Review: 44

44

Jools Sinclair

Series or Stand Alone: 44 planned trilogy, book one

Release Date: March 2011

Publisher: You Come Too Publishing

Pages: 67

Author Site: http://joolssinclair44.blogspot.com/

My Rating: 3.75/5

Source: Received for review from The Bookish Snob Promotions

Synopsis:

[from goodreads.com]

Last year after falling through the ice, seventeen-year-old Abby Craig woke up from death.

But she woke into a world she barely recognizes. She can’t see colors, memories have been erased, and her friends all hate her. And then there’s Jesse, who she loves, but who refuses to forgive her the one mistake she made long ago.

Just when she thinks it can’t get any worse, the visions begin. In them, she sees a faceless serial killer roaming the streets. While the police believe that there have been a lot of accidents in town lately, Abby knows differently. And she soon realizes that it’s up to her to find him.

But to stop him, she’ll have to confront more than just the killer. She’ll have to face something else that was lost in those dark waters. The truth.

In the tradition of Amanda Hocking, 44 is a thrilling paranormal romance mystery novel that keeps readers at the edge of their seats and glued to the very end. The ending will haunt you forever.

Review:

I was very taken aback at the detail 44 had since it barely came in at 67 pages. I worry with short novels and novellas because I feel like it’s never enough for me for some reason or another. But 44 was a lovely surprise! The characters were pretty much spot on. The story-telling was nicely paced and the plot was really entertaining. After Abby comes back to life after a drowning accident her entire world has changed. She’s lost the sight of color, a lot of her memories, and the friends she was once closest too. The only constants in her life are her best friend Jesse and her strong-willed sister Kate. She may be in love with Jesse but he’s crossed that bridge long ago and Abby failed to reciprocate his feelings. But despite the strained emotional tug Abby feels for Jesse he still remains to be the rock she leans on.

When terrible visions start to plague Abby she thinks everyone may be right about her: maybe she is just a freak. But then the visions turn out to be accurate and Abby knows there’s a deadly serial killer hunting the streets of her hometown and she may be the only one who can stop him…

It took a little bit of time for me to get to know and care about Abby. She’s extremely vulnerable and depressed in the beginning of the story. But it isn’t until she breaks from her shell and realizes how much courage she possesses that I really got a sense of who she was. I didn’t really understand why she was treated so horribly after she came back from her accident. I know people can be cruel for no reason but it still baffles me (both in reality and fiction) when people act cold and callous. Even after the ending I still didn’t really get why her friends (i.e. Amanda) starting acting so differently. There’s an obvious cause for Amanda’s dislike towards Abby but again, after the ending is revealed, I was still not okay with her behavior.

I was surprised at how much I liked Kate. I really loved how supportive she was for Abby. It was refreshing and I was happy Abby had someone like Kate in her life. Despite the fact that Kate can be impossibly stubborn she’s very smart. Jesse was great too although he was somewhat confusing with certain actions, but things pieced together like a frustrating puzzle at the end. It was very satisfying…well, not satisfying in the sense that the ending was what I wanted but I still liked how everything started making sense towards the end.

The serial killer part of the novel was interesting and a nice addition to the story. I can definitely see another book coming and Jools herself says she is planning on a trilogy for Abby. I’m excited to see what happens next for her. 44 is a very thrilling and enjoyable read surprised me in many ways. I definitely recommend it!

P.S. (cover talk)

I defnitely like the creepy feeling. The purple color...eh, not so much.