Harbinger - Sara Wilson Etienne
Synopsis: Plagued by waking visions and nightmares, inexplicably drawn to the bones of dead animals, Faye thinks she's going crazy. Fast. Her parents beleive Holbrook Academy might just be the solution. Dr. Mordoch tells her it's the only answer. But Faye knows that something's not quite right about Dr. Mordoch and her creepy, prisonlike school for disturbed teenagers.
What's wrong with Holbrook goes beyond the Takers, sadistic guards who threaten the student body with Tasers and pepper spray; or Nurse, who doles out pills at bedtime and doses of solitary confinement when kids step out of line; or Rita, the strange girl who delivers ominous messages to Faye that never seem to make any sense. What's wrong with Holbrook begins and ends with Faye's red hands; she and her newfound friends--her Holbrook "family"--wake up every morning with their hands stained the terrible brown of dried blood. Faye has no idea what it means but fears she may be the cause.
Because despite the strangeness of Holbrook and the island on which it sits, Faye feels oddly connected to the place; she feels especially linked to the handsome Kel, who helps her unravel the mystery. There's just one problem: Faye's certain Kel's trying to kill her--and maybe the rest of the world, too.
(From Goodreads)
To be honest, I wasn't really rushing to read this book. I was intrigued and it was receiving a lot of great buzz, but to me it sounded similar to a lot of other books out there. But when it kind of threw itself in my path, and I figured that happened for a reason, so I picked it up. And I ended up really liking it. It wasn't love, but I was definitely very into this story.
Here's what I find interesting - I didn't care for the characters, but I loved the story. Faye was interesting, but the cast around her felt a little bit unoriginal. Kel, is your typical bad boy with plenty to hide and there's the evil controlling adult who inflicts torture and social ridicule in the name of helping these kids. None of the characters really flew off the page at me and I never really connected to any of them.
But all the internal stuff Faye goes through that links back to Holbrook and all the strange things that are going on is definitely fascinating. I wasn't expecting this to be a psychological thriller, but that's definitely what it was. It starts out with Faye and her father sitting in Dr. Mordoch's office and she sees it flooding with water. With that beginning I expected a pretty fast pace, but it turned out to be a slow build until I reached a point that I had to stop every once in awhile to remind myself to breathe.
In the end, everything that Faye uncovers and the way everything turns out is so clever and so intriguing. I wanted to know more - but not in a way that made me feel like anything was lacking. Like I said, it wasn't love, but this book did suck me in and it got a reaction out of me. While the characters aren't special, the story itself didn't remind me of anything else. So, I'm definitely happy this book found a way to me.
Harbinger - Sara Wilson Etienne
Synopsis: Plagued by waking visions and nightmares, inexplicably drawn to the bones of dead animals, Faye thinks she's going crazy. Fast. Her parents beleive Holbrook Academy might just be the solution. Dr. Mordoch tells her it's the only answer. But Faye knows that something's not quite right about Dr. Mordoch and her creepy, prisonlike school for disturbed teenagers.
What's wrong with Holbrook goes beyond the Takers, sadistic guards who threaten the student body with Tasers and pepper spray; or Nurse, who doles out pills at bedtime and doses of solitary confinement when kids step out of line; or Rita, the strange girl who delivers ominous messages to Faye that never seem to make any sense. What's wrong with Holbrook begins and ends with Faye's red hands; she and her newfound friends--her Holbrook "family"--wake up every morning with their hands stained the terrible brown of dried blood. Faye has no idea what it means but fears she may be the cause.
Because despite the strangeness of Holbrook and the island on which it sits, Faye feels oddly connected to the place; she feels especially linked to the handsome Kel, who helps her unravel the mystery. There's just one problem: Faye's certain Kel's trying to kill her--and maybe the rest of the world, too.
(From Goodreads)
To be honest, I wasn't really rushing to read this book. I was intrigued and it was receiving a lot of great buzz, but to me it sounded similar to a lot of other books out there. But when it kind of threw itself in my path, and I figured that happened for a reason, so I picked it up. And I ended up really liking it. It wasn't love, but I was definitely very into this story.
Here's what I find interesting - I didn't care for the characters, but I loved the story. Faye was interesting, but the cast around her felt a little bit unoriginal. Kel, is your typical bad boy with plenty to hide and there's the evil controlling adult who inflicts torture and social ridicule in the name of helping these kids. None of the characters really flew off the page at me and I never really connected to any of them.
But all the internal stuff Faye goes through that links back to Holbrook and all the strange things that are going on is definitely fascinating. I wasn't expecting this to be a psychological thriller, but that's definitely what it was. It starts out with Faye and her father sitting in Dr. Mordoch's office and she sees it flooding with water. With that beginning I expected a pretty fast pace, but it turned out to be a slow build until I reached a point that I had to stop every once in awhile to remind myself to breathe.
In the end, everything that Faye uncovers and the way everything turns out is so clever and so intriguing. I wanted to know more - but not in a way that made me feel like anything was lacking. Like I said, it wasn't love, but this book did suck me in and it got a reaction out of me. While the characters aren't special, the story itself didn't remind me of anything else. So, I'm definitely happy this book found a way to me.
