Tracey Porter

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Lark Austin has been found dead—she was stabbed, tied to a tree, and left there in the bitter cold. Eve, Lark’s former best friend, struggles with the loss of Lark—she’s not sure if she should feel anything. Nyetta, a young girl Lark used to babysit, knows that Lark needs her to set her free. The stories of these three girls are woven together in the most lovely way possible, and leave a lingering feeling of hope.

My thoughts: Haunting and shiver-inducing, show more Lark paints a vivid picture of a kidnapping and eventual murder. We get to experience the event through the eyes of a victim, and it is very, very frightening. Tracey Porter handles the subject with finesse—she does not gloss over any part of Lark’s rape and murder, but doesn’t dwell over the more intense parts, either. Though the book clocks in at only 170 pages, it certainly packs a punch.

After Lark’s death, the subject of blame comes to the surface. Eve and Nyetta, the two other narrators, have certain parts they play in Lark’s lives, but Tracey Porter also brings up how society tends to blame the victim. Porter subtly criticizes society for this tendency, and thus raises awareness in the reader.

Though Lark’s voice is the most powerful, Eve and Nyetta are distinct, interesting characters. Eve is recovering from sexual harassment, and Nyetta is convinced that Lark is speaking to her from beyond the grave. It sounds like a plot overload, but everything ties together nicely, and nothing seems rushed.

I would highly recommend Lark. It’s beautiful, poignant, and it really made me think about victims of sexual assault and murder. show less

Let me start off by saying I hate sad books, and if I'd read the blurb before reading the book, I probably wouldn't have picked Lark up. As it was, the cover reminded me of Maggie Steifvater's The Wolves of Mercy Falls series. That said I am so glad I did. This was my first read of 2012 and I managed to finish it in under three hours. The chapters are short, and it is an extremely fast read.

Part of the fast read is that the characters are engaging. The three points of view made everything show more even sadder by how close they were to what was happening. There is very little in the way of extras. We learn about Lark's relationships with Eve and Nyetta, what they were like together, what drove them apart and ultimately how they really felt about each other. Nyetta's perspective was especially moving because she is younger and struggling with something that the adults in her life can't even begin to comprehend.

Listening to Lark relive her death and her relentless efforts to get Nyetta to help her move on was heartbreaking. The idea Porter builds around what happens to girls who die in the woods was really interesting. I don't want to say more for fear of giving away too much, but this is definitely worth a read. show less

Don’t let this book’s small size deter you. It packs a pretty mean punch, straight to the heart. I flew through this within two or three hours.

Admittedly, I stayed far away from this until I felt like I had plucked up the courage to finally read it. I needed every ounce of that courage for the story that was waiting for me within these pages. Lark is a very real and heartbreaking account of a young girl who is abducted, raped, and left for dead in the woods of her small hometown in show more northern Virginia.

Each girl has her own distinct voice. Eve is recovering from sexual harassment, while Nyetta is recovering from her parent’s tumultuous divorce coupled with the fact that Lark’s ghost is visiting her from the grave. I thought that the alternate narrations between Lark, Eve and Nyetta were handled seamlessly and flowed easily.

Would I recommend this? Absolutely. However, there is some violent and graphic imagery that might not be suitable for more sensitive readers. show less

Wow.

I’m starting this review not really knowing what to say. I’m so infrequently rendered speechless, and, yet, LARK by Tracey Porter blew me away to the point that I’m not really sure what I can say about it other than this: Wow.

I’m thinking that I could tell you it’s the story of a girl, but it’s not…not quite. It’s the story of three girls: One who died, and two who survived. When Lark was murdered she left behind friends and family. But perhaps it was the girl she used show more to babysit, Nyanna, and her ex-best-friend, Eve, who are most touched by her absence. 12-year-old Nyanna is visited nightly by Lark, speaks to her, scaring her mother who takes her to a therapist. Nyanna believes that Lark is turning into a tree, that her soul is being trapped there, that she will never escape without her help. Of course, this makes her crazy, right? But she knows she’s not. And Eve, whose falling out with Lark in middle school has already left her feeling a strong sense of loss, doesn’t know how to deal with the grief. She can’t even cry, even though all the girls at school seem to be freaking out. And of course there’s Lark, whose violent death has left her stuck between planes of reality.

This book was blurbed by Francesca Lia Block, and Tracey Porter‘s writing is remeniscent of her work — fluid, lyrical, sparse, brilliant. I can’t recommend this book strongly enough. It’s haunting, beautiful, and leaves a mark. Still, I don’t think anything I have to say could possibly do right by LARK. I hope you’ll read it for yourself and find out why. show less