This was the first Young Adult book I've read since reading Hannah Moskowitz's Gone, Gone, Gone; needless to say, it had some big shoes to fill. I was looking for something dark and spooky and glamorous, which Abbott definitely did deliver. The book gives a solid look into high school cheer leading culture, something I wouldn't think could be as interesting as it was. However, it also provides a look at the 'mean girl' culture so prevalent in much of today's media and, unfortunately, real life. That said, I did find a few loose ends that were never tied by the end of the book. While the suspense of this who-done-it kept me reading, several questions I hungered to learn the answers to were never addressed. Without spoiling anything for future readers, I will note for those who have already read that it was useless for Abbott to include the placement of apartment-lobby security cameras which could have held evidence that was never uncovered. In addition, the troubles of what I would call a pretty major character, perhaps second in significance to the narrator, never came to a conclusion. But again, this book chronicled reality in a way that so closely mirrored what such reality really holds that this could have been purposeful, for do we ever really know what happens to those who enter our lives and change us, only to disappear into the night and never be heard from again?
A -
