I almost didn’t finish this book, but I’m so happy I stayed with it.
Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee
By Mary G. Thompson
©2016
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Pages: 292
Another book without Acknowledgements – I’m not a fan of that.
Genre: YA, Mystery
First Person POV
Present Tense
My first thoughts with the writing were that the author was keeping me at arms’ length. Here’s a few examples:
From pg. 71:
Jay doesn’t reply just keeps fiddling with the remote. I think that I should go back to my room and wait until Mom calls me for dinner but then Dad comes over and sits between us.
From pg. 81:
We see TV reporters following us with cameras, but they don’t come close. We pretend they’re not there.
From pg. 11:
The kitchen timer dings, and I let my hands fall to my lap, and I watch my mom take the macaroni and cheese out of the oven. She spoons it onto a plate for me and pours ketchup so that it makes a little round pool, and she knocks the salt and pepper shakers together as she sets them on the table.
I take one bite, and my stomach untwists, and I take another bite and another, and pretty soon I’ve eaten almost the whole dish.
It works, but it’s really close to giving a play-by-play. That’s what was shoving me away. It frustrated me to the point I almost didn’t finish it. BUT! Here’s what’s weird, at the end I had some feeling for the characters. Now this main character is bottled up and keeping her loved ones at a distance, so maybe that was the idea to make us feel like we were invading her space and then at the end everything becomes clear and suddenly we’re all close. If that was the plan, I think I would have preferred a little more caring sooner, because I was *thisclose* to giving up.
This is a time I’m thrilled I didn’t give up because the different take was refreshing.
Your thoughts on the writing? Did it feel fine, did it feel too play-by-play, do you feel connected to the character?
NEXT WEEK: The Grownup by Gillian Flynn