Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Teen/YA Review: Gone

I really enjoyed Wake and Fade, the first two books in Lisa McMann's unique paranormal trilogy, so I was excited to read the final book in the series, Gone.

Janie, the main character introduced in Wake, has an unusual talent that is also a curse: she gets pulled into other people's dreams.  The process is involuntary and leaves her exhausted and drained.  In the first two books, Jamie used her strange power to help the police solve two horrific crimes, all the while becoming closer to another loner, a boy named Cabel.  She also learned that her talent comes at a terrible price.

Gone is a different kind of book.  There is no crime to solve here, no suspenseful race to the finish.  The suspense here is to find out what Janie will do with the rest of her life.  She has graduated from high school with a scholarship to college, but she has also discovered that the negative effects of being a "dream catcher" are accelerating.  She loves Cabel but worries about what effect her worsening condition will have on him as time goes on.

She feels that she has two equally awful choices: continue to use her abilities and continue to deteriorate or isolate herself away from other people's dreams and live a life of solitude.  The novel focuses on this no-win choice, but the decision is further complicated by a mysterious stranger who enters Janie's life. 

If you enjoyed Wake and Fade, you'll want to read Gone to find out what happens next and what Janie decides.

214 pages, Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster)

NOTE:  This exciting series is definitely for older teens and young adults (and grown-ups!) because it deals in part with violent crimes and sexual assault.

1 comment:

Anne@HeadFullofBooks said...

My husband and I listened to Wake on audiobook as we traveled for a vacation. I didn't care for it, but I am wondering if it was a format flaw. You know as well as I do that some books just don't work that well as audiobooks. The series is very popular in my library. Your review reminds me that I need to purchase Gone again as my first copy has disappeared.

-Anne
Headfullofbooks