"'Cryer's Cross' is definitely a book I'll need to put on my classroom shelves." — Miss Remmers
From Amazon.com...
"The small town of Cryer’s Cross is rocked by tragedy when an unassuming freshman disappears without a trace. Kendall Fletcher wasn’t that friendly with the missing girl, but the angst wreaks havoc on her OCD-addled brain.
When a second student goes missing—someone close to Kendall’s heart—the community is in an uproar. Caught in a downward spiral of fear and anxiety, Kendall’s not sure she can hold it together. When she starts hearing the voices of the missing, calling out to her and pleading for help, she fears she’s losing her grip on reality. But when she finds messages scratched in a desk at school—messages that could only be from the missing student who used to sit there—Kendall decides that crazy or not, she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t act on her suspicions.
Something’s not right in Cryer’s Cross—and Kendall’s about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried."
Book Trailer
After reading "Wake" by Lisa McMann, I knew I needed to read more of Lisa McMann (but no, I haven't gotten my hands on "Fade" or "Gone" yet).
The premise of "Cryer's Cross" is fantastically mysterious (just view the above Book Trailer). It's a perfect combination when the premise and the cover are equally intriguing and "grab worthy."
I'll admit that the beginning of the novel is a bit slow and I didn't feel the "need" to continue reading until I was a third through it. I didn't understand how everything fit together and (again, I'll admit) I became a bit frustrated. But then all of a sudden "weird" happenings appeared and the plot began to escalate.With this escalation my anticipation and "need to read" grew exponentially.
Something completely different about this suspenseful novel that I haven't come across in a YA book before was the main character, Kendall, dealt with OCD. At first the constant reminder of the meticulous actions seemed repetitive and unnecessary, but as the plot evolved I saw the purpose in the detailed OCD mannerisms.
While reading this book I realized I had a few OCD tendencies of my own — not necessarily straightening desks or markers, but more in my travels. For instance, in college I drove the same route to school and to Walmart as I did the first time, even though after living in Aberdeen for a while I found a shorter less congested route; I always say I'm a habitual creature. It almost pains me to switch that part of my route up. Another "for instance" of this behavior is when I fly out of the cities I always stay at the same hotel. It's near the airport, they let you park your car and shuttle you for free, and they have an epic continental breakfast! Yes, I could probably find a cheaper place to stay, but this is less that $100 and it's familiar.
Okay, back to the book. After getting through the exposition of the book, "Cryer's Cross" was perfectly timed and flawlessly executed. The suspense and mystery kept me guessing and thinking the entire time. The ending was "wrapped" up perfectly; yes, it was a quicker ending but it fit the story well. The romance was intriguing but not over done and didn't take away from the story (although at the end, I won't lie, my heart fluttered a bit).
The thriller part of the story was creepy and mysterious but the actuality of it was completely perfectly disturbing but believable at the same time — well, as believable as it could be. I was impressed with McMann's ability to write a thriller with a realistic end (see spoiler at the end). I will say that the romance between Kendall and Nico, I thought, could have been left out. He could have just been her best friend. I thought it was a bit over-dramatic how all of a sudden she had "feelings" for him once he had gone missing. Overall, "Cryer's Cross" is definitely a book I'll need to put on my classroom shelves.
SPOILER:
I loved how the kids who went missing didn't just magically appear at the end — it was morbid but it was a "real" ending.
Originality: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Plot: 9/10
My reaction/enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 10/10
Overall: 59/60 A
To the FTC, with love: Received for Review (eBook)
To find out more about this series and author, visit the following links: -Visit Lisa around the web here: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads
-BUY THE BOOK on February 8th!: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Real quick, another OCD thing — I have 229 followers, I'd love to have 230. Just to make it even:)