Book Review: “Darker Still” by Leanna Renee Hieber

Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber  

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publishing Date: November 2011
Genre: young adult, paranormal, gothic
ISBN: 9781402260520
Goodreads: 3.67
Rating: ★★

I was obsessed.

It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I’d ever seen–everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable…utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.

There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.

Natalie Stewart, a mute and social outcast, works with her father in the Manhattan Metropolitan Museum of Art, which recently acquired a beautiful painting of the stunningly handsome Lord Denbury. Natalie is drawn to the painting, and it’s not until she meets Mrs. Northe that she is able to understand why. A series of terrifying dreams, a stream of murders, and the only way to stay sane is to fall into a painting, this twist on Oscar Wilde’s A Picture of Dorian Gray is magical to the core.

While I loved this new perspective on Wilde’s classic, seeing what it would be like to be trapped mentally within a painting while the evil and physical portion corrupts in the real world, I found Natalie’s voice lacking. Hieber’s choice to write in a diary form is justified — that form of documentation was common for women in the Victorian era and is a common aspect of gothic literature (all the truth is revealed in a woman’s diary) — it was poorly executed. Who truly remembers every single detail and word said in a conversation? Normally things like this are paraphrased.

The haunting aspects of this book are in Natalie’s dreams. She never witnesses murders, but is able to predict them and sees how they will be murdered while she’s dreaming. Her dreams also transport her to Lord Denbury’s painting, where he is alive and well and hoping to find a way out. This was very intriguing and I liked these dreams. The story was propelled forward then.

Natalie’s attachment to Lord Denbury was quick and odd. There’s intrigue and then there’s extreme obsession. Hieber keeps writing that Natalie is “drawn” to him, that “fate” brought them together. But throughout, I couldn’t help but feel Natalie and Denbury were interested in each other sexually and that was it. There was nothing about his character that seemed interesting or romantic. Natalie was a rather dull protagonist as well.

The heightened bits of this novel were the passion between Natalie and Denbury, and the nightmares that helped Natalie discover the mystery and magic of the painting. The plot was simple but dragged out,  the protagonist was a little boring, the love interest lacking in personality. But the idea of the book, and the neat twist to the classic, was neat enough to see where it went.

Book Review: “Revel” by Maurissa Guibord

Revel by Maurissa Guibord  

Publisher: Delacorte Books
Publishing Date: February 2013
Genre: young adult, fantasy, paranormal romance
ISBN: 9780385741873 
Goodreads: 3.84
Rating: ★

There’s an island off the coast of Maine that’s not on any modern map.

Shrouded in mist and protected by a deadly reef, Trespass Island is home to a community of people who guard the island and its secrets from outsiders. Seventeen-year-old Delia grew up in Kansas, but has come here in search of her family and answers to her questions: Why didn’t her mother ever talk about Trespass Island? Why did she fear the open water? But Delia’s not welcome and soon finds herself enmeshed in a frightening and supernatural world where ancient Greek symbols adorn the buildings and secret ceremonies take place on the beach at night.

Sean Gunn, a handsome young lobsterman, befriends Delia and seems willing to risk his life to protect her. But it’s Jax, the coldly elusive young man she meets at the water’s edge, who finally makes Delia understand the real dangers of life on the island. Delia is going to have to fight to survive. Because there are monsters here. And no one ever leaves Trespass alive.

Delia McGovern is determined to find out why and how her mother escaped the unmapped Trespass Island. When she arrives, the people find her dangerous and odd, an outsider bringing death and fear into their peaceful haven. As the Revel celebration approaches, Delia discovers a frightening secret lurking in the waters — imprisoning the inhabitants as well as keeping trespassers out.

I wanted to enjoy this. I loved the idea of some otherworldly sea creature preventing inhabitants from leaving and newcomers from entering. The ocean is a vast and alien world, a frontier not yet fully explored, so having some sort of monster there is alluring. Sure, throw in some Greek demigods as well for fun, but the mysterious, frightening aspects was what I was looking for.

Guibord failed me. First, Delia was just plain odd for a character. Her internal thoughts were intelligent and somewhat snarky, but everything that came out of her mouth was stilted. The dialogue was off — from everyone, not just Delia — and the actions were unjustified.

Second, this book could have been written in so many different (and better) ways. Toss out the love triangle, first of all. The horror and tension would have been much better if Jax was seen as a monster throughout. The pull to the water Delia experiences would have been more terrifying, it would make her have difficulty coming to terms with her identity. That would have been interesting. Another aspect would have been introducing the monsters later in the novel, rather than right at the beginning. Telling us immediately what makes this island odd doesn’t add suspense, it kills it. The mystery of the caves no longer seems dire. If Delia were to slowly discover the caves, slowly experience how she feels in the water, slowly piece things together about the island, Trespass would become a terrifying place, and the monsters even more frightening!

Finally, the excuse of a celebration — Revel — could have been the conclusion. Delia’s identity surrounds Revel. The book is called Revel. The plot Guibord writes, however, does not. And that’s such a disappointment.

Open with weird events and history of the island, progress to enjoying the water and discovering the caves, continue into the eerie aspect of Jax and the fierce protectiveness of the caves, climax at the discovery of the monsters, and a huge action/ending with Revel and self-discovery (all the while with little doses of Sean-love). That’s the book I thought I was going to read.

Book Review: “The Name of the Star” by Maureen Johnson

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson 

Publisher: Speak
Publishing Date: September 2011
Genre: young adult, paranormal, gothic
ISBN: 9780142422052
Goodreads: 3.9
Rating: ★★★★★

The day that Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London to start a new life at boarding school is also the day a series of brutal murders breaks out over the city, killings mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper spree of more than a century ago. Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him–the only one who can see him. And now Rory has become his next target. In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

Louisiana teen Rory Deveaux transfers to England to attend Wexford, an East London boarding school. On the day of her arrival, a murder occurs — one that mimics the exact same murder as Jack the Ripper’s in 1888. Students and society are entranced more than horrified, following the murders and recounting the history like a historical documentary or TV reality show. But when Rory realizes she can see the murderer and no one else can, her peaceful existence at school ends. This modern Ripper has his sights set on her and her alone.

A thrilling and entertaining read, especially for an American reader who has traveled to England and went on a Jack the Ripper tour that took you to the exact locations of the murders. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Rory adapting to life in England — noticing the way the English say “thing” (fink) and “perfect” (pahhh-fect); constantly being corrected for defining England, Great Britain, and United Kingdom; interpreting how English boys flirt versus American boys. Reading this was partly nostalgic.

The characters, even the ghosts, were remarkably relatable and realistic. Jazza was my favorite. If I were a character in this book, I would be Jazza to a T: her love for books (especially Austen), her steadfast determination to do good and think positively of others even when angered, her desire to do well in classes and stay out of trouble. Jerome is an enthusiastic journalist-to-be, constantly keeping tabs on the latest reports for the Ripper case. Boo, Callum, and Stephen were fascinating to read, their backgrounds and past lifestyles shining through their every action and phrase before it was explained to Rory. I especially enjoyed the way Johnson wrote the various ghosts, too — Jo in the 1940s garb and language, Alistair and his love for literature and the Smiths, the man in the tunnel lost and confused, even the Ripper and his mad obsession.

To see ghosts, one has to experience near-death. Once one sees ghosts, a whole new heirarchy must be explored. Some ghosts are misty and can hardly speak. Some have full ghostly bodies, but repeat the same words or phrases over and over. Others can hold conversations and pass through solid structures, while others look and act mistakenly like humans because they can move solid objects and interact with the environment. This is what sets the ball rolling for the new Ripper: no one can see him, but he can handle a knife.

Thrilling, chilling, and humorous all at once, Johnson’s first book in her paranormal trilogy is worth every second of reading!

Book Review: “Strands of Bronze and Gold” by Jane Nickerson

Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson 

Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Publishing Date: March 2013
Genre: young adult, gothic, historical fiction
ISBN: 9780307975980
Goodreads: 3.6
Rating: ★★★★

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

Sophia leaves her brothers and sister in Boston to stay with her godfather, Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, in Wyndriven Abbey in Mississippi. A handsome, alluring, and wealthy man, de Cressac lures Sophia under his spell by lavishing her with attention and riches. But as Sophia learns more about de Cressac’s four dead wives, notices the lack of company from town, and is forbidden to leave without de Cressac’s permission, she begins to unravel a horrifying past. Trapped in a tangled web of passion and deceit, Sophia fights for freedom and escape to avoid becoming a fifth dead wife.

Nickerson’s Bluebeard fairy tale retold is stunning. I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of 1850s Mississippi Wyndriven Abbey — both enchanting and foreboding all at once. Bernard is similar in that nature, too charming to be real, too attentive to be safe. While Sophia is entranced with the Mississippi estate, the reader is on high alert for something amiss. That unease continues throughout the book, culminating in high suspense and terror.

Sophia’s character growth throughout the book is phenomenal. Although Sophia (Nickerson, really) continuously pointed out how different current Sophia was to past Sophia, it was apparent without the added insight. She arrives in humid Mississippi under her godfather’s spell, adoring the clothes he purchases, the mesmerizing food she tastes, and the little gifts and outings Bernard showers upon her. By the end of the novel, she’s fierce, brave, and does not care about frivolous things. I enjoyed watching her grow up, even if the circumstances were horrifying and far from ideal.

One aspect about the book, from a historical standpoint, that I liked was the incorporation of slavery and a Northerner’s opinion on it compared to a Southerner’s. This part of the book is up for some debate — was it portrayed accurately? Is Sophia too naïve? Is the dialogue appropriate? — but I think, considering Sophia’s lack of experience and intolerance of slavery, it’s entirely appropriate and portrayed rather well. In other words, her innocence lends to the representation.

Suspenseful, enchanting, terrifying, magical, and gruesome, this book is definitely worth a read.

Book Review: “The Madman’s Daughter” by Megan Shepherd

The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd 

Published: January 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: young adult, gothic, adventure, sci-fi
ISBN: 9780062128027
Goodreads: 3.77
Rating: ★★★

Sixteen-year-old Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself in London—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns he is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations are true.

Accompanied by her father’s handsome young assistant, Montgomery, and an enigmatic castaway, Edward—both of whom she is deeply drawn to—Juliet travels to the island, only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: He has experimented on animals so that they resemble, speak, and behave as humans. And worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Torn between horror and scientific curiosity, Juliet knows she must end her father’s dangerous experiments and escape her jungle prison before it’s too late. Yet as the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood.

Inspired by H. G. Wells’s classic The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Madman’s Daughter is a dark and breathless Gothic thriller about the secrets we’ll do anything to know and the truths we’ll go to any lengths to protect.

Juliet Moreau is a cleaning maid in King’s College, London, brought down from her place in aristocracy when her father performed illegal surgeries and disappeared. When she receives news of a possibility of his return, she seeks him out only to find her old servant Montgomery. After begging him to take her to her father, Montgomery and Juliet sail to the South Pacific and land on a remote island, filled with disfigured natives and an eerie sense that her father is hiding behind a monstrosity larger than she could ever dream of.

Shepherd does an excellent job of maintaining interest as the book progresses. Each chapter is full of action, horror, and scientific curiosity. Each character, from Juliet to Montgomery, to Dr Moreau and the marooned Edward, from Balthazar to Alice, has something to hide. The suspense of their personal secrets, mixed with the dangers of the humid and wild jungle, make for a fantastic gothic read. It’s inspired me to read Wells’s The Island of Dr. Moreau, which normally I wouldn’t have read!

However, what prevented me from giving the book four or five stars is the forced love triangle. Juliet is torn between Montgomery and Edward, and even in the most terrifying situations she mulls over her emotions. At the end of the book, after all twists and turns are revealed, this conflict is somewhat justified — to give in to animal instinct or to give in to human emotion? The story could have been much better if the triangle weren’t so emphasized or pronounced. The secrets and science and eerie quality of the island could have become more of a character itself — and it had plenty of opportunity to be a character — rather than a backdrop.

According to Goodreads, this may be the first of a trilogy. I like the way it ended, and do not see a need for a second or third book, but it would be interesting to see what Shepherd has next.

Books Save Lives: An Ode to YA’s Depiction of Tragedy

Check out my blog post over at Quirk Books!

With excellent books from authors like John Green, Gayle Forman, and Lucy Christopher, why would anyone censor content that truly depicts what teens experience?

I want you to think back to when you were sixteen. What did you listen to? What did you read? What hobbies did you have, and what did you and your friends do on the weekends? Did you ever fight with your parents? Did you ever have a break-up that felt like the world was going to fall to pieces that second? Were you ever told “you’ll get over it, it’s no big deal” whenever you were upset about something? Did you ever keep secrets from family or friends, and it ate at you late at night and it made you feel small and all alone?

Whether or not you were a good kid with excellent grades and no drug record, chances are you knew someone who struggled in school, struggled with friends and grades, probably smoked, maybe they experimented, maybe they even took risks. And if you didn’t know someone in real life, you knew a fictional character that experienced all of that, and it opened your eyes to hardships in life.

Young adult books teach, young adult books say “You’re not alone,” young adult books mirror reality. And it’s because of this terrifyingly perfect, realistic depiction of teen tragedy that several adults ban these books.

Defining Young Adult Literature

I’m currently taking a genre study course on young adult literature, and we’re trying to find a way to define the genre, so that it encompasses current YA, classic YA, and all the subgenres of YA.

We’re finding it to be incredibly difficult! But out class has agreed on these points:

• YA must have a young adult protagonist (arguments about age continue…11-21, 13-23, 13-19?)
• YA is a coming-of-age and/or first encounters novel
• YA has characters and/or experiences that the reader can relate to

Other aspects of our definition we argue over, such as:

• respecting the intelligence of the reader (authors like Dessen and Green certainly do, but some other authors write less literary and more entertaining/simple language)
• accessible language (some classic YA, like Jane Eyre seems to be categorized as lately, doesn’t quite meet this)
• including “classic YA” (is it YA? Was it thrown in because they’re taught to YA students in school?)
• are the characters or situations relatable at all?
• character-driven, or plot-driven, or is it pacing: fast and slow?

What do you think defines young adult literature? If you could define it in 1-3 sentences, what would be your definition of YA?

Book Review: “The Hallowed Ones” by Laura Bickle

The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle 

Publisher: HMH
Publishing Date: September 2012
Genre: young adult, fantasy, gothic, horror
ISBN: 9780547859262
Goodreads: 4.05
Rating: ★★★★★

Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers are free to experience non-Amish culture before officially joining the church. But before Rumspringa arrives, Katie’s safe world starts to crumble. It begins with a fiery helicopter crash in the cornfields, followed by rumors of massive unrest and the disappearance of huge numbers of people all over the world. Something is out there…and it is making a killing.

Unsure why they haven’t yet been attacked, the Amish Elders make a decree: No one goes outside their community, and no one is allowed in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man lying just outside the boundary of their land, she can’t leave him to die. She refuses to submit to the Elders’ rule and secretly brings the stranger into her community — but what else is she bringing in with him?

Katie is looking forward to her Rumspringa with Elijah in three weeks. It’ll be the one and only time she can live by her own rules before deciding whether to be baptized into the Amish church. She’s already a bit rebellious, questioning the Elders instead of blindly obeying. But after a helicopter crash and a few Amish disappearances, Katie decides to take matters into her own hands. Once an Outside stranger enters her world, her little rebellions pile up. Katie, fully aware of the Darkness infiltrating her small community, implores the Amish to toss their prayers and passive ways and fight back.

This was a terrifying book. I hardly slept. With each of Katie’s rebellions (questioning Elders, then buying comic books, then stealing Coke, breaking the quarantine, allowing a stranger to come in), a new horror strikes the page. One minute she is walking through a field, the next a white horse bursts through the trees carrying a saddle with a bloody boot still hooked in the stirrups. One minute she’s milking the cows, the next she enters a home drenched in blood from a family slaughter. Every sentence is agonizingly suspenseful, making the eagerness to turn the page both foreboding and exciting.

Bickle clearly worked hard to get Amish culture correct in this book. There are moments when Katie explains a tradition or a way of life, but it flows so smoothly with the story I hardly noticed the stopping time for Amish Culture Lessons. I am also extremely happy with the way Bickle portrayed vampires. These vampires are the real thing. These vampires are the ones Victorians feared, the kind that spread like disease, they destroyed rather than seduced, that hypnotized, that cannot enter homes or holy ground, that can only be destroyed with stakes, garlic, and a beheading. These are the very first vampires in folklore, and they are fearsome.

What’s fantastic is that Katie, and the Outsider Alex, rarely describes the vampires’ appearances. They are called “things” and “monsters” and “the Darkness.” Katie can see they were once human, but their movements, behavior, and red eyes show the most base, evil instinct of humanity: literal blood lust and desire to kill. She is awed, shocked, and frozen in fear, her mind incapable of looking at something that appears to be human and seeing such evil.

That is a true a proper gothic vampire and gothic reaction. I applaud Bickle. I applaud her for making me  afraid of the dark this week, for making me happy that I’m not living near cornfields now, and for bringing terrifying vampires back into young adult literature.

Book Review: “The Raven Boys” by Maggie Stiefvater

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater 

Publisher: Scholastic
Publishing Date: September 2012
Genre: young adult, fantasy, gothic
ISBN: 9780545424929
Goodreads: 4.08
Rating: ★★★

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Gansey is on a quest to raise Glendower, a Welsh king with the mythical legend akin to King Arthur, from the dead. He has wealth, privilege, and intelligence, as well as a group of friends who strongly believe in the supernatural. Together, their heartbreak and sorrow spur them on this quest; they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Blue, daughter of a psychic and cursed to kill her true love with a kiss, is drawn to these Raven boys, and can’t help but stumble into their adventure. But when the boys’ past begins to haunt them, and time bends out of shape, they wonder if this quest for Glendower is worth the risk…and inevitable death.

To read this book, one needs to suspend disbelief. It is a fantasy of sorts set in the real world. There are no wizards and dragons, but a very strong faith in ghosts and legends. Psychic powers are strengthened in Henrietta due to the ley lines, where Gansey believes Glendower resides and where Blue knows the soon-to-be-dead walk to the afterlife. Years of research steeped in lore spur these characters on.

At first I had difficulty finding this entertaining — the reactions to time stopping, to seasons changing in minutes, and to visions of the future weren’t as surprised as I’d expected. Rather, these characters seemed completely at ease instead of shaken. Too calm. But as the reader delves into the mind of each character, learning about their history and why they have such faith in finding something only spoken about in legend, they became more real. These boys are fully-fleshed characters with a dire need to prove themselves. Ronan comes from a broken family; Noah is the epitome of death; Adam is abused; and Gansey tries to solve everything with money, even though he doesn’t like those principles. They have nothing to lose in finding Glendower, and their desperation increases as events spiral out of control.

The ending was rushed and jarring, and certainly ends on a steep cliffhanger. Thankfully the second book will be out in September 2013.

Book Review: “Along for the Ride” by Sarah Dessen

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen 

Publisher: Speak
Publishing Date: June 2009
Genre: young adult
ISBN: 9780142415566
Goodreads: 4.13
Rating: ★★★★

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

Ever since her parents’ divorce, Auden can’t sleep at night. She spends her night hours in 24-hour diners working ahead in school, focusing solely on her academics and making her professor mother proud. But when her step-mother Heidi invites her over for the summer before college, Auden decides to take a chance and see what change can do for her. She meets girls who surprise her with their intellectual depth — despite being into “girly things” — and runs into Eli, a fellow insomniac, on her nighttime strolls. With their help and guidance, Auden begins a quest to experience life a new way: living it through mistakes rather than perfect grades.

Dessen has such skill in turning what could potentially be a light beach read into something exquisite, remarkable, and touching. Her books follow a similar formula: girl is different from others in some form, experiences a summer different from others, something happens to make her grow into herself, and there’s a boy in the mix. As simple as that is, each of her stories are vastly different, and every character is full of so much potential that is completely achieved by the end of the book.

Auden is a perfectionist and an academic, socially outcast from everyone — but she likes it that way. Emotions are messy, and from her experience emotions are never good. Visiting her dad and Heidi, with their newborn Isby (Thisbe, though Heidi wanted to name her Isabel), awaken Auden to a whole new world she never experienced, or thought she could experience positively. She realizes people are not one-dimensional, what-you-see-is-what-you-get. Her new friend Maggie is the perfect example: Maggie knows everything about jeans, make-up, and fashion, but she also has good grades and will be going to the same prestigious college as Auden and loves to ride bikes and do jump tricks. Maggie came off as a girly girl, but Auden soon discovered the tomboy side to Maggie, and then the intellectual side. No one is simply a slacker, an academic, a boyish boy, a girlish girl. People are complex.

Eli is a key character in Along for the Ride, as he not only helps Auden discover the childhood she never had, but opens her up to a whole new outlook on life. She in turn helps him overcome his grief and guilt over the loss of his best friend. By simply living life in the night hours, the two develop a special bond of give-and-take, sharing, and equality without the emotional turmoil Auden so easily equates to relationships.

Dessen understands her audience. Summer is the perfect time for change and self-discovery. There is so much potential in those few weeks for a person to grow, to find love and friendship, to develop a new hobby or talent. Once again, Dessen accomplishes all of this in another great book.