Monday 25 August 2014

(ARC) Book Review (377): Feral - Holly Schindler


Feral

Claire and her Father have just arrived in Peculiar Missouri, after a story that Claire wrote for her previous school's newspaper left her brutally beaten and near death in Chicago, she's glad for a change of scenery and to escape from the pitying looks that she got from everyone afterwards who knew what had happened to her.

No sooner has she arrived when she discovers the dead body of Serena, a high school girl who went missing the day Claire and her Father arrived, with her death explained as accidental with no foul play, Claire soon comes to the suspicion that someone was responsible for her murder, when Claire decides as a tribute to Serena to finish off the last story she was working on, what she uncovers may just be what got her killed and may send Claire on the same path

This story didn't go where I thought it would, while the reasons for all the weird goings on were explained, it was definitely unexpected and did make sense in the end, I did guess the murderer very early on I just wasn't sure of the reason why but once revealed it was something I never would have guessed.

Holly has a writing style that draws you into the story and keeps you invested all the way through, I will definitely pick up Holly's future releases her way of turning a story into something you're not expecting is intriguing and a joy to read.

For a mystery that will keep you on your toes, I recommend this.

I give this 3.5/5 stars.

I can’t remember the last time I left the house without a spiral notebook or some pages folded up in a back pocket. And I don’t think I’ve ever returned without fresh ideas, titles, opening lines, or poetry fragments climbing every one of those pages, racing up the margins, crisscrossing in as many different directions as the highways and interstates on a road map of Missouri (my home state).
I’ve spent my life making those notes in the margins—even as a little girl, my favorite activity was to write books bound by strips of red ribbon…and to scrawl comments next to my paragraphs like the most critical of editors. Lessons learned from this childhood pastime served me well, especially in college—I received a BA and MA in English, and while I was a student, I wrote piles of poetry, literary critique, short fiction, and even attempted my first novel.
After college, I dove headfirst into writing. To pay a few bills, I taught piano and guitar lessons in the afternoons. This time, the margin notes on my back-pocket pages were character sketches, mannerisms, phrases all inspired by my students. It soon became clear to me that in addition to writing for adults, I also wanted to write for the children and teens who filled my home with music. My first two published works, A Blue So Dark and Playing Hurt, were both YA novels. My debut MG, The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky, released with Dial / Penguin on February 6, 2014, and my next YA, Feral, is forthcoming from HarperCollins.


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