the first time, she's paralyzed by indecision. Can Becca face the brutal realities of life away from home? Or, even more frightening, accept the stale comforts of the life she's always known, in the place she's always lived? Amelia Anne didn't make it far in the big, wide world—will Becca be any different?
The plot of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, a debut novel by Kat Rosenfield, is difficult to describe. No matter how I summarize it, it just doesn't end up making a lot of sense. When you read the book, you'll see that it does, in fact, make all kinds of sense. Maybe too much. At any rate, it's a raw, sobering tale about two girls who have their whole lives in front of them, two girls who must make difficult decisions, two girls forced to choose between risk and suffocation. Dark and haunting, Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone is one of those YA reads that feels older. It's depressing—no doubt about that—but it's also a seriously compelling novel, one that had me tearing through the pages because I absolutely could not put it down until I knew how the story ended.
(Readalikes: Um, I can't think of anything. Can you?)
Grade: B+
If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for strong language, sexual content and depictions of underage drinking
To the FTC, with love: Another libraryfine find
Her conflicted feelings are heightened by the discovery of a dead body on the side of the highway just outside of town. Becca doesn't know why the young woman's death disturbs her so much—Amelia Anne Richardson wasn't from Bridgeton—but it does. As the stunned townspeople try to piece together what happened to the woman, Becca grapples to gain her own understanding. With real-world violence touching her safe existence for the first time, she's paralyzed by indecision. Can Becca face the brutal realities of life away from home? Or, even more frightening, accept the stale comforts of the life she's always known, in the place she's always lived? Amelia Anne didn't make it far in the big, wide world—will Becca be any different?
The plot of Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, a debut novel by Kat Rosenfield, is difficult to describe. No matter how I summarize it, it just doesn't end up making a lot of sense. When you read the book, you'll see that it does, in fact, make all kinds of sense. Maybe too much. At any rate, it's a raw, sobering tale about two girls who have their whole lives in front of them, two girls who must make difficult decisions, two girls forced to choose between risk and suffocation. Dark and haunting, Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone is one of those YA reads that feels older. It's depressing—no doubt about that—but it's also a seriously compelling novel, one that had me tearing through the pages because I absolutely could not put it down until I knew how the story ended.
(Readalikes: Um, I can't think of anything. Can you?)
Grade: B+
If this were a movie, it would be rated: R for strong language, sexual content and depictions of underage drinking
To the FTC, with love: Another library
2 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)
Reading
Listening
Followin' with Bloglovin'
-
-
-
Time Travel Thursday3 hours ago
-
-
-
-
City Girls9 hours ago
-
-
The Blackmailed Bride15 hours ago
-
-
-
-
Daily Post 24 April Wednesday22 hours ago
-
-
A Letter from Italy by Rose Alexander1 day ago
-
Toxic Prey by John Sandford1 day ago
-
Final Cut by Marjorie McCown1 day ago
-
-
Falling - T.J. Newman2 days ago
-
-
-
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth2 days ago
-
-
-
Haiku Reviews...2 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
Sunday Post6 days ago
-
Reading as a retreat from reality1 week ago
-
Reading Recap March 20242 weeks ago
-
-
March Monthly Wrap-up3 weeks ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?6 months ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra10 months ago
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?1 year ago
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ▼ 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)
Your always reading books I didn't even know existed. Now I want to read this one...but if our opinions differ so much do you think I'll like it?
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of this one either, until I saw it being buzzed about in the book blogosphere. Will you like it? Honestly, I don't know. But, it's a quick read and compelling and it's more serious/adult than a lot of YA books, so ... yeah. If you read it, I'd definitely be interested in hearing what you think!
Delete