I have approximately 8 books that have come out now. 8 is in itself a huge number. Now add to that 6 university courses, volunteering and lab work – you can see where my dilemma is. Every time I finish one book, another pops up. And I’ve been so concentrated on finishing the novels that I haven’t even begun to think about reviewing them. But I will try to get ahead on that now!
Deenie lives in a close-knit town with her older brother, Eli, and her father, Tom. She has a part-time job, and two close friends, and all the usual teen angst issues. But when her best friend has an unexpected seizure in class, Deenie’s world is changed forever. As more and more girls begin to fall victim to this unknown disease, paranoia sets in. What was once an idyllic town soon becomes a festering pool of fear fear and suspicion, as everyone tries to find the source of the illness that is plaguing these teenage girls.
This novel is perfect in the way it exemplifies mob mentality and the onset of paranoia. As soon as one of the girls fell ill, there was a discord in the behaviour of everyone in the novel and it was very interesting to see how people lose their grip on reality when faced with something unknown and potentially dangerous. I definitely was not anticipating the direction that this novel was going to take but I enjoyed it immensely nevertheless. The ending took me by surprise and it was very well-written. I especially enjoyed reading the novel from a teen and adult perspective; it showed how this incident was affecting everyone in the town and gave the story more shape. The story touches on core topics like identity and sexuality, which are both crises that teenagers face. At times, I felt like there was a bit too much focus on sex but I could understand why the author put so much emphasis on it as I kept reading. All in all, it was well worth the wait and a great read!
Happy reading ~