Due for publication in January 2017, this book is very much about the main character of Hawthorn Creely and she is a character that you will either love or loathe.
Seventeen year old Hawthorn doesn’t feel like she fits in anywhere, and she spends a lot of her time observing from the side-lines. That’s not to say she doesn’t have friends, but she doesn’t seem to really connect with them.
When Lizzie Lovett – a young woman who was in the same year of school as Hawthorn’s brother, and part of the popular crowd – goes missing, Hawthorn finds herself fascinated by what happened to her. Theories range from the sublime to the ridiculous, but the fascination with getting answers leads Hawthorn to connect with others in a way that she hasn’t up until this point.
This is not an action-packed novel, but it does allow us the opportunity to see into the mind of someone who understands what it is to be seen as a little bit different. I personally enjoyed getting to know this character, and found her gaucheness quite endearing. I found her outlook on life in a small town quite refreshing, and though the ending wasn’t quite as I hoped it would be, it allowed us to see Hawthorn in a new light.
Thanks to NetGalley and publishers Sourcebooks for the advance copy in exchange for my thoughts.