by Julie Berry
Hardcover, 274 pages
Published September 26th 2013 by Viking Juvenile (first published August 31st 2013)
ISBN 0670786152 (ISBN13: 9780670786152)
Blurb
Four years ago, Judith and her best friend disappeared from their small town of Roswell Station. Two years ago, only Judith returned, permanently mutilated, reviled and ignored by those who were once her friends and family. Unable to speak, Judith lives like a ghost in her own home, silently pouring out her thoughts to the boy who’s owned her heart as long as she can remember—even if he doesn’t know it—her childhood friend, Lucas. But when Roswell Station is attacked, long-buried secrets come to light, and Judith is forced to choose: continue to live in silence, or recover her voice, even if it means changing her world, and the lives around her, forever. This startlingly original novel will shock and disturb you; it will fill you with Judith’s passion and longing; and its mysteries will keep you feverishly turning the pages until the very last.
Mini Review
I honestly had no idea what to expect going into this. I pick my books based on other bloggers’ reviews/recommendations, and front covers (yes I know it is shameful and I just don’t care!). This book was absolutely outside the realm of anything I could have dreamed, and it was unbelievably wonderful. The story is told from second person, which probably would not work for a lot of people, but somehow Berry makes it compelling and immersive. By telling the story from this perspective, Berry allows the reader to get a million times closer to Judith than they ever would have been able to using first person. The result is wonderfully complex, fleshed-out characters that you really connect with. Even the secondary characters and random townspeople are described in such a way that they feel wonderfully lifelike.
The romance in this story is sweet, heartfelt, and built up in a slow, persistent way that keeps the reader guessing and hoping with fingers crossed that everything works out into a happily ever after for all the characters.
I cannot say enough about how amazing this book was. The prose was poignant, unique, and compulsively readable. The story was heartbreaking, hopeful, suspenseful—this book really had it all. If you enjoy poetic, flowery writing, historical fiction, and crying uncontrollably for fictional characters, you should go hunt this book down right now, I promise you won’t regret it!
Favorite Quote
"There is a curious comfort in letting go. After the agony, letting go brings numbness, and after the numbness, clarity. As if I can see the world for the first time, and my place in it, independent of you, a whole vista of what may be. Even if it is not grand or inspiring, it is real and solid, unlike the fantasy I’ve built around you. I will do this.
I will triumph over you.”
