17 & Gone by Nova Ren Suma
Release Date – March 26, 2013
Publisher Website - Penguin/Dutton
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 354 pages
My Rating- 4/5
**Received an ARC from publisher for review**
Here is the Goodreads synopsis
The words in 17 and Gone are feather light, and wispy. You almost expect them to float away, or disappear like the girls who haunt it's pages. Nova Ren Suma manages to capture this whispy, ghost like quality through out the entire novel with the words she uses. It keeps the gripping, and eerie tone flowing through every page, even during the most innocuous of passages. It’s her prose that shines brightest against the bleak backdrop painted by the words. There is no denying the talent that this author posses.
Lauren is consumed by visions of these girls who have gone missing. The need to find out what happened to them eats at her. She sees herself in them, almost literally. It chips at her until she almost losses herself in the process. The question that haunts the reader is whether or not this is truly happening. Is this paranormal? Is Lauren experience some form of mental illness? The novel masterfully makes both scenarios seem plausible, and reads slightly different depending on your particular stance.
The tone of the novel is never more evident than when introducing the lost girls in the story. She describes their last moments before simply being gone in such a way that allows your imagination to run wild. Our imagination is almost scarier than anything that can be described so the overall result is chilling, and heartbreaking. The many ways someone can be lost are looked at, and it’s the horrific, nightmare inducing scenarios that plagued me after the novel was done. My mind replayed the last moments of some of the girls that haunt Lauren over and over. Those who wanted to go home, but never made it. Those who want to go home but don’t know how. Both are equally impacting and devastating.
Eerie, compelling, and achingly beautiful in it’s own way. 17 and Gone gives a voice to those who can’t speak for themselves, and is a reminder that the missing are often just searching for a way to come home.
Release Date – March 26, 2013
Publisher Website - Penguin/Dutton
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 354 pages
My Rating- 4/5
**Received an ARC from publisher for review**
Here is the Goodreads synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Lauren is having visions of girls who have gone missing. And all these girls have just one thing in common—they are 17 and gone without a trace. As Lauren struggles to shake these waking nightmares, impossible questions demand urgent answers: Why are the girls speaking to Lauren? How can she help them? And… is she next? As Lauren searches for clues, everything begins to unravel, and when a brush with death lands her in the hospital, a shocking truth emerges, changing everything.Nova Ren Suma weaves a story that is both unforgettable and haunting. Both a potential look a possible mental breakdown, or a spine chilling paranormal haunting, The thing is, this novel will leave you with goosebumps no matter which way you choose to view it.
With complexity and richness, Nova Ren Suma serves up a beautiful, visual, fresh interpretation of what it means to be lost.
The words in 17 and Gone are feather light, and wispy. You almost expect them to float away, or disappear like the girls who haunt it's pages. Nova Ren Suma manages to capture this whispy, ghost like quality through out the entire novel with the words she uses. It keeps the gripping, and eerie tone flowing through every page, even during the most innocuous of passages. It’s her prose that shines brightest against the bleak backdrop painted by the words. There is no denying the talent that this author posses.
Lauren is consumed by visions of these girls who have gone missing. The need to find out what happened to them eats at her. She sees herself in them, almost literally. It chips at her until she almost losses herself in the process. The question that haunts the reader is whether or not this is truly happening. Is this paranormal? Is Lauren experience some form of mental illness? The novel masterfully makes both scenarios seem plausible, and reads slightly different depending on your particular stance.
The tone of the novel is never more evident than when introducing the lost girls in the story. She describes their last moments before simply being gone in such a way that allows your imagination to run wild. Our imagination is almost scarier than anything that can be described so the overall result is chilling, and heartbreaking. The many ways someone can be lost are looked at, and it’s the horrific, nightmare inducing scenarios that plagued me after the novel was done. My mind replayed the last moments of some of the girls that haunt Lauren over and over. Those who wanted to go home, but never made it. Those who want to go home but don’t know how. Both are equally impacting and devastating.
Eerie, compelling, and achingly beautiful in it’s own way. 17 and Gone gives a voice to those who can’t speak for themselves, and is a reminder that the missing are often just searching for a way to come home.
