Genre: YA Contemporary
Published By: Simon Pulse
Source: Borrowed from my sweet sweet daughter
Summary from Goodreads:
Ethan was abducted from his front yard when he was just seven years old. Now, at sixteen, he has returned to his family. It's a miracle... at first. Then the tensions start to build. His reintroduction to his old life isn't going smoothly, and his family is tearing apart all over again. If only Ethan could remember something, anything, about his life before, he'd be able to put the pieces back together. But there's something that's keeping his memory blocked. Something unspeakable..
My Thoughts:
Lisa McMann became one of my favorite authors with her Dream Catcher series and I couldn't wait for her to write another novel. So obviously I was very excited to get my hands on Dead To You.
Dead To You starts off with a bang. Ethan is being reunited with his family after years of everyone thinking that he had been killed by his abductors. Things at his new house are awkward and everyone is struggling with Ethan's arrival. The book goes on to talk about day to day activities of the family trying to get to know each other again, going to counseling, Ethan starting school, and meeting up with an old friend.
While I was enjoying reading Dead To You I realized that I wasn't really connecting with it on a personal level. I mean usually with these kinds of books I'm bawling hysterically with not just snot but hiccups too. The writing was great and the plot solid, I definitely recommend this book. Dead To You is a fast read that really kept me interested and looking back I wonder if I didn't get emotionally invested because either a) the book was written from Ethan's point of view and not his mothers or b) if McMann wrote the book like this on purpose. The problem with option b is I can't really explain what I mean by that without revealing some major spoilers. So if you've read Dead To You and want to talk about it let me know I'd love to see what you think.
If you've just read this and are wondering "so did she like it?" My answer is yes I really did I just didn't react to it the way I expected. If you are a fan of Lisa McMann I think you'll be glad you picked up Dead To You.
Interesting review. I got chills just reading the description you wrote--I don't think I've read a book about a kid being returned to a family, but the concept definitely intrigues me. Interesting though that the characters were difficult to connect to. Still though, I think I'll check this one out.
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Lori
Lori,
Deleteas always thanks so much for your comment and for stopping by. I hope my review didn't sound as if I didn't like Dead To You because I did, very much actually. I think if the story had been written from the mother's perspective I would have been bawling the entire time. I think in this case it really was me and not the book. Even though I was a sobbing mess I still had to stay up until 3 a.m. to finish because I had to know! You should definitely check it out!