“When Stephen’s dad says they’re moving, Stephen knows it’s pointless to argue. They’re broke from paying Mom’s hospital bills, and now the only option left is to live with Stephen’s grandmother in Spencer, a backward small town that’s like something out of The Twilight Zone. Population: 814.
Stephen’s summer starts looking up when he meets punk girl Cara and her charismatic twin brother, Devon. With Cara, he feels safe and understood—and yeah, okay, she’s totally hot. In Devon and his group, he sees a chance at making real friends. Only, as the summer presses on, and harmless nights hanging out in the cemetery take a darker turn, Stephen starts to suspect that Devon is less a friend than a leader. And he might be leading them to a very sinister end. . . .”
This book had been on my wantlist for a while, so when I saw it pop up as a Kindle daily deal, I grabbed it. It’s a short book, and it only took me a single day to read it. That’s not because it was so OMG GOOD that I couldn’t put it down; rather, it’s a pretty short book, so it’s not a lot of effort to get through.
The only thing that really comes to mind to describe this book is “average”. The main character isn’t likable and spends most of his time whining about his life. Admittedly, he’s had some bad stuff happen to him, but the immaturity he displays is pretty staggering. The rest of the characters aren’t fleshed out at all. Even Cara and Devon, who appear the most often, are kind of two-dimensional. The rest of the boys in the town blend into each other to the point that what little descriptions they were given just didn’t stick in my head.
The story had its interesting moments, but ultimately there just wasn’t enough meat to it to satisfy me. I couldn’t suspend my disbelief long enough to buy into the idea that an entire town was in on this weird secret. I also couldn’t believe that they were all so open about that secret. (What’s the point of a secret if you literally paint it on your walls?)
The best indication of my opinion of this book?… as soon as I finished it, I returned it for a refund. I won’t want to read it again, so there’s no reason for me to keep it. As a spooky story, it has a few good qualities, but overall, it’s just a time filler when you’re waiting for something more interesting to come along.
This book was a personal purchase.
(Description nicked from B&N.com.)