Jane's voice is very strong - written in the first person - and means that the reader ends up living every nightmare that Jane suffers. Her descent into doubting herself and possible madness is chilling and kept me absolutely gripped.
The whole "rich gal with secrets" thing has been done before on TV, but it was the first YA novel I'd read with that sort of theme, and it lends itself well to the short snappy chapters that Jaffe used to construct her novel. I also liked the flashbacks and the confusion that left me guessing all the way to the end who would turn out to be the would-be killer.
I felt a little strange at the fact that Jane was snogging three different guys during the time that she was in hospital - it went against the way that I "felt" she should act. I would have preferred to see just David and Pete as the guys that Jane feels drawn towards - Scott is a strange addition to the story.
This definitely has more depth than a lot of the YA that I've read, and has a deliciously dark edge. I would warn against starting this when you have other things that need to be done, because you won't be able to put it down. Enjoyable, and psychologically scary.
This sounds fascinating. I'm drawn to those books with a darker, edgy feel. It sounds like there's possibly a love triangle,(or square?!?) with David, Pete, and Scott, but it doesn't sound as if that overpowered the plot. I'm adding this to my to-buy list! Great review!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this book! It is definitely a lot more meatier than other YA books.
ReplyDeleteAs I said on Twitter, I loved this book too! I really liked the way the novel was constructed. And I must have blanked out Scott, I didn't even mention him in my review!
ReplyDeleteWow! Sounds like a must-read.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this one too, it felt very grown up for YA fiction.
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