Cryer's Cross by Lisa McMann

Release Date: 2.8.2011

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 233

Overall:

The community of Cryer’s Cross, Montana (population 212) is distraught when high school freshman Tiffany disappears without a trace. Already off-balance due to her OCD, 16-year-old Kendall is freaked out seeing Tiffany’s empty desk in the one-room school house, but somehow life goes on... until Kendall's boyfriend Nico also disappears, and also without a trace. Now the town is in a panic. Alone in her depression and with her OCD at an all-time high, Kendall notices something that connects Nico and Tiffany: they both sat at the same desk. She knows it's crazy, but Kendall finds herself drawn to the desk, dreaming of Nico and wondering if maybe she, too, will disappear...and whether that would be so bad. Then she begins receiving graffiti messages on the desk from someone who can only be Nico. Can he possibly be alive somewhere? Where is he? And how can Kendall help him? The only person who believes her is Jacian, the new guy she finds irritating...and attractive. As Kendall and Jacian grow closer, Kendall digs deeper into Nico's mysterious disappearance only to stumble upon some ugly—and deadly—local history. Kendall is about to find out just how far the townspeople will go to keep their secrets buried.

Holy wow. Folks WOW! By nature, I am a very fast reader and this is one book I BLEW through.

What started out as a pretty light-hearted story, took a turn for the dark and creepy and I was intrigued every step of the way. Even with the main character, OCD-suffering Kendall and how she copes with her best friend, Nico suddenly vanishing. Then enter stoically quiet Jacián into the mix and you have a tasty recipe. McMann gets an applause for creating some of the best relationships ever. Janie and Cabel from her WAKE trilogy are one of my favorite couples ever.

Now, this book is CREEPY! Another thing McMann is excels at. WAKE is a tad creepy, no? (ps. If you haven't read the WAKE trilogy, read them! They are so good and so freaking creepy) I’ll go ahead and say this much, it’s about a desk. An evil desk. I really don’t want to give any more away, but do know that much. Though the cover tells you that much really.

This book made me smile, freaked me out, made me sad and even tear up. I would recommend this book to absolutely any YA lover and especially to those who love a sweet romance and a creepy desk. And OMG this desk will give me nightmares. Yeah, its funny until it happens to you.

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