With Serial coming to a close, I knew I’d be going through some serious withdrawal, so the books I chose for my vacation week may seem a little…heavy. If you haven’t listened to Serial, you missed out (but can still totally catch up!). If you have and you want to talk about it, I’m your girl.
That said, this is hardly Serial level work. This book isn’t advertised as young adult fiction, but it might as well be. It has all of the elements of good fiction for a younger set: mystery, high school drama, parent drama, friend drama, sibling drama…you get it. The story centers on the mysterious death of Lydia, a high schooler in Ohio, and follows her family before and after her death. Lydia herself contributes sometimes, and it all fits together really nicely.
In a few words, it was quick but worthy. There was a bit of suspense but it wasn’t distracting- it was as much about the ways the Lydia’s disappearance affected those around her as it was about the actual incident. There were a few eye roll-inducing developments, but nothing distracting. There was also some interesting light commentary on some of the social implications of racial divide in the US a few decades back, though to be honest, I was probably looking for something to make it more substantial of a book than it truly was.
Clearly, nothing will fully fill the Serial sized void, but this certainly wasn’t a bad distraction. Good for a quick beach read that doesn’t feel totally flimsy.
You’ll like this if: you want a quick read with some of the abovementioned qualities. It’s definitely good for the YA crowd, so if you liked any of the books I’ve read in that category (Paper Towns or- ugh- We Were Liars), you may enjoy this one.
Happy reading!
carlyreads 