Lois D. Brown

I flew through this novel at record pace. The writing flowed easily, the characters were all quite likable and believable and I found the premise to be interesting and unique. I have to admit that I was quite pleasantly surprised by this one. I wondered how I would relate to such young characters but I needn't have feared. Sam is wise beyond his years and Renee, well she also has much more experience than one would assume. (I don't want to give anything away!) Lois Brown does a wonderful job show more of introducing two very young characters and throwing them into the midst of a fascinating and mysterious intrigue. I loved trying to puzzle it all out right alongside Renee and Sam. I don't think that I'd have been able to guess at any of it before it was revealed.My only complaints would be that it did seem a smidgen unbelievable to me that two 13 year old were running around on their own. And there is one scene involving a conversation between Renee and a schoolteacher that seemed 100% improbable and age inappropriate. But then again...times may have changed greatly since I was 13!On the whole, I was impressed with Lois Brown's creativity and her character development and am curious to see where the story goes from here... show less

I am sure I have said it about a million times now, but YA books are not my favorite type of book on the planet. But lately this view of mine has been challenged. I have had the opportunity to read a lot of really quality YA books, with writing that has seriously impressed me. I personally love it when a YA author uses language that doesn't talk down to people just because their young, I think it makes a younger person learn and it makes the book more enjoyable for adults. Thankfully this show more book is one of the YA books I have enjoyed.

I think one of the things I enjoyed the most about this novel was the pacing of it. You get brought into the novel very quickly and the situations introduced make it so much easier to get into the book and to care about the characters. I think a dramatic beginning in a book makes the reader want to read more, they want to find out what happened, why it happened, and how the character is going to respond. This was done really well in this book. Renee, the main character was in an accident in the beginning of the novel that required her to have a blood transfusion. That starts the plot off for Renee and the rest of the characters.

The book had a bit of a mystery element to it, with Renee and Sam (her best friend) trying to figure out why her neighbor had some of her blood (the same blood used to save her after her accident). I think the mystery element works exceptionally well in this book, especially if I were a younger reader. Any book that makes a person think or try to figure out what is going on/what is going to happen next is a book I like.

I spent most of the time with this novel wondering what was going to happen next, and trying to piece the puzzle together in my own head. I was glad that when I thought I had things figured out or created my own theory to the situation a curve ball would make me rethink things.

I also thought the characters were really well done. Renee and Sam are easy to like, easy to pull for, and in general identify with them. I do think that maybe they would have been older judging by their maturity throughout the book, but other than that I thought they were both good characters.

I have to say once more I liked this YA book, and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading YA, or anyone who wants a little bit of a non-conventional mystery to sink their teeth into. It was really a fun read. show less

The plot was amazing! So unique but with a hint of familiarity. I was attracted to it immediately! And I, myself, is a guesser. By that I mean I would guess with the characters, trying to figure out what is the mystery. I just kept on flipping pages. I can't believe that I didn't read the book when I first got it.

Though the characters are fairly young-ish. But they are very sophisticated and mature, but this made it a little unrealistic. :/ They are 13 after all. But often this fact was show more forgotten due to the fact that the story was so intense! I mean it kind of reminded me of Kathy Reich's Virals/Seizure books. It was a mystery with teens. I enjoyed reading this book a lot.

I love the mystery, contemporary, and paranormal aspects of the book. show less

This was a great read. For being such a short story there was alot involved: Many times, what you're looking for is right in front of you, greed will get you nowhere and you have to know when to call it quits. This story was well-written and quite enjoyable. Well worth the 10 minutes it takes to read and I'm definately planning on reading more by this author.