17 & Gone

“Girls go missing every day. They slip out bedroom windows and into strange cars. They leave good bye notes or they don’t get a chance to tell anyone. They cross borders. They hitch rides, squeezing themselves into overcrowded backseats, sitting on willing laps. They curl up and crouch down, or they shove their bodies out of sunroofs and give off victory shouts. Girls make plans to go, but they also vanish without meaning to, and sometimes people confuse one for the other. Some girls go kicking and screaming and clawing out the eyes of whoever won’t let them stay. And then there are the girls who never reach where they are going. Who disappear. Their ends are ends are endless, their stories unknown."

I adored Nova Ren Suma's show more previous book Imaginary Girls (and even mapped out how I would approach making the movie, if I could), which was a wonderfully surreal and creepy tale of two sisters and their loyalty to one another. So, 17 & Gone was a must read for me. It hooked me from page one, and by page three I had chills and was smiling from ear to ear.

When Lauren finds a missing poster for Abby, she begins to be haunted. Abby appears to her, tangled and lost, a seventeen-year-old girl gone missing, a girl who wants something from Lauren. But Abby isn't alone and following behind her are other girls, all seventeen years old, all missing without a trace, all wanting their stories heard, all wanting to be remembered. As the visions of these girls multiply, Lauren begins to loose the tether to her own life and, seventeen herself, she begins to wonder, if maybe she'll be the next girl to vanish.

Lauren's self becomes submerged beneath beneath the stories of the girls and we get to see bits and pieces of her personal life like we're coming up for air. In a sense this makes it a little hard to get to know her as the main character, but her story unfolds as the novel goes on and this erasure works as she looses herself under the tide of girls and their stories. It fits with the storyline and the discoveries at the conclusion.

Her writing is rich and vivid, and it's really impressive how Nova Ren is able to layer the stories of the girls with Lauren's thoughts and personal life, creating a complex web of narratives that is nevertheless easy to follow. She makes it look easy, though I know it couldn't possibly have been.

As a side note, I suggest that you do not read the Author's Note at the end of the book (as I did) before you finish, as it will spoil the ending. But even with the ending twist spoiled, I still loved this book, wholeheartedly.

My ultimate sadness is that Nova Ren only has one other book out, her first book Dani Noir (which was later republished under the title Fade Out). After I devour that one, I'll have to patiently (or not-so-patiently) wait until 2015 for her next book, The Walls Around Us to be released. show less

First of all, can we talk about how weird it is to read about a character with your name? This is only the second book I remember reading with a “Lauren” protagonist, and boy is it unsettling. Okay, moving on.

17 and Gone is yet another display of how freaking fantastic Nova Ren Suma is at prose (I’m articulate today). The prologue alone is a masterpiece that sparks the imagination and inspires in every way possible. Suma is just a wizard when it comes to turning a phrase (17 and Gone is her best hat trick).

Like Imaginary Girls, 17 and Gone is what one might call a “magical realism” novel: it hints at the fantastical while staying grounded in reality. This time, though, Suma uses the technique to help her audience understand show more mental illness. It’s an interesting approach, and it’s actually quite effective. You feel just as confused as Lauren, trying to figure out what’s real and what isn’t.

Something I found intriguing about 17 and Gone is the way its narrative was constructed. You’ve got Lauren at the core of things, but then you also have the stories of the girls she “finds.” These stories are told in a noir-like manner, giving the novel a distinctively creepy feel.

If you’re looking for a darker read with gorgeous prose, check out Nova Ren Suma’s latest. It’s really cool. show less

Each year, hundreds of girls go missing without a trace. For seventeen-year-old Lauren, this reality is made even more jarring the day she realizes she can see visions (or are they ghosts?) of missing girls. The one thing all of them have in common is they are 17 — the same age as Lauren. She can’t help but wonder: Could this happen to her? Desperate to help these girls, Lauren gets in way over her head. Soon, school and her home life become secondary annoyances. All Lauren can focus on is helping these girls. It’s not until Lauren finds herself in the hospital that the truth, and several unsuspected secrets, come to light.

The book is told from Lauren’s first-person POV, and from page one, I was immediately inside her head. The show more desperation, her need to help these girls and her paranoia were all palpable. I felt her world unraveling almost as if it were my own. Even though Lauren’s drive and some of her actions were questionable, I understood them and I was never left banging my head against the wall. I wanted the answers as desperately as her. The only thing I wish I’d had more of was a glimpse at Lauren’s life BEFORE she got wrapped up in helping these girls. I think it would have made her obsession, and the things she lost because of it, that much more jarring.

The other characters all play an important role — I never felt they were there just for filler. Abby, the missing girl that Lauren is most obsessed with, is just as mysterious as her disappearance.

I fell in love with Ms. Suma’s writing style when I read Imaginary Girls, and I could be wrong, but I think the writing is even stronger in this book. While I liked the overall story of Imaginary Girls better, I loved the creepy, manic atmosphere that she created in this book. There’s a pretty big twist at the end that surprised me, and not in a bad way. When it revealed itself, it all clicked into place and gave me a whole new perspective on the book. My only complaint was that the pacing felt a little off.

Beautifully written, creepy and an unsuspected ending makes this one a must-read for mystery fans. What I loved most was that at first glance, it appears to fit into a certain genre and then it is turned on its head with the twist at the end. Definitely check this one out for the writing alone. show less

It was on a snowy lane that Lauren first saw the poster about Abby Sinclair’s disappearance tacked to a pine tree. Soon after, she saw the ghost like appearance of Abby in the back seat of her van as she was on the day she disappeared. She was wearing a camp t-shirt, red shorts with white striping, had leaves in her hair and bruises on her knees. Although she lived in New Jersey, she was a counselor in training at a camp Pinecliff, New York. Abby was 17.

The next vision to appear was Fiona Burke. Fiona, nine years older than Lauren, used to babysit for her. She ran away, leaving Lauren in the Burke house by herself, locked in a closet. Fiona was never heard from again, but Lauren sees her and Fiona speaks to her. Fiona was 17 when she show more disappeared.

There’s Natalie, Shyann, Isabeth and Madison. All 17.

There are so many 17 year olds who disappear, either by running away or by being abducted and they are starting to make themselves visible to Lauren. But she’s not sure what she’s supposed to do about it. Then the dreams start.

I ended my 2013 reading with 17 & Gone, Nova Ren Suma’s latest (and I think best) YA novel, after Imaginary Girls and Dani Noir. It is absorbing. There is tension as Lauren interacts with these visions. There is concern for these poor girls. There is a surreal atmosphere to Lauren’s life, both real and imagined. There is a twist which I didn’t see coming. This will definitely make by 2013 Top 10 List. show less

I don't really even know where to begin with this review. 4 days later and I am still feeling conflicted. There is no denying that Nova Ren Suma can write. It's impressive. Her voice and word weaving is something that needs to be read to be understood. But...there are those books that everybody loves but you. And you understand why everybody loves them, but you are not one of those people because it didn't connect with you the way it did with others. Well, that was 17 & Gone for me.

I get all the positive reviews, I do, and I wish that I had felt the same way, but for me this book just felt very anticlimactic. And didn't have much of a plot, to be honest. It was definitely more of a character-driven novel, but the thing is, the show more characters aren't all that developed or memorable because there are so many of them. So many girls. So for me, all this book had going for it was the atmosphere and writing. And that part of it was VERY good. I just kept putting this book down and walking away from it because there was nothing that made me want to keep reading. I don't expect a book to be completely plot-centric but with my lack of attention span these days, I need something to keep me flipping those pages.

I guess what I am saying is that this was just not the right book for me RIGHT NOW. Maybe months down the road and my brain is functioning better and not so distracted and I would have loved this.

The other thing that didn't really work for me was the ending. See, because based on the way the book was written, I was expecting this big reveal. I was expecting a shocker, and...it wasn't. I remember writing in my status updates that I had no idea what was going on and I hated feeling in the dark, and yeah, that was the truth. Funny thing though is that that was only because I didn't think it could possibly be that obvious. There was no twist because the answers are kind of exactly what you think they are. That was disappointing.

I know it sounds like I hated this, but I didn't. I just didn't like how I couldn't connect to the characters. But the writing was beautiful, and for someone who appreciates a writer who can weave a wonderful story in a voice and style all her own, this book really hit me in all the right places. It was poetic in its prose. It was meant to be savored. I think I really like the way Nova Ren Suma writes, and it's worth it to try more of her work, but I'm not sure she's the right author for me. That's not me saying she isn't talented though, because whoa, is she ever. show less

A hauntingly beautiful tale that is hard to put down. Although the MC Lauren is complex and original, I think the readers need to know more about her (other than her communications with the lost girls). Also, the part of the book when you discover what happened to Abby needs to be a little clearer. The supporting characters appear to be realistic as does the revelation about Lauren. This novel presents the opportunity for discussions about mental illnesses not to mention other themes. Overall, I found this book to be very thought-provoking and suspenseful.

LT Early Reviewers
[book:17 & Gone|13132403]
[author:Nova Ren Suma|2741432]

SPOILERS This book really made me feel crazy. I knew from the beginning that Lauren had schizophrenia and was spiraling out of control. I don't think teens will realize this until the very end of the book, or they may hold onto the idea that she is somehow psychic. This author is a master storyteller, who really knows how to build characters, show their struggles and advance a story. Overall, a great success.