Young Adult
Pages: 544
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: September 1, 2009
When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead?and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral, and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.
Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her—one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity.
First, I did NOT finish the book, I stopped in page 305. I'm really picky about what I read that's why you see a lot of 5-star reviews here but this book was so well promoted I picked it up. I think its kind of harsh to give one star to a book, so I've decided to start with the things I did like. I liked the fact that Abbey makes perfumes, its kind of interesting and creative and I also liked how the chemistry between her and Caspian is described in some parts. Plus, I normally don't like when there are faces in the cover -I like to imagine the character myself- but this cover is beautiful. It really draws attention.
Now moving on to what bothered me: the book is full of nonsense. There are at least 80 scenes where nothing actually happens! Like pages that just want to keep you there or torture you! I mean, when I sat down to read, I would start but then anything around me, any noise, a wind, anything would pull my attention away. It's weird because I'm the kind of person who gets so into the book that you can come talk to me when I'm reading and I wouldn't notice. So that was a really bad sign.
Abbey was so boring and dumb, a complete bubble-head. She obsesses over a guy she just met and keeps analyzing how to tell him what she feels. Who does that? And Caspian is not that bad, he has his hot/mysterious thing going on but it wasn't enough to keep me interested.
The writing was not something I enjoyed either, it felt awkward sometimes. The best friend's death subplot is not what the book is about. It's about Abbey and Caspian's relationship. Which is not what you think when you read about the book. To me, that death part seemed kind of forced, but I don't really know the ending. I suggest you read other reviews of people who could finish it. And then again this is just my opinion, you may think differently.
