Review Detail

MY THOUGHTS
I honestly had no idea what this book was about when I picked it up. I just wanted more Lauren Oliver genius and I found that. I was very surprised by this book.

This book focuses on two sisters, Dara and Nick. After a car accident, the two sisters have drifted apart. Dara has always been known as the party girl, while Nick has always been the good girl. Now, Dara is tired of how Nick is the favorite and Nick just wants to be able to talk to Dara again. At the same time, they're family is in shambles and no one can seem to understand why the sisters are acting the way they are. Then, Dara disappears and Nick is desperate to find her. Throughout, we will find out what lead to the accident, and along with Nick, we will find out the secrets that Dana kept.

The way this book is organized is confusing at first. Not only do we get points of view from both sisters, but this book also has 'Before' chapters and 'After' chapters. They aren't really labeled as such, just with the date, so it takes a bit of thinking to realize where you are in the timeline. I don't really know if the Before chapters were really that necessary, though we didn't get much of them. I kind of feel like we could've have been given that info in the 'After' chapters, but it's not that big of a deal. This book also has little news stories added in, which I actually did think were very nice and gave little hints of things that would be important to the plot.

This book overall has a very interesting feel to it. It's described as a 'psychological thriller', but I think this book has strong contemporary aspects. In the beginning, the only main mystery is what lead to the accident, as neither sister mentions it, and little mentions of the missing young girl. The thriller aspect may come later, with Nick trying to find her sister and discovering her secrets, but for some reason it doesn't have a strong thriller vibe until the very end. I must say, though, that there is a lot of mystery involved in this book. Overall, this book has a major focus on the sisters and their broken relationship.

Lastly, I need to mention that there is a plot twist, one that I both love and hate. I love it for the same reason that I hate it, if that makes any sense. I generally love plot twist because they surprise me, screw up my mind, and are twisted genius. I love this about the twist, I REALLY didn't see this one coming. While I liked that, there wasn't really anything to hint at it. I look back to find hints and all it does is confuse me. So, while I find the genius in the twist and it's one of the best I've seen (We Were Liars still tops it, though. Nothing can beat that one), I need to be able to wrap my mind around it and I'm still shaking my head in confusion.

IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I did very much enjoy this book! Lauren Oliver is a wonderful writer and she wrote a fantastic mystery involving two sisters! I have a love/hate relationship with the twist, but I really do think that this book is worth reading!