Gabby Noone

There's a lot to soak in with this novel. I enjoyed it, seeing people find the courage to live their lives.

Genesis knows nothing of the world. She's been raised in, essentially, a commune. They raise their own food and live quietly, escaping from their tainted past. Genesis says little but spends her downtime watching a Christian lady--Mrs. Reap-- on the smart phone she received from a girl who has returned to the commune after living on the outside for a while. She loves this woman and her life, learning about Christianity. She decides that she believes in Christ and would love to attend this lady's church, which is in the nearest town. Genesis is sweet and innocent, finding comfort and peace in Christ.

Zoe wants out. Her mother buys everything from the local Christian celebrities, not realizing that it's all a pyramid scheme and the people are false prophets. Zoe works as a waitress at the local diner that serves food that is fair, at best. Zoe's plans to take her inheritance on her birthday and leave town with her girlfriend. She hates the hypocrisy of the people in the town who judge everyone yet take people's money in order to be rich.

Holly messed up at school and will probably lose her scholarship to her private school, so she is spending the summer with her father. It's not punishment, but it does get her away from the rich people who aren't really her friends, as she is not rich. She just needs some money to pay for her school when she returns in August.

Dustin Reaps, the handsome son of the local minister, hates the life his family leads. He meets Holly late one night and they find themselves drawn to each other. After she finds out who he really is, Holly is quite angry. Everyone needs something and everyone is unhappy. The four agree to "kidnap" Dustin. With the money for "finding" Dustin, they can all split it and live the lives they want.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It's a nice afternoon read or a nice book to listen to while out walking or cooking. Is it a great book? No, but it's a pleasant distraction.… (más)

This certainly has an interesting cast of characters, one of the more unique line-up I've seen in recent years. Danny's more trapped than anyone realizes and can't be himself, or the self he'd like to be until his chance meeting with Holly. She has her own secrets, mostly left behind at the dumpster fire she fled (or was exiled from) at her mother and stepdad's place. Zoe has a girlfriend but they can't be open about their romance because of all the super-religious zealots at their church. She also has to be the adult since her mother has no impulse control when it comes to the church and its blatant hucksterism. Finally, there's Genesis, unsure of her parentage and stuck in a slowly dying commune. When chance brings them together, all I could envision was four desperate teens riding on a merry-go-round that kept morphing into a roulette wheel. It's a fun read with lots of interesting moments.… (más)

Advance copy provided by NetGalley

I liked this OK. It’s the kind of weird thing I usually go for, and I hadn’t read a YA novel in a while. I liked the idea of purgatory as an airport, and Caleb and Jenna were sweet characters. It was a quick read, and the pre-death and post-death unknowns kept me turning pages.
I think my lukewarm feelings are mostly because, for most of the book, it was hard to live in Bea’s head. Figuring she was on a redemptive path didn’t make it easier to take the hateful, vengeful things she did and said. And I always wonder why characters like Caleb put up with so much. At the end, when he accuses her of making him fall in love with her, I’m confused about what the attraction was, since she was mean to him for most of the book.
The ending was rather abrupt, and I didn’t understand the last few lines. Talk about “staring into the void” was an unusual choice of words for what I otherwise thought was a sweet scene between Bea and Jenna. It was suddenly depressing, just when I thought she had finally stopped feeling so alone.
… (más)