My debut YA novel, A Blue So Dark, earned a starred review in Booklist, was named one of Booklist’s Top 10 First Novels for Youth, received a silver medal from the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards, and won a gold medal in the IPPYs. Playing Hurt, my first romance, released in 2011. My first MG, The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky, released in 2014.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Feral by Holly Schindler was an interesting read. I have to admit, I wasn’t sure where this one was going to go but the first few chapters really grabbed my attention and from there I wasn’t sure what to expect.
The book starts out from the point of view of Serena who happens to be dead. We don’t really find anything out other than the fact that her killer is dragging her out to the woods behind the school. One of the things I liked about this story was that perspective – especially this chapter.
Flowing into chapter two, we find out more about Claire Cain who is the main character. After she has survived an attack, Claire’s father is offered a sabbatical in Peculiar, Missouri and Claire jumps at the chance to get out of Chicago and away from her friend who she feels is treating her differently since the attack. Immediately when they get to Peculiar, Claire realizes something isn’t right and she is pulled into the mystery of what happened to Serena.
Claire was an interesting character. I thought Schindler did a great job showing the reader the impact the attack had on her and how it changed her and her relationships with those around her. She put up a good front but there were times that I just wanted her to tell her dad she needed help or she was still afraid. I have a feeling he knew something was up but he never pushed her and that was another frustration.
As Claire digs into the mystery of what happened to Serena, we learn more about her as well as the other people in town. As things progress, Claire begins to focus on the feral cats in town and I have to say, this is the part that seemed a bit odd to me. Perhaps I didn’t “get it” but it seemed to drag the story out and I’m not really sure what Schindler was trying to do. I’m pretty sure the cat plot line could be lifted out and the story would still be solid. Admittedly, I was able to push through these sections and get to the heart of the story which I actually enjoyed.
Additionally, since Claire wasn’t willing to talk to her father, I wanted her to be able to lean on Rich. There were a number of times where her inner dialogue was prompting her to just open up to him and tell him what was going on and I really wanted her to do it. I understand that she has some trust issues and a lot of fear yet about what happened but she definitely needed someone to rely on and I got the sense that he wanted to help her out. He seemed like a solid character from the brief glimpses we got into who he is and his background.
There were a few twists and turns in this story and although I figured out who did it about half way through, it wasn’t clear what really happened and why until the very end. If you are looking for a mystery that includes some pretty creepy writing and points of view (these were some of my favorite parts of this book) you should check this one out when you can.
Thank you to Harper Teen and Edelweiss for the review copy.
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