Dierdre is missing. Gone into the woods without a trace.
This book had SO many good things in it that I loved. The first half of this book was a solid 5 stars for me. But then, it nose dived in a different direction that somewhat fell apart for me.
Skye is our main character. A high school girl that moved to a new town and just wants to be normal, maybe even date her cute neighbor? What stands in her way is her 13 year old sister Dierdre. Deirdre is weird, she’s creepy and she refuses to grow up. She’s the constant target for bullies. Dierdre created kingdoms for the two of them as children. She weaved stories and adventures for her and her sister. She casted herself as a queen and Skye as her protector, both in their fantasies and in real life. But after Skye was pushed to far in her role as the Queen of Swords, she decides to hang up her sword for good as they move across the country.
She stops playing games, she makes friends. Deirdre is no longer holding her back. But Skye soon realizes that nothing was holding Dierdre back either after she disappears.
The book is divided into three parts. The first part of this novel alternated between the night and days after her disappearance and events that happened that led up to this point. The chapters in the past reminded me of a darker Bridge to Terabithia. It also invoked the creepiness found in Alexandra Sirowy’s recent novels. It hinted at something more supernatural while still be rooted in the mundane.
That all changed midway during the second part. The subtleness was gone and we were thrown into the middle of a Blair Witch Project like story. The shift was just a little too jarring for me. In Sirowy’s novels, she keeps the creepiness and supernatural elements sprinkled throughout, leaving you guessing as to what is real and what’s not. This doesn’t happen here. I’m not sure if the author was going for the unreliable narrator approach, but if so, I had a difficult time finding the unreliableness. Skye quickly drags her new friends into her sister’s world and there is no question as to if this is really happening or not. Skye questions it a few times but, with others there to confirm it’s happening, it takes that thrill out of it. And in all honestly, some of the creepiness bordered on cheesy the farther we went along. I’m still not sure what to make of the ending. You expect it, but still I was left wanting more.
One of the many strength of this novel though are the two sisters and their relationship. Deirdre is a complex character. Through Skye we see how Deirdre went from an imaginative child to something much more twisted. Skye both resents and loves her sister and it’s not hard to see why. Skye herself was a very interesting character. As the book go on, it becomes apparent that maybe she’s not so different than the sister she’s been trying to distance herself from. There is a darkness in her that I feel a lot of authors never allow their characters to have. It’s refreshing to see, because it’s real. There’s a little bit of darkness in all of us. We make bad mistakes, we can think terrible thoughts. And that’s what this novel is about really. It’s about that darkness in all of us and whether you should unleash it or not. And if you do, then you’ll have to deal with the consequences that follows.
All in all, I thought this was a worthwhile and exciting read. While I was personally left a tad disappointed in the direction it took, I know there are a lot of others that will absolutely love it. And the strength of the first half and the themes it deals with, is enough for me to recommend it!
