[Edit October 27th 2019: I’ve realized this story had made more of an impression on me than I thought when I wrote this review, so I’m upgrading it from 4 to 5*.]
I needed something to get me out of my head. Not sure a dystopian novel was the right choice! I have no regrets though, it was fantastic. Terrifying and thrilling.
Dani and her two best friends Alice and Joy are getting ready for their first real trip as young adults and Dani plans to come out to them some time during those ten days in New York. When Alice’s parents make them take Alice’s seventeen-year-old sister Paige with them, Alice is mad, Dani not so much. She’s got a huge crush on young Paige but when Paige kisses her, Dani does the adult thing: Paige is underage, Dani won’t act on their mutual crush before she’s eighteen. The next day, Paige disappears while the four women are walking in a crowded New York Street. For thirteen years, Dani, ridden with guilt, can’t stop looking for her, going so far as becoming a police detective instead of going to business school as planned. Suddenly a new case brings her closer to finding out what happened.
There’s a lot happening in the world right now that makes this gripping story seem absolutely believable and sooo scary. What Dani discovers before and after she gets reunited with Paige is horrifying. The writing is excellent, as is the narration by T.J. Richards. As awful as the story being told by Barbara Winkes is, this book left me full of energy from all this excitement.
Jude in the Stars 