Summary (from Publisher’s Weekly via Amazon): In a small town near a river not far from a city, the narrator, an unnamed high school sophomore, encounters new Goth arrival, Anna Cayne. Holden Caulfield meets the Blair Witch, perhaps–but our narrator is more sympathetic and Anna more fascinating than their counterparts. The narrator is unsure why anyone would pursue him (“I’m bland. I’m milk. Worse, I’m water”), but pursue him Anna does, charming him with intriguing postcards, reading recommendations and long walks by the river. He’s soon completely, hopelessly in love. But halfway through the story Anna disappears, leaving the narrator and the reader feeling lost and betrayed. The book becomes a search for Anna, complete with ciphers, codes, sightings and buried maps. Does affable art teacher Mr. Devon have something to do with her disappearance? Who was really driving the night fellow student Bryce Druitt slammed his car into the side of the bridge?
Review: This book started out extremely interesting. I read the first half so quickly, I assumed I’d be done with the entire book in just a couple of days. The characters were interesting and I couldn’t wait to get to the mystery of what happened to Anna Cayne. However, as soon as she disappeared, I kind of lost interest. I almost didn’t even feel like reading the book anymore.
This is another book that reminded me a lot of Looking for Alaskaby John Green. Anna was kind of up and down and into this and that and always coming up with crazy stuff for her nerdy boyfriend to do. (Why do all books seem to have an Alaska Young and Pudge since I’ve read that book???) It was almost annoying. The similarities continued through the book even after Anna disappeared. The narrator was left wondering why and with tons of unanswered questions – just like Pudge was left with questions about Alaska.
This next paragraph could be a spoiler. I felt as though nothing was answered. All we were left with was the questions that had been building since the beginning of the book. Why did Anna hate Mr. Devon? Why did Claire end up in ICU? What was the deal with the TV psychic? It seemed like a lot of ideas were started and then were left hanging out in space.
I understand a missing person case isn’t likely to have all lose ends wrapped up, but this is a work of fiction and I feel like the reader was left with no closure on any of the questions raised. At least one answer would have been nice. Maybe this is how families of missing persons feel. If so, job well done Mr. Galloway.
I gave this book three stars because it is well written and it had a lot of interesting points. It might have rated higher if I hadn’t felt like it was just another version of Alaska, which is all I seem to be taking out of the library anymore these days.
Up next: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Cream of Soup: A book blog 